Karen Pirie Season 2 ending explained: Cat’s murderer is revealed and Adam finds a new life

Karen Pirie Season 2 premiered on July 20, 2025 and marked the return of the titular detective, ready to crack open another cold case. Based on the second novel of Val McDermid, titled A Darker Domain, the second season follows the case of oil heiress Catriona aka Cat Grant and her infant son Adam who were abducted 40 years ago.

As Karen and her team proceeds with the investigation, it becomes clear that the case was not as simple as it initially seemed. Moreover, the revelation of Cat’s involvement in her own kidnapping takes the investigation in a completely different direction as family secrets and lies are uncovered.

Let us now explore the ending of Karen Pirie Season 2 in detail.

Cat planned her own kidnapping in Karen Pirie Season 2

Cat Grant was the heiress of an oil empire, whose father Brodie, along with Fergus had buried a series of murders they had committed for the oil company. When Cat found this out, she decided to run.

Fergus was the father of her child Adam but given his involvement with the company’s activities, she did not include him in the plan.

Instead, she took the help of Mick, a mine worker, with whom she fell in love. Together, they planned an abduction of Cat and Adam. However, as Mick went on involving more people in the plan, including Andy and Kevin, things went south when it was time to execute the plan in Karen Pirie Season 2.

Kevin, who was a local gangster, was not aware that Cat was involved in her own kidnapping. Therefore, when he reached to abduct her and her son with a gun, Cat got genuinely scared as it was not a part of the plan.

However, Mick soon reached the scene and he and Cat started to fight about the gun, Kevin realized that Cat was aware of everything. This made him angry and he started to fight with Mick, which led to Cat taking the gun and fatally shooting Kevin.

Cat’s mother Mary was responsible for her death in Karen Pirie Season 2

Going ahead with the kidnapping plan, the group then sent ransom letters to the Grant family and also mentioned that they were aware of Fergus being Adam’s father. This makes Brodie and Fergus realize that perhaps Cat is part of the plan because this was secret information that no outsider was aware of.

They therefore decide that it would be best to pay the money and bring Cat and Adam back home. However, Cat’s mother Mary is not aware of her daughter’s involvement in the kidnapping and thinks she’s in real danger. She therefore follows Brodie when he goes to the cave with the ransom money.

The money transfer goes smoothly but when Cat and Mick go back into the cave, they find Mary waiting there and as she tries to shoot Mick, thinking she’s saving Cat, she mistakenly shoots Cat instead, and with some rocks falling down on her, she dies.

Mary however, does not know that she killed her own daughter and instead thought that the pair got away. Back at home, Brodie tells Fergus that they could not bring Cat and Adam back home and they went away.

Adam is raised by Mick in Karen Pirie Season 2

As Karen and her team eventually solve the mystery, it is revealed that Adam had been raised by Mick in rural Italy and had given the child a new name, Gabriel. He works as an activist now and after he comes to know everything about his past, Adam comes back to Scotland to meet Fergus, his biological father.

Mary is arrested on charges of killing Karen, and Mick and Adam decide to continue their lives in Malta, Italy, as the finale of the series draws to a close.

Karen Pirie can be streamed on BritBox.

Trending

Stay tuned to SoapCentral for more updates on shows!

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback