The provided excerpts from the novel Nightlife by Thomas Perry center on a serial killer named Tanya Starling, who operates under various aliases like Rachel Sturbridge, Nancy Mills, and Judith Nathan, as she targets men and evades authorities. The narrative follows Detective Sergeant Catherine Hobbes of the Portland Police Bureau, who is intensely pursuing Tanya after the murder of Dennis Poole, the cousin of Hugo Poole, who hires a private investigator named Joe Pitt to also look into the case. The killer demonstrates extreme manipulation and cunning, repeatedly changing her identity, appearance, and location across the country, while actively attempting to murder Hobbes and others who come close to exposing her. The text also includes brief explorations of Catherine Hobbes's personal life, including a past divorce and her developing relationship with Joe Pitt.