An INSPECTOR calls

LAUREN LYLE on her newly promoted cop's latest murky case

- VICTORIA WILSON

KAREN PIRIE NEW SUNDAY, 8PM, ITV1 DRAMA (BOX SET, ITVX)

It may be rainy in Glasgow, but Lauren Lyle is not letting the weather dampen her spirits. TV Times has been invited to watch filming for cold-case drama Karen Pirie – which returns for a second series on ITV1 this week following a successful debut outing in 2022 – and the Scottish actor is delighted to be working in her home city as well as reprising the titular role, especially as her fearless character has risen the ranks from detective sergeant to detective inspector.

As Karen settles into her post, she's tasked with reopening a high-profile investigation that is set to put her under intense scrutiny, not only from her boss Detective Chief Superintendent Lees (played by Steve John Shepherd) and the media, but also from forces desperate to keep the past buried.

Based on Val McDermid's 2008 novel A Darker Domain (below), the second story in the author's Karen Pirie franchise, and adapted for the small screen by Father Brown star Emer Kenny, the three-parter revolves around the 1984 disappearance of an oil heiress, Catriona Grant (World on Fire's Julia Brown), and her two-year-old son, Adam, who were kidnapped at gunpoint outside a fish-and-chip shop in Fife.

When a new piece of evidence emerges, can Karen and her team – DC Jason 'Mint' Murray (Chris Jenks), DS Phil Parhatka (Zach Wyatt) and new recruit DC Isla Stark (Six Four's Saskia Ashdown) – unravel a web of painful secrets to solve the mystery? Here, Lauren shares her case notes...