BBC One has given the greenlight to eight-part crime drama The Dublin Murders, based on Tana French’s award-winning series of mysteries. Sarah Phelps, who recently reimagined several Agatha Christie novels for the BBC, will adapt the first two books about the fictional Dublin Murder Squad. Euston Films and Veritas Entertainment Group optioned the rights in 2015 and have joined with Element Pictures to produce. Filming will start next year in Belfast and Dublin.

The Dublin Murders is drawn from French’s In The Woods and The Likeness. Blending psychological mystery and darkness, each novel is led by a different detective or detectives from the same Dublin squad. The first book centers on a duo investigating the murder of a 12-year-old girl; The Likeness is about a young female detective who goes undercover to solve a murder in an elite college town. The thruline is an intense emotional connection between cop and crime, underpinned by a disturbing tremor from another influence.