Critic Reviews

With all three episodes under my belt, I can confirm that the twists and turns continue to ratchet up the suspense before the whole thing is satisfyingly resolved.

Despite appearing to retread old ground of the murder of a young woman who was on her way home, Karen Pirie, with its distinctly female-driven lens, feels relevant and self-aware, with an understanding of the effects of trauma that is not always catered for by this kind of show.

This Tartan Noir drama lifts itself above the usual run of these cold case thrillers because the story is told in a refreshingly cohesive way – there are relatively few annoyingly random flashbacks and bewilderingly disjointed series. There’s a discipline about the scripting that is curiously absent from too many others of the kind.

It’s quite smart, but the best thing might be to just ignore all of that stuff anyway and concentrate on McDermid’s tightly plotted story.

I liked Karen Pirie, a creation of Val McDermid. It felt modern and fresh (well, as fresh as yet another cop show can be), which is how Lauren Lyle played the lead character, a sarky, baby-faced detective in a man’s world, underestimated by her peers.

Karen Pirie is a pretty straightforward entry in the genre of British/Scottish police mysteries. But the first season presents a solid, twisty case and the title character is refreshingly young and not grizzled. Those two factors make the show an engaging watch.

The only surprise is that it took ITV so long to make this sequel to a series that was a hit with both viewers and critics in 2022. This new one looks set to follow suit.

While 90-minute episodes may arguably be too long for this sort of show, it's hard to deny that they're excellently structured here, and that the season as a whole never outstays its welcome.

It's unlikely to attract viewers who aren't already familiar with or deeply invested in British TV detective dramas. For everyone else, however, Karen Pirie season 2 will prove to be a genuine treat, a well-crafted story of family betrayal, the power wielded by the billionaire class, and one woman's sheer determination to uncover the truth.

Karen Pirie continues to be a refreshing detective series because of its enthusiastic main character and format that really lets the show’s writers dig into the characters both past and present.