AceShowbiz -

HBO programming director Michael Lombardo has offered a scoop from "True Detective" season 2. At the Edinburgh TV Festival on Thursday, August 21, he gushed about how good the next installment would be compared to last season.

"When you have a success like 'True Detective' it's challenging, less for us and more for someone like Nic, how to face the page again and start afresh and not be haunted by the success of the show you've just done," he said. "But the writing is better than last season. It's exceptional."

Lombardo confirmed several details about the upcoming season, saying, "We're going to start shooting in September for it to air next summer. [It has] different characters, a different setting. It's set in California, all of California. There are three cops. One of the characters is female. I think that's probably all I'm allowed to say. We'll probably be announcing casting soon."

Teasing the plot, he revealed, "It's still dark. Nic explores the darkness in people's souls. ... It's not as dark, but it's not a light ride. Nic likes looking into the crevices of the soul." He added that he'd read the first two hours of scripts and outlines for two subsequent episodes.

Colin Farrell, Taylor Kitsch, Elisabeth Moss and Vince Vaughn have been rumored to star on "True Detective" season 2. The Wrap has previously obtained alleged details of the plot and characters, revealing that the story would begin with "the death of Ben Caspar, the corrupt city manager of a fictional California city who's found brutally murdered amid a potentially groundbreaking transportation deal that would forever change freeway gridlock in the state."