- Network: ITV Network , BritBox
- Series Premiere Date: Sep 25, 2022
Season #: 2, 1
Critic Reviews
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Karen's search for answers leads to one of the most dramatic climaxes I've seen since Broadchurch. [24 Oct - 6 Nov 2022, p.7]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 5 out of 9
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Mixed: 2 out of 9
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Negative: 2 out of 9
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Jan 6, 2023
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Nov 21, 2022