# Traces (2019)

> Three determined women join forces in Dundee to uncover the truth behind an unsolved murder close to home.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/81304

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 46 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, mystery
- Created by: Val McDermid, Amelia Bullmore
- Network: U&Alibi
- Cast: Molly Windsor, Laura Fraser, Jennifer Spence, Martin Compston, Michael Nardone, Laurie Brett, John Gordon Sinclair, Vincent Regan
- TMDB rating: 7.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9788012/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: measured, atmospheric, melancholic, tense

## What critics say

Viewers find the Dundee setting, the lead cast and the gripping, briskly paced case-solving entertaining, though the overall audience verdict is mixed.

## Synopsis

Traces (2019-2022) is a British crime mystery series created by Val McDermid and Amelia Bullmore for U&Alibi. Set against the stunning Scottish landscape in and around Dundee, it follows Emma (Molly Windsor), a lab assistant drawn into an unsolved murder case that sits uncomfortably close to home, alongside Prof. Sarah Gordon (Laura Fraser) and Prof. Kathy Torrance (Jennifer Spence), two academics whose expertise becomes the key to the investigation. Martin Compston plays Daniel MacAfee, a figure whose connections keep the past unsettled, while Michael Nardone portrays DCI Neil McKinven, the police presence who must weigh the women's unconventional methods against official procedure. The engine of the series is patient investigation: forensic evidence, old testimony and buried relationships are sifted episode by episode, and each case unfolds across a run of roughly forty-six minute installments. Across two seasons of six episodes each, the show stays closer to a cold case thriller than a conventional police procedural, favoring careful detection and quiet dread over spectacle. Its tone is measured and atmospheric, with the wind-swept Scottish coast and tense interiors carrying a melancholy weight. Fans of Happy Valley, Wire in the Blood and Bones will find resonance in its blend of forensic detail, female-led investigation and intimate character drama.

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