The Scottish detective has a new case to solve in season two.

Karen Pirie is back for a gripping second series, with Outlander star Lauren Lyle delving into a fresh cold case. The popular ITV detective drama first hit screens in 2022, bringing Val McDermid’s Inspector Karen Pirie novels to life on television.

The inaugural series saw the young, intrepid Scottish detective Karen tackle a quarter-century-old case, unravelling the murder of a barmaid entangled in a web of sinister secrets, lies, and potential motives among suspects.

The follow-up series, inspired by McDermid’s novel A Darker Domain, unveils the 1984 abduction of an enchanting oil heiress, Catriona Grant, and her two-year-old son Adam.

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They were seized at gunpoint outside a chippy in Fife and vanished without a trace, despite a frenzied media storm.

The case resurfaces when a man’s body is discovered, linked to the original kidnapping, reports the Mirror.

The synopsis hints: “After her bittersweet success in series one, Karen has been promoted to Detective Inspector and seemingly given the authority she has long been fighting for.

“Just as she’s getting into the swing of her powerful new role, she is assigned an infamous unsolved case that will put her under intense scrutiny; from her boss, from the media, and ultimately, from sinister forces that would rather the past stayed in the past.”

Is the second series of Karen Pirie based on a true story?

While the case might seem like it could be rooted in reality, A Darker Domain is purely fictional.

The novel draws inspiration from the UK Miners’ Strike of 1984-1985 in Fife, coinciding with the fictional crime of Catriona’s kidnap, and where McDermid grew up.

However, despite the central case of the series being fictional, actress Lauren found some truth in her character.

“It was really interesting when we were filming, we started at St Andrews Cathedral and one night we had police escorts with us,” she shared ahead of the first series broadcast.

“One of them was a 20-something blonde woman, and it turns out she was a detective from Methil, the same tiny town Karen is from! To me, she was the real Karen Pirie.

“So we exchanged numbers and we stayed in touch, it was like looking into a mirror for Karen.”

Writer Emer Kenny also recently highlighted the importance of keeping the series true to the book’s setting, despite season one being set in the 1990s while the first book, The Distant Echo, was set in the 1970s.

She told Radio Times: “This time it felt really important for it to be 1984, which is what it is in the book, because the background is the miners’ strike, which, in the east of Scotland, was a massive thing in that area.

“And quite a few of our characters are living in those areas, and some of the miners, so it felt really important that we keep it there. Also, I really love that era. I think it’s interesting politically, and I like the music and the style.”

She further commented: “Also, it’s quite important to Val because she’s from that area, she lived through that.”

Reflecting on the filming process, Lauren disclosed to the publication that they “often would go to where Val is from”.

She explained: “We’d put up some of our sets, you would see the old mounts, the pit heads, and we would use all that. And they’ve never been taken away, because they can’t, they were just sort of abandoned. It’s quite haunting and intense to be around that. It really puts into perspective how real some of that was.”

Karen Pirie is available to watch on ITVX.