The story follows Renée Ballard, a once-rising star in the LAPD who has been relegated to the "late show"—the grueling midnight shift in Hollywood—after filing a sexual harassment complaint against her superior, Lieutenant Robert Olivas.

Sesión Nocturna is the first book in the Renée Ballard series. The character later goes on to team up with Connelly's long-running protagonist, , in subsequent novels such as Dark Sacred Night ( Noche Sagrada ) and The Night Fire ( Fuego Nocturno ).

Defying orders and her partner's wishes, Ballard works both cases during the day while maintaining her regular night shift. As the two investigations begin to intertwine, she must confront her own past and put her career and life at risk to find justice.

Working this shift typically means Ballard must hand over her investigations to daytime detectives every morning. However, one night she catches two cases she refuses to let go of: