How to Get to Heaven from Belfast is an uneven mix of broad, dark comedy and an intriguing mystery tale. The series is from Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee. Once again we’re dealing with strong Irish accents and close captions are recommended. I wouldn’t want you to miss any of the jokes skewering the Catholic Church.

How to Get to Heaven from Belfast features four women. When they were all 17 and in high school something happened that bonded them forever in a guilty secret. Now 20 years later they get word that one of them has died. The other three gather to go home to pay their respects.

Getting together with old high school pals makes these supposedly mature women act giddy as girls as they swing from reliving the past to dealing with the present.

Saoirse (Roisin Gallagher and young Saoirse, Emily Flain) writes a murder mystery television show. Robyn (Sinéad Keenan and young Robyn, Maria Laird) has a husband and three wild children. Dara (Caoilfhionn Dunne and young Dara, Chara Aitken) is a lesbian still living at home and caring for her mother.

They are going to the funeral of Greta (Natasha O’Keeffe and young Greta, Emma Canning). On the way there they are rescued (they get rescued several times) by a handsome young guard, Liam (Darragh Hand) who has a second job driving a tow truck.

Greta was married to the head of the guard, Owen (Emmett J. Scanlan). She lived with Owen, her teen daughter, and a mysterious woman named Margo (Michelle Fairley). Owen claims Greta died in an accident falling down the stairs. But something is wonky with the body and Saoirse, who is attuned to murder plots, alerts the others. The corpse is missing a tattoo the four of them got when the big bad secret happened.

Back in high school the girls knew Charles (Josh Finan) who disappeared about then. His grown son Andrew (also Josh Finan) is now asking questions about his dad. They had another high school friend, Jodie (Selin Hizli), who is now in Portugal. How about a trip to Portugal as part of the mystery solving? Okay!

Finally there are two very important characters who steal the show in many ways. I won’t explain who they are because it’s too big of a spoiler. Booker (Bronagh Gallagher) and Feeney (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) are their names. They are both hilarious and deadly serious.

The series has 8 episodes full of unlikely surprises and goofy twists. All of them lead in one comedic way or another to the answer to the mystery of why Greta’s corpse doesn’t seem to be Greta. I was intrigued by the mystery but often felt the comedy was a little over the top.

The mystery was solved and no unanswered questions remained, but the final seconds managed to be a cliffhanger. So perhaps they are hoping for a second season of this mayhem. Although the series wasn’t perfect, I did enjoy watching this romp of a mystery story and would happily watch these women in a second season.

The entire season is streaming on Netflix.