Paul Turner is not your typical middle-aged cop. A widower, he lives with his two teenaged sons, and he is gay. He is also trusted by the brass to handle sensitive cases, so when a Chicago Alderman is found murdered, Turner is assigned to the case. The dead Alderman was not only a professor at the University of Chicago, but also a leading liberal gadfly with the media's ear. As Turner investigates, he discovers that jealous professors and old-guard politicians have guilty secrets to protect, not the least of which are the real reasons why some people in Chicago hated the alderman-information that they will stop at nothing to keep secret.