Brenda and the team must investigate the murder of high-profile model Heather Kingsley, who dies as a result of nicotine poisoning, applied to her scalp via her hair conditioner. Suspicion quickly falls on her movie-star husband, Dean, whose philandering ways and false claims of a pre-nuptual agreement make him the likely killer. As Brenda investigates, she is drawn into the world of celebrity beauty, where illusion is everything, and the standard high. When she undergoes a make-over to meet the Dean’s discarded lovers one-by-one, each of whom appears to have a motive to murder, Brenda realizes there may be more to this case than a man trying to get out of a marriage. At the same time, she is slowly seduced by the superficial glamour, which seems to impress her colleagues, and Fritz. As the real killer emerges, Brenda comes to the realization that she can only be who she is, and that the rest is just an illusion.

When a gay man is murdered, seemingly the latest victim of a string of hate crimes, Brenda must confront prejudices inside and out of the LAPD. But when the perpetrator of the crimes turns out to be something quite different than expected, and has an alibi for the latest murder, Brenda must dig deeper to discover if this crime is part of the string, or a crime of passion disguised as a hate crime. Meanwhile, Flynn and Taylor step up their efforts to undermine Brenda once again, but with unexpected effects, as the team begins to rally around Brenda. Provenza's quirks begin to emerge, and we meet Terrence Hynes, a County Coroner's Forensics Support worker with an odd sense of humor. On the home front, Brenda finds herself with some new charges when her (male) Kitty has kittens.

The murder of an adolescent girl from Mexico, found dead in the Los Angeles River, proves difficult and painful for Brenda and her team. At first, a known sex-offender seems the likely candidate, but questions arise about why the girl and her mother were brought to the US, leading the investigation in another direction. Soon, the girl's backpack suggests the girl's uncle or the family for whom the mother worked may have been involved, A search of the house suggests one of the family is the murderer, but which one? An end-run by the family, determined to protect the killer, takes Brenda to Mexico, where she must use all her resources, Fritz and Mexican law to finally bring the killer to justice. The usually cantankerous Dr. Crippen shows his softer side as he briefs Brenda following the autopsy, in a scene representative of the way in which the violent death of a child impacts the police.

Three wealthy, spoiled and unruly children become the target of Brenda's investigation when their stepmother is murdered and the family butler seemingly commits suicide shortly thereafter. Riding heard on the trio is their family attorney, who cleans up their messes and provides them with alibis. Convinced the butler was actually murdered, Brenda sets out to discover which of the children committed the murders, and finds the real killer was someone altogether different!

Brenda and her team must find not only a killer, but also identify the killer's victim when a deranged, homicidal madman is set free due to mistaken identity. Trying to make sense of an array of complexities in this unusual case, Brenda comes across what may be another betrayal by a member of the Priority Homicide Division. The case takes an even darker turn when Brenda becomes the center of the psychopathic killer's attention.

When a juror in the trial of an infamous mobster is found dead, Brenda and the Priority Homicide Division find that their involvement in solving the case may be affecting the jury's final decision. Complicating her personal life, Brenda faces another new challenge: a surprise visit from her mother.

Brenda and the PHD investigate a high-profile case when a woman is brutally murdered at L.A.'s trendiest restaurant. On the home front, Brenda tries to keep a low profile as she closes in on her 40th birthday.

Brenda and the team find themselves wading through a long list of suspects when a celebrity photographer takes a fatal fall from his hotel room balcony. Once the cause of death is determined, the motive points to a big time actor with something to hide. In the meantime, Brenda starts to feel like Fritz is behaving strangely, making her realize that superstars may not be the only ones who have secrets to keep.

When a few body parts of an "adult film" star are found in a dumpster, Brenda and the team must scramble for more pieces to solve this puzzle. Once they begin putting things together, the suspect list seems to get longer. Adding more questions to her life, Brenda also finds herself making a potentially life-altering discovery.

The body of a long-dead murder victim is uncovered along with Lt. Provenza’s business card, setting off the squad’s search for his identity and killer. When the bullet is traced to a gang weapon that had been turned into the LAPD 15 years prior, Deputy Chief Johnson is forced to contend with political activist Father Jack.

At a retired cop’s funeral, Lt Provenza and Lt. Flynn discover something quite unexpected along with the corpse.