'The world breaks everyone and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.' Ernest Hemingway. It's winter and Detective Jill Brennan would rather be at home in a warm bed, instead she's been called out to a abandoned 19th century lunatic asylum to investigate the death of a young man.The victim turns out to be Robbie Calloway, a cop and Jill Brennan's ex-lover. Despite the evidence, Jill refuses to believe his death was suicide. When all the evidence points to suicide Jill sets out on a one-woman crusade to uncover the circumstances behind Robbie Calloway's death. When she's warned off by her superiors to let the case go, she refuses to listen. Days later when another body is discovered in the same location the trail turns dark and Jill Brennan is led into the terrifying world of drugs, crime gangs and child abuse with frightening consequences.