The victim was young, female, and black. Her skull had been smashed in, her face decomposed beyond all recognition. But for Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison, the corpse that had just been found in one of London's poorest communities was only the beginning of a case that would tear apart an already divided city, and embroil the gritty cop and her force in a hotbed of racial strife, shocking accusations, and sudden, wrenching violence.