Emer Kenny is taking Karen Pirie’s cold cases to the small screen. The “Harlots” scribe has been tapped to adapt Val McDermid’s “The Distant Echo” for ITV. Deadline broke the news.

The first in a series of best-selling novels about Scottish detective Karen Pirie, “The Distant Echo” sees her “tasked with reopening the investigation into a murder that has been the subject of a provocative true crime podcast. When teenage barmaid Rosie Duff was stabbed to death in 1995, suspicion fell on the three drunken students who discovered her body. But despite police suspicion, the boys were never charged. Nearly 25 years on, DS Karen Pirie is determined to uncover what happened that fateful night,” the source hints. “Do the men know more than they previously revealed? When Karen uncovers flaws in the initial investigation, she finds herself in conflict with the very officers who led the original hunt for the killer.”

Described as a “refreshingly normal and charmingly unfashionable young woman,” Karen is “not slick or a maverick cop, [but] her quick mouth and ingenuity make her an impressive investigator.”

“The Distant Echo” will be shot in Scotland.

British broadcaster ITV has ordered three two-hour drama episodes of the adaptation, which Kenny will write. Besides “Harlots,” her other credits include “Red Rock” and “EastEnders.” Also an actress, she appeared onscreen in the latter and more recently in “Father Brown” and “Siblings.”

“From the moment I read that Karen Pirie orders a Bacardi Breezer as her after-work drink (other brands of alco-pop are available) I knew that she was the detective for me,” joked Kenny. “Val is the queen of crime for good reason and I’m honored to be bringing her creation to a TV audience, especially for ITV which has been home to some of my favorite detective shows, from ‘Broadchurch’ to ‘Prime Suspect.'”