Sam's professional skills are tested to the limit when a close friend is found murdered after the Cambridge May Ball. She turns to her old tutor Professor Forman for help - but is he telling her everything he knows?
Sam Ryan investigates the murder of a young estate agent found dead in an empty house. As she attempts to find out whether the estate agent had secretly arranged to meet a client or a lover, a tangled web of relationships is uncovered, and a violent struggle leads Ryan and the police back to the house.
Four bodies are found in the Thames after a boat full of illegal immigrants founders. Realising they are dealing with a people-trafficking operation gone disastrously wrong, Leo, Harry and Nikki set out to discover if there are any survivors - or any other deaths - while also delving into the victims' past.
The team identify the four bodies found in the Thames, and discover two of them were a couple fleeing China because they wished to have a second child. Nikki realises their six-year-old daughter was also on the boat - and may still be alive somewhere. Meanwhile, the detectives close in on the gang running the people-trafficking operation.
The team take on three cases at once in between major murder investigations. Harry deals with a hit-and-run on a council estate, Leo investigates the cause of a fire that left a woman dead, and Nikki is called out when a bride-to-be collapses and dies on her hen night.
Harry, still devastated by the tragedy he witnessed, investigates the apparent suicide of a high-profile footballer - and discovers a link to the hit-and-run case. Leo is called in when a tramp is found dead on a night bus, and Nikki looks into an office prank that proved fatal.
Harry's burgeoning relationship with Nikki is jeopardised when his ex-girlfriend Penny is killed in a car crash. It looks like suicide at first glance, but DCI Ambrose uncovers evidence that the victim may have had an affair - as well as a secret child. Meanwhile, Leo examines the staged death of a conceptual artist.
Harry is determined to find the killer, but he and Nikki are pushed farther apart when he forces her to re-examine Penny's body. Leo is puzzled by more contrary clues in Jimmy Triangle's bizarre death - and becomes convinced that someone is playing a twisted game.
When Leo is called to investigate the apparent suicide of 14-year-old Alison Garland, it evokes painful memories of his daughter's death and with the help of a child psychologist, he realises the girl was murdered. The case is also linked to another incident in which a car salesman was killed with the same knife.
A third murder is discovered on school grounds and Leo realises the killings are connected to a sinister teenage pact. Meanwhile, Nikki proves her elderly victim died of hypothermia - but there is still a guilty party to be caught.
A teenage girl is found tortured to death at a London dogs' home, and it soon emerges another young woman is being held by the culprits, who turn out to be a violent team of animal activists seeking to destroy an experimentation facility. However, the case becomes much more complicated when Nikki is kidnapped at gunpoint by the group leader.
With Nikki kidnapped and another young woman being held hostage, Harry faces a race against time to find their captors, who are based deep inside the woods. Meanwhile, Lionel's hearing continues and Leo is forced to decide whether to follow his conscience at the expense of his best friend's livelihood.
After insurance investigator William Byfield is found dead, Harry's initial examination makes it look like it could of been suicide. After another examination, the team start to believe that he could have died from cyanide poisoning. Hos replacement, Clare Ambler begins to believe that his death could be linked to his investigation into the death of Stephen Connelly.
Leo thinks might have worked out why he has no memory of Connelly's post-mortem but before he can prove he is innocent he is hit in front of his house and ends up in a coma. Coroner David Levin is discovered dead and it is revealed that he has also been poisoned by cyanide. With Rebecca looks like she could have committed the murders Harry refuses to believe she is responsible and he ends up putting his career on the line. Harry is able to find evidence that Levin committed suicide and when he goes to talk to Rebecca all he finds is nobody at her house.
Harry and Nikki are on different sides following the suspicious death of banker Bridget Flannery. Her husband Tom, is the main suspect and he insists that she fell down the stairs. Harry conducts the post-mortem for the police investigation whilst Nikki is asked to do one by Tom's solicitor. They both come up with different conclusion about how she died. When Nikki's learns that Tom's first wife, Olga, died in similar circumstances she begins to doubt Tom's innocence.
As the case into Bridget's death continues, Harry and Nikki find themselves falling out. Tom is arrested after pictures of his first wife's death are leaked. Harry decides to try and find out more about Olga's death. Nikki is determined to find out exactly what happened on the night Bridget died which leads to more tragedy for the Flannery family.
