Our latest find on BBC was Karen Pirie. It feature Lauren Lyle who played Marsali MacKimmie Fraser in Outlander. it is based on Val McDermid‘s 2003 novel, The Distant Echo. Pirie is a young up-and-coming detective who is unexpectantly promoted and given responsibility for a twenty five year old cold case, the murder of a young barmaid. The unsolved crime and the inability of the Scottish police to make progress with it has been featured on a popular podcast. They give Pirie the case to try to take off the heat even though they don’t believe she will make any progress.
The format of the season is three 90-minute episodes. Lyle does a good job with developing the main character of DS Karen Pirie. She is not the dour, depressed type we get on so many shows today. The plot is solid and the show is well paced. It feels believable and builds to a solid climax.
Karen Pirie is definitely recommended if you like British crime dramas. We will be watching for news of upcoming seasons. If you want to check out other shows we are watching, you can see the list here.