Scottish actress Sharon Rooney is taking on a major new role as a detective in a crime thriller coming to television next year.

The Glasgow-born star, currently appearing in The Celebrity Traitors, leads the cast of An Impossible Way to Die alongside MobLand actor Emmett J Scanlan.

First-look images from the new six-part drama have now been released by 5, showing Rooney as DS Katie Salter and Scanlan as DI Niall Conway as they investigate an increasingly bizarre murder mystery.

The series begins with the discovery of four people sitting around a table apparently prepared for a dinner party.

There is just one problem – all four of them are dead.

First look at Celebrity Traitors star Sharon Rooney as detective in new TV thriller

The only apparent clue is a scorpion crawling out of the mouth of one of the victims.

Salter has previously been happily dealing with everyday crimes before she is unexpectedly drawn into the high-pressure murder investigation.

She is paired with Conway, the lead investigator on the case, but their very different approaches to police work initially put them at odds.

The broadcaster has positioned Salter as a different kind of television detective, describing her as smart, diligent and committed to her family rather than the familiar damaged and tormented investigator often seen in crime dramas.

Sebastian Cardwell, deputy chief content officer and head of scripted at Paramount UK, previously said the idea of casting Rooney was central to the development of the series.

He said: “Casting Sharon Rooney as a detective was the genesis of this thriller.”

Rooney has appeared in Hollywood films including Barbie and Disney’s Dumbo.

Her Scottish television credits include the hit BBC comedy Two Doors Down, while she has most recently been seen alongside a string of famous faces in The Celebrity Traitors, filmed at Ardross Castle in the Highlands.

Scanlan plays DI Niall Conway after recently appearing as Paul O’Donnell in Guy Ritchie’s MobLand. His other credits include Gangs of London, Peaky Blinders and Kin.

The supporting cast of An Impossible Way to Die includes Scottish actress Lois Chimimba, whose credits include Coldwater and Vigil, alongside Jonny Lavelle and Ashley McGuire.

An Impossible Way to Die will air on 5 in 2027, with an exact transmission date still to be announced.