Mac, the two-fisted, savvy cop finds that he's being saddled with a new partner, a known burnout, to work with him on a new and difficult case. The new partner is Ellis, an amazing detective, one who puts Sherlock Holmes to shame with his lightning-fast deductions. But he keeps assuming the personalities of entire casts of Television shows. This can be a problem when people begin shooting at them.

Scudder is a detective with the Sheriff's Department who is forced to shoot a violent suspect during a narcotics raid. The ensuing psychological aftermath of this shooting worsens his drinking problem and this alcoholism causes him to lose his job, as well as his marriage.

Lorie Brindel works at an insurance company and falls in love with one of her clients, the much older Ed Bledsoe. Spending weeks of passion together, Lorie is convinced that Ed is the man of her life and that he would marry her. When Ed decides to break up the relationship, Lorie does not accept it and tries to win him back, falling from her extreme love into an equally extreme hatred.

A white female detective is partnered with a black male detective to find the person who is committing a series of particularly vicious murders. During the course of the investigation the two begin to develop an attraction to each other, but the situation is complicated by the fact that he is married.

Four young boys find a shipwrecked Japanese sailor during World War II and struggle with the decision to save him.