13 must-watch crime dramas based on books – from Slow Horses to The Day of the Jackal

Literary editor Susan Ryeland (Lesley Manville) receives inspiration from a famous fictional detective. Sequel Moonflower Murders is also available, while filming has just wrapped on the third and final instalment in the trilogy, Marble Hall Murders.

Adapted from the novels by Anthony Horowitz

Murder Most Puzzling – available now on 5

A crossword-setter (Phyllis Logan) with a secret moves to a supposedly sleepy market town and starts solving murder cases. The police, naturally, take umbrage.

Adapted from A Clue for the Puzzle Lady (2000) and its sequels by Parnell Hall.

The Marlow Murder Club – available now on U

Upmarket Buckinghamshire is the setting for this cozy whodunnit which finds a trio of female sleuths (led by Samantha Bond) taken on as helpers to the official force.

Adapted from the 2021 novel (and its sequels) by Robert Thorogood

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder – available now on iPlayer/Netflix

Student Pip (Emma Myers) isn’t satisfied with the verdict in the case of a missing teen and turns investigator herself. A follow-up is currently in the works.

Adapted from the 2019 novel (and its sequels) by Holly Jackson

Virdee – available now on BBC iPlayer

Bradford detective Harry Virdee (Staz Nair) hunts a killer targeting the Asian community, just as his new wife scandalises his family.

Adapted from AA Dhand’s 2018 novel City of Sinners

Department Q – available now on Netflix

Matthew Goode stars as an arrogant copper who’s assigned a basement office and a stack of cold case files. Think Slow Horses with detectives instead of spies.

Adapted from 2007 Danish-language novel The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Dalgliesh – available now on 5

Poet and police officer Adam Dalgliesh (Bertie Carvel) lays claim to being TV’s most cerebral detective in these elegantly plotted mysteries set in the 1970s.

Based on the PD James Adam Dalgliesh novels (1962-2008)

The Gold – available now on BBC iPlayer

Neil Forsyth’s account of the 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery – starring Hugh Bonneville and Jack Lowden – tracks stolen bullion across the decades. Both series available now.

Forsyth and Thomas Turner’s tie-in non-fiction book The Gold: The real story behind Brink's-Mat: Britain's biggest heist was published in February 2023

The Beast Must Die – ITVX

Cush Jumbo’s Frances seeks revenge on her son’s murderer in this twisted thriller. Also stars Billy Howle as detective Nigel Strangeways and Jared Harris.

Adapted from the 1938 novel by Cecil Day-Lewis, under the pen name Nicholas Blake

The Day of the Jackal – available now on Now

Eddie Redmayne is the well-paid assassin and Lashana Lynch the intelligence operative on his tail in this classy reimagining of the classic thriller. A second series is in the works.

Adapted from the 1971 Frederick Forsyth novel

The Night Agent – available now on Netflix

A lowly FBI agent (Gabriel Basso) on the night shift in the White House finds himself caught up in a grand conspiracy as he attempts to unmask a traitor.

Adapted from the 2019 novel by Matthew Quirk

Killing Eve – available now on BBC iPlayer

Jodie Comer’s breakout role came as an unhinged assassin hunting a spy (Sandra Oh). A new prequel, called Honey, is currently in production.

Based on the Villanelle novellas (2014-2016) by Luke Jennings

Alex Rider – available now on Prime Video

The teen spy (Otto Farrant) battles tech billionaires and secret assassins over three series of globe-trotting adventures. Also starring Vicky McClure and Stephen Dillane.

Based on the Alex Rider books (2000-2023) by Anthony Horowitz

... and 5 more to watch soon

Down Cemetery Road – coming soon to Apple TV+

Two women (Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson) team up to find a missing child.

Adapted from the 2003 novel by Slow Horses’ Mick Herron.

Murder Before Evensong – due in the autumn on 5

Canon Daniel Clement (Matthew Lewis) follows in the footsteps of Father Brown and Grantchester’s clerical crime-solvers in a 1980s murder mystery.

Adapted from the 2022 novel by Richard Coles

Lynley – due in the autumn on BBC1

He’s upper crust, she’s working class - together they make for a formidable pairing. Leo Suter and Sofia Barclay stars as the aristocratic DI Lynley and the maverick DS Havers.

Based on Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley novels (1988-2025)

Atomic – coming soon to Sky Atlantic/NOW

Two friends caught in a uranium-smuggling plot vow to prevent a nuclear holocaust while evading MI6 and the CIA. Stars Alfie Allen and Shazad Latif.

Inspired by the 2006 non-fiction book Atomic Bazaar by William Langewiesche

Night Manager 2 – due in 2026 on BBC1

Tom Hiddleston’s sharp-suited inside man returns in a long-awaited sequel to the glossy John Le Carré story – with Hugh Laurie back as executive producer. In the meantime, the first series is available to watch on iPlayer.

Based on The Night Manager (1993) by John Le Carré

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