'Karen Pirie' Is Back on the Case in First Images From Season 2 of the British Mystery Series

Nearly three years after solving her first mystery and earning that coveted promotion to Detective Inspector, Karen Pirie is finally getting back to work. BritBox and World Productions revealed the first images from Season 2 of the British cold-case drama, which finds Lauren Lyle's titular crime-solver back in the saddle with a new, disturbing assignment that will have all eyes on her. Adapted once again by Emer Kenny, this run of episodes is based on the second book in Val McDermid's best-selling series of detective novels, titled A Darker Domain, and picks up with the inspector getting used to her newfound authority. However, that position is quickly tested when she's given a case from 1984 that has long confounded investigators, enraptured the public, and attracted attention from sinister forces that would rather the past stay buried.

Season 2 centers on the case of Catriona and Adam Grant, a charming heiress of an oil fortune and her two-year-old son. One night outside a local fish and chip shop in Fife, the pair were taken at gunpoint, and the culprits would begin sending ransom notes that ignited a press firestorm. However, when the notes stopped coming, the police stumbled, and the mother and her son were never seen or heard from again. Cut to the present, and a man's body has been uncovered with undeniable links to the kidnapping, giving Karen and her team their first bit of fresh evidence in years and amplifying the pressure on them to finally get answers. Yet, what she'll discover as she uncovers the political grudges and painful secrets tied to Cat and Adam's disappearance is that the past lives on, and it could come back to haunt her.

The images show off Karen's crack team of investigators, who are by her side and digging for answers, as well as other players involved in the case. Karen Pirie Season 2 will see the return of the inspector's reliable sidekick, DC Jason ‘Mint’ Murray (Chris Jenks), as well as her romantically complicated ally, DS Phil Parhatka (Zach Wyatt), both of whom can be spotted accompanying her through alleys, streets, and into airplane hangars. There's also the aforementioned Kenny's River Wilde, who appears to have found evidence in the local marsh. They'll all be hounded by Cat's father, the also-pictured Sir Broderick Grant (James Cosmo). With the past being such a focal point for this mystery, the series will also cut back to that 1984 autumn with Julia Brown embodying the missing Cat and Thoren Ferguson playing DI Anderson, an investigator from the time who stumbles upon a flaming car that may tie into the kidnapping.

Who Else Will Star in Season 2 of 'Karen Pirie'?

In addition to everyone featured in the images, Season 2 of Karen Pirie features a massively expanded cast around the Outlander star Lyle. She, Jenks, Wyatt, and Kenny are joined by fellow returning actors Steve John Shepherd and Rakhee Thakrar. Newcomers in the present day that will play major roles include Saskia Ashdown, Frances Tomelty, John Michie, and Cosmo, with James Fleet, Tom Mannion, and Tommaso Basili also coming aboard. The past storyline, meanwhile, features Brown and Ferguson alongside Mark Rowley, Kat Ronney, Conor Berry, Stuart Campbell, Jamie Michie, Madeleine Worrall, Jack Stewart, and Helen Katamba. Together, they'll look to build upon a first season that earned a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes in 2022 and earned Lyle plenty of acclaim.

Season 2 of Karen Pirie will premiere on BritBox in the U.S. and Canada this October. Season 1, meanwhile, is available to stream now. Check out the first images from the inspector's second case in the gallery above.

Karen Pirie

Release Date

September 25, 2022

Network

ITV1

Directors

Gareth Bryn

Writers

Emer Kenny

• Lauren Lyle DS Karen Pirie

• Chris Jenks DC Jason Murray

• Zach Wyatt DS Phil Parhatka