Leo returns to work after recovering from his injuries. He finds himself working on the case of a shattered body of a young woman, Ruth Gardiner, who is thought to have fallen off the roof of a block of flats. Leo discovers that the girl was shot in the head before being thrown off the roof and the investigation into her death is reopened. Leo begins to wonder if there is a cover up going on when it looks like the girl could of been one of Phil's informants and DI Neill is reluctant to pursue that line. Neill finds the investigation leading him to Alex Webb after a gun is found.
A large amount of blood is found in a flat that has been rented in Danielle's name after the police are called there. The DNA found there matches that of Danielle, Alex and Terry, who was Ruth's lover. Leo is convinced that Phil is involved in the murder but he still lacks any evidence to prove his theory. It is later revealed that Phil has been leading a double life and that is also Terry. The search for Phil leads the police to some secluded woods where Danielle's body is discovered. Following Leo's examinations Peter is arrest.
Leo liaises with the Dean and investigating officer DC Saich after a suicide at a local university. They soon find out that Jason was being bullied before his death. After a gun and live ammunition are found in Jason's locker alarms bells ring. The remains of a memory card are found in his stomach which reveals pictures of students, some of whom were his alleged bullies. Harry and Nikki find themselves trapped in one of the campus buildings when shots are fired. After firearms officers manage to make their way into the building suspected shooter Scott Weston, is found with a bullet in his head.
Harry stays to help the paramedic who is looking after Weston as the injured are helped out of the building. Nikki returns to the Lyell Centre where she ends up not being alone. A student called Neil locks the door after entering the lab. Leo discovers two guns where used in the shoot out after he starts to carry out some post mortems on the dead. Nikki discovers more as Neil points a gun at her.
After she is hired as a consultant forensic anthropologist by a private investigations firm, Nikki finds herself returning to Cape Town where she grew up. Nikki becomes involved with Anton and they investigate after the remains of five young men who disappeared in the mid-Eighties are discovered. Nikki is due to be joined in Cape Town by Harry and Leo who are to take part in a forensic pathology international conference. Harry ends up working with Sarah after the dead body of a young black woman is discovered. Leo's departure to Cape Town is delayed by an asylum case back home and when he arrives in Capetown finally he finds the person involved in the case he was working on has now been deported to Cape Town. Leo is determined to help her but before he can she vanishes. Anton and Nikki discover their are six skeletons instead of five.
Two more girls' bodies are examined by Harry and Sarah and they find the same drug in their systems as previously found in the body at Hout Bay. Nikki is unable to work out who the sixth skeleton belongs to. Leo is worried after he receives a call from Kudzai. After meeting with Harry, Leo finds out that she has been sent to the same place as the three dead girls are linked to. Nikki finds out from Captain Brackenhall that Anton's business partner was involved with the Kensington Five murder leaving her with some difficult decisions to make.
Leo and Harry investigate after three patients die unexpectedly on the same ward at a London hospital. When they show up they meet DC Julia Catina and DI Frank Skipper. Professor Nigel Silverlake is a main suspect but after he is found dead in an apparent "suicide by cop" incident, Nikki finds herself being pressured by his daughter, Naomi, to discover a cause for his breakdown. Nikki also finds herself investigating James Bodle who is beleived to have raped and killed a young girl.
Naomi has confided in Nikki and she believes that the professor was self-medicating with an antidepressant which can cause violent attacks. Nikki talks to his wife, Miranda, who is not happy when she finds out that Naomi gave her his medical records. Naomi is not happy when she finds out that Niki paid her mother a visit and confronts her. Nikki ends up becoming overwhelmed by paranoid thoughts and finds herself in despair. Harry ends up insists that Nikki see a psychiatrist after he and Leo become concerned about her. After DI Frank Skipper and DS Julia Cantina make a discovery Harry ends up realising that he has left Nikki in danger and the team attempt to save her before it is too late.
