More Irish humor, please: “How to Get to Heaven from Belfast” is a series hiding in plain sight

Netflix’s “How to Get to Heaven from Belfast” begins with three hungover women attending the wake of a friend they have barely seen since school. Their grief is muted. Then they notice that the body in the coffin is missing the tattoo the friends had once chosen together.

The invitation to the wake came from a woman who does not exist. The three friends, swearing as they flee, are pursued and nearly killed. They return to their ordinary lives, but eventually decide to find out what happened. A shared youth can still bind people together, especially when it includes a crime that has not reached its statute of limitations.

The women have taken very different paths. Saoirse, played by Roísín Gallagher, writes a popular crime series. Dara, played by Caoilfhionn Dunne, cares for her not especially frail mother. Robyn, played by Sinéad Keenan, is an overwhelmed and underappreciated homemaker raising three young boys. Greta, the fourth friend from their Catholic girls’ school, moved to a small town in Northern Ireland where something is clearly wrong.

The series comes from Lisa McGee, the acclaimed writer behind “Derry Girls.” As in that earlier comedy, the new show draws on sharp dialogue and a distinctive Irish sense of humor, but its three friends are now adults confronting a buried past.

The production moves rapidly between genres. It is part mystery, crime story, comedy and road movie, including a car that is soon almost destroyed. The women encounter younger versions of themselves, an attractive mechanic who is also a police officer and a contract killer. The reviewer praises the black Irish humor and quick, incisive exchanges, while warning that the original-language version demands close attention to catch every joke and reference.