Luther

DCI John Luther returns to work after a spell of leave following the traumatic arrest of the serial killer Henry Madsen. Luther's first case is investigating the murder of the parents of child genius, Alice Morgan. He quickly deduces that Alice is responsible for the deaths, but the seemingly perfect crime leaves no evidence with which to convict her.

Luther must out maneuver a trained sniper on a mission to kill police officers. But as the body count rises, he has to uncover the killer's true motives. Meanwhile, Alice has been investigating Luther and to his horror, seems to know what happened to Madsen during his arrest. She baits him further by asking what Zoe would think if she knew the truth.

Kirsten Ross, a young mother, has been abducted. Luther realizes that this is the work of Lucien Burgess, a collector and writer of the occult, who was suspected of the murder of another woman, Grace Allen, 10 years previously; but Burgess was never charged.

When a serial killer goes on the rampage, Luther must put his personal life aside and delve inside the murderer's mind to discover what is driving him to kill so many girls, and why. Meanwhile, serial killer Henry Madsen, the man responsible for Luther's extended leave, has woken up from his coma. Because of Madsen, it's too dangerous for Luther to see Alice any more, but can she ever accept this?

When an art dealer's wife is taken hostage at gunpoint, Luther leads a tense investigation. The hostage takers want payment in diamonds so, stalling for time, Luther substitutes a bag of replacement diamonds from the Serious Crime Unit's evidence safe. Luther and DCI Reed are on hand to arrest the gang members picking up the gems, but when everything starts to unravel Luther begins to suspect that even Reed has double-crossed him.

Framed for murder, the only person DCI John Luther can turn to for help is Alice. DCI Reed remains at the heart of the police team, quietly shoring up the evidence against Luther from within. Even Rose Teller, Luther's former stalwart supporter, now leans on Reed for emotional support. To have any chance of escaping Reed's web of lies Luther must steal the evidence and discredit him. But can Alice really be trusted?