After a preserved female body is discovered buried in a peat moor in Sheffield, DI Sonia Hardwick turns to an archaeologist called Professor Patrick Cain for help. is able to Patrick persuade the coroner to release the body for examination to the Lyell centre in London much to Sonia's annoyance. Nikki, Harry and Janet are worried about Leo. Nikki discovers knife wounds to the hands which the professor believes may indicate a ritual killing as the autopsy on the body is carried out. Further wounds discovered around the abdomen and genitalia suggest though that it could of been a sexually motivated attack. Leo ends up searching through his archives for a case he dealt with in Sheffield in 1985 that were committed by self-confessed serial killer Karl Bentley. As he examines the body himself he is caught by Nikki and Leo tells him he thinks the body could belong to a woman called Jodie Fisher who went missing at the time. When Leo pays a visit to Sheffield he is haunted by memories of his own past which put a strain on his relationship with Janet. Another girls ends up being killed on the streets of Sheffield.
The scene of Kelly's murder is attended by Leo after Sonia requests it. The murder seems similar to that committed by Bentley and the team think that it could be a copycat killing. As Sonia looks through Bentley's old case notes she begins to suspect that he could have had an accomplice working with him. Karl Bentley ends up requesting that Leo comes to see him in his prison cell.
After the body of a young woman is recovered a river and Nikki is called to perform the post-mortem. It soon becomes evident that the woman was dead before she entered the river as there's evidence of a struggle and inspection of her skull reveals a brain haemorrhage. After finds out that she has given birth, Nikki is worried that her child could be abandoned somewhere. After Lieutenant Stephen Lockford suffers a flashback to Afghanistan and starts shooting at one of his fellow soldiers a training exercise at a local army base is canceled. His body is later discovered in his car at the barracks. Harry is called to the suicide site and it begins to look look like the two cases could be linked.
After an X-ray taken of Lockford's skull reveals a second bullet, Harry calls DI Harte as it seems looks like the soldier could have been murdered. Nikki knows that the dead woman is Catherine Felton, partner of Danny Ferris, the young soldier who Lockford had seen shot in Afghanistan after she answers a call on the dead girl's phone. Blood discovered on her coat is matched to that of Lockford which suggests they met before she died. After Martin Ferris, comes to identify Catherine's body, he wants Nikki to perform a second post-mortem on his son as he thinks something is being hidden from him. After Leo meets with the field medic who tried to save his life in Afghanistan the investigation begins to reveal a tragic secret at Hillsdon Army Base.
Harry is reunited with Anna Sandor when she calls him to Budapest to perform a second post-mortem on the body of a drowned prostitute, Sofi Mustafova. As they get reacquainted, Anna tells him she believes the death is suspicious and may be linked to her own investigations into the disappearance of other pregnant prostitutes. The women's body ends up being cremated before Harry can take a look at it. Harry's world is crushed when he finds out that Anna has been stabbed to death in her bed. He is forced to go underground where he manages to make a desperate call to Leo in London for help when he becomes the number one suspect. Harry continues with the investigation into the gang-run prostitution racket. When Leo shows up late for the meeting with Harry he witnesses a man being shot and burned. When he manages to retrieve a charred passport from the body it turns out to be Harry's.
Nikki makes her way to Budapest but there's not much she or Leo can do as every move they make is being watched by Tibor Orban. Leo manages to secretly meet Nikki where he reveals that Harry is still alive. Harry explains why he had to fake his own death and continues that he must find out why Anna was killed and unravel the dark secret of the prostitution racket.
Chief Inspector Rebecca Woods and some members of the Diplomatic Protection Group head to the Dutch embassy to investigate a shooting. They disscover Ambassador, Pieter Van Buren, holding his wounded daughter Klara. He demands that the the DPG team leave and Woods has no choice but to agree given it is officially Dutch territory. After Pieter leaves the building, carrying Klara, he informs the police that his grandson, Jack, is missing. DPG Sergeant Whitehead is found shot in the bulding after the polive go in. Pieter is scared that history could be repeating itself as his own son, Jacob, went missing from the family home in 1996 and was never seen again. When Klara begins to recover in hospital, her memory comes back and she remembers who carried out the shootings.
Harry discovers evidence of extensive plastic surgery on the corpse of the bodyguard as an autopsy is carried out. He also manages to locate the missing boy, Jack Van Buren, who is hiding in the basement of the Embassy. Nikki takes a look at the evidence from the 1996 disappearance of Jacob and learns that a DNA sample from Pieter's dead brother, Diederick, matches the profile of the dead bodyguard. The Van Burens' version of what happens becomes increasingly unlikely and when the body of the family's au pair, Mary Olivant, is found hanged near the Van Buren family home, Leo discovers the remains of a young boy in the ground. Klara ends up confessing that she was responsible for the shootings.
