England's first black judge, Marcus Byron, is tough on criminals (though not of the knee-jerk 'hang 'em, flog 'em' tendency): he has no time for the wishy washy excuses so beloved of social workers. Charismatic and media-friendly, Marcus is popular with the general public - though less so with colleagues in the criminal justice system, some of whom are determined to bring him down. Marcus's only apparent Achilles heel is women - much married, he can't resist a slender thigh, a flirtatious glance . But when it comes, Marcus's downfall is from an unexpected quarter: his daughter Lucy, who has never forgiven her father for abandoning his first family, and who is determined to make him pay.