Joelle Franklin, a senior social worker in Chicago, is fearless, intelligent and totally committed to her job but a mess when it comes to romance. She gets drawn into the investigation surrounding the death in suspicious circumstances of a former client, running headlong into systemic racism, classism and corruption in Cook County. At the same time she’s trying to balance life with Irish émigré girlfriend Siobhan and conflict with both her superiors and her younger brother Michael, a Cook County Sheriff.