Guides · Books
From Page to Screen
Ten beloved British mysteries and dramas, and the novels that started it all. Read the book, then watch the adaptation — or the other way around.
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Ann Cleeves' novels gave the show its unmistakable heroine — the rumpled, sharp-eyed Northumberland detective who trusts instinct as much as evidence. The series has now outlasted the source novels' original run, drawing on both Cleeves' books and original stories.
Robert Thorogood's cozy mystery novel introduced Judith Potts and her unlikely trio of amateur sleuths in the Thames-side town of Marlow. The adaptation keeps the gentle, puzzle-box charm of the books intact.
Anthony Horowitz's mystery-within-a-mystery follows an editor investigating her author's death while working through his unfinished manuscript — itself a whodunit that mirrors the real case. The series preserves that clever double structure.
Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning novel reimagines Thomas Cromwell's rise through the court of Henry VIII. The BBC adaptation, starring Mark Rylance, waited nearly a decade for its sequel series covering the trilogy's final book.
Caroline Graham's first Chief Inspector Barnaby novel gave the long-running series its blueprint: a picturesque village, an impossibly high murder rate, and a detective who never seems rattled by any of it.
One of Christie's most celebrated twists anchors this adaptation, part of David Suchet's 25-year run as the definitive screen Poirot across nearly all of Christie's novels and short stories featuring the character.
John Galsworthy's Nobel Prize-winning saga of a wealthy London family has now been adapted for television three times — a 1967 BBC classic, a 2002 ITV version, and this newest PBS Masterpiece production.
M.C. Beaton's tart-tongued former PR exec turned Cotswolds amateur detective made the leap to screen with her wit mostly intact, solving village murders in between complaining about country life.
Kate Atkinson's acclaimed novel follows Ursula Todd living the same life over and over, dying and being reborn again and again across two world wars. The BBC's four-part adaptation stars Thomasin McKenzie.
Barbara Taylor Bradford's bestselling saga follows Emma Harte's rise from Yorkshire servant girl to department-store magnate. This is its second major screen adaptation, following the original 1985 miniseries.
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