Firinn450

I've read the Val McDermid books, which are good, but this isn't like them sadly. The main impression is that the Karen Pirie in this is nothing like the books. Egotistic, irritating character who everyone keeps saying is a great detective whilst it's the team who do all the actual work. In the second series she's sleeping with her colleague, getting drunk & gets her laptop with all her apparently unencrypted confidential files stolen because she took it home, which would be the end of her career & a major law suit/fine for her department. But hey, underestimate her at your peril! She's a great detective, everyone keeps saying so. The subtleties and plot twists of the books are forgotten under a miasma of carefully orchestrated diversity & forced edgy personalities that would never get a sniff of responsibility or promotion in real life, but this is very far from real life. We hope anyhow, because they're the ones serving, protecting & investigating serious crime, though in this series, you'd never believe it. I like a good murder mystery & crime procedural, but this is hard going because the main character is so irritating. Have to say these new British dramas are so self-consciously busy observing 'diversity', #MeToo pretensions etc. That it seems to affect the quality of the drama because it tries too hard to the detriment of anything else, including competent script & plot development. Vera suffered the same way despite the marvellous Brenda Blethyn, and this Karen Pirie does not even have that charm. Sorry but it's painful to watch & not one of the characters seems real or makes you care, sadly.