Back in 2007 when I first wrote about mystery series on television that was just what it was. Today people watch mystery programs in a variety of ways, on phones, tablets and computers as well as televisions. Then the content came through television providers like Prairie Public Television, the CBC and HBO. Today there are a multitude of other ways of finding content, streaming services like Acorn, Netflix, Britbox, Filmon, Apple tv, iTunes, Amazon and newer specialty channels.
The growth in ways to watch mysteries has also led to a substantial increase in the number and kinds of mysteries available. From series based on the books of cosy writers, e.g. Joanne Fluke and Kate Collins to the latest nordic noir series. This fall four long running series will be returning to television: the 22nd series of Midsomer Murders, the 6th series of Grantchester which will be alternating with Baptiste on Masterpiece Theatre, the 8th season of Endeavour and on CBC the 15th series of Murdoch Mysteries. Endeavour was a spin off series from Colin Dexter’s Morse series. The other three series were initially based on books by Caroline Graham, James Runcie and Maureen Jennings respectively but have come a long way from the originals.
Louise Penny is probably one of the bestselling mystery writers in the world now. In 2013 a made for tv film was made by CTV of her first Gamache novel Still Life. It received mixed reviews and despite rumors that there were other films to come none ever appeared. Earlier this fall Amazon Prime announced a new eight-episode series called Three Pines which is based on Louise Penny’s novels. The part of Gamache will be played by British actor Alfred Molina. The series will be produced by Left Bank who have had great success with The Crown.
Louise Penny’s latest Gamache novel, The Madness of Crowds was released in August 2021 and later this month State of Terror written with Hilary Clinton will be released. Hilary Clinton is an avid mystery reader and one of her favourite authors is Jacqueline Winspear and her Maisie Dobbs series. There have been a number of reports that Hilary & Chelsea Clinton’s production company, Hidden Light, is going to make a series based on the sixteen Maisie Dobbs titles. But as Jacqueline Winspear is quoted as saying there is a long way from an option to a finished programme.
If you were a fan of either the Luther novels or the tv series of the same name you will be pleased to hear that there will be a new Luther movie on Netflix. Peter James’ Superintendent Roy Grace is finally coming to television in a series called Grace. After years of false starts and rumours, ITV in Britain has made two feature length films based on the first two novels Dead Simple and Looking Good Dead.
In November, P.D. James’ Inspector Dalgliesh will be returning to the television screen. The series called Dalgliesh will follow the hero from the 1970s to the present. This first series is based on, Shroud For a Nightingale, The Black Tower and A Taste for Death. If you were a fan of Ben Miller in the first series of Death in Paradise, he is now starring in Professor T, as an eccentric genius criminologist. Martin Clunes (everyone’s favourite doctor in Doc Martin) is appearing in Manhunt, which documents the true-life search for a serial killer and the detective D.C.I. Colin Sutton who solved it.
Ian Rankin is a firm favourite of our customers and mystery readers around the world. Later this Fall, Channel 4 in the UK will be showing a series, Murder Island, that was filmed this Summer on the Scottish Island of Gigha. Rankin has created a narrative for a murder mystery. Murder Island is in fact a reality show and it will be up to the contestants to find whodunit. There will policemen and other professionals to provide some advice and guidance, but the eight contestants can follow their own ideas about how to investigate the crime. The prize for solving the crime and providing a compelling case that could be used by the Prosecutors Office will be 50,000 pounds sterling.