Leo is really upset after old friend Professor Lizzie Fraser commits suicide. Lizzie’s sister, a forensic scientist, was stabbed to death at a crime scene ten years ago. Nikki attends her father’s memorial and later joins the team at the scene of a violent triple murder at a farmhouse. Detective Superintendent Tom Byrne takes charge and DNA found at the farm matches that of mysterious female serial killer, The Wraith.
Harry is able to persuade Detective Inspector Connie James to go against police orders and secretly test DNA evidence from the original investigation. Leo is still upsetby the suicide of Lizzie Fraser and Nikki finds out more about the circumstances surrounding the death of Lizzie’s sister. The murder investigation ends up becoming too much for Detective Inspector Ginny Gray and the team end up turning to Janet to help profile the serial killer.
Harry is left feeling disturbed after he’s called to a crime scene on suburban Magnolia Drive, the same house where he and Nikki attended a christening a couple of years earlier. His memories end up ebing stirred after he comes across the dead bodies of mother Justine Thompson and her teenage daughter Gemma.TStepson Charlie is in a comma but Ellie has been left unhurt. DI Ronson and Myers think that Justine’s husband Stuart Thompson is the number one suspect. Harry believes though that Stuart is innocent.
The team learn more about the lives and deceit of the inhabitants of Magnolia Drive where Justine and her teenage daughter Gemma were found dead. Harry makes a big discovery about Charlie and neighbour Deborah confronts teenage son Joel. Leo and forensic scientist Gill Bailey attempt to recreate the shape of the mystery weapon used in the murder in an effort to discover the identity of the killer.
Serial killer Arnold Mears Eenjoys poetry but has no remorse for violently killing three teenagers. He has been busy for the last five years sending Annie, a desperate mother of a missing girl, on secret hunts to try and find his hidden victims.Annie’s son Andy, upset at Mears’ manipulation of his mother, ends up turning to Nikki for help. Leo manages to get himself into tropuble with the team after he re-examines a case by Nikki’s old mentor, Dr. Helen Karamides.
Nikki manages to track down the original detective on the case, Detective Inspector Gladwyn ans she looks around the church that killer Arnold Mears used to attend as a boy. Mears is not happy that the police have been made aware of the undiscovered bodies and he says that he is prepared to reveal where he has hidden them to Nikki.
Prison officer Daniel Kessler and Ellis Roberts refuse to reveal anything after child-killer James Wade suddenly dies in his cell. Harry meets Wade’s sister Miriam and agrees to help find her brother’s killer.
The team continue to investigate the murder at the notorious Redhill prison where the efforts to control the drugs trade on the wing continue. Harry and Nikki take a good look into Detective Inspector Bridges’ past, and make a significant discovery.
One of Delaney’s patients, Eve Gilston, is discovered dead in her bed. The coroner’s verdict is sudden arrhythmic death syndrome but Delaney is not convinced and gets Leo to investigate. Suspicion soon falls on Eve’s dad Anthony, who lost the family fortune, and his wife Beth.
Leo is determined to learn the circumstances about the death of Eve Gilston. Nikki and Harry manage to find the nun who performed the exorcism but are surprised by what they find. Eve’s mother Beth Gilston is confronted by Leo and comes close to discovering the truth about what actually happened the night before her daughter died.
Detective Inspector Masood knows that Shannon has been sexually abused and suspicion falls upon her stepfather. Harry has been left temporarily homeless following a gas explosion in his flat and he moves in with Nikki. They end up examining two puzzling bodies at the Lyell centre.
The team discover more harrowing details of a number of underage girls who have been groomed and forced into prostitution. Leo looks around the flat where Amy was held. Gang member Younis begins to grow more uncomfortable as the men prey upon schoolgirls Lauren and Hannah. Nikki creates a facial reconstruction to identify the decomposed body found in the suitcase at the airport. Shannon is returned to her family but after stepfather Abdul finds out about her ordeal he decides to take revenge.