Last Updated on April 22, 2026
When a favorite mystery series jumps from the page to the screen, I always feel a mix of excitement and nerves. Will they get the characters right? Will it look the way it does in my head?
With these ten book to screen adaptations, I think the answer is mostly “yes” – and in a few cases, “they’ve added a whole new layer you might actually love.”
And, I know that using the word ‘best’ is subjective, and of course, there are plenty of shows I have left out, not because I don’t love them, but because I had to whittle down the list!
So I went with shows and movies that I genuinely love and, more importantly, are based on really, really good books!
If you think I have overlooked a gem, then feel free to comment below – just don’t be mean about it (I’m really thin-skinned!!).
Otherwise, I hope you like what I have chosen, and if you haven’t read the books or watched the shows/movies, you can add them to your list, and you won’t be disappointed!
The Thursday Murder Club (Netflix)
I have to start with the newcomers at Cooper’s Chase, because they’re the definition of “I already love these people on the page, now I get to see them move.”
Netflix’s The Thursday Murder Club is based on Richard Osman’s bestselling novel about a group of retirees who meet weekly to dig into cold cases, only to find themselves investigating a fresh murder on their doorstep.
The movie follows the core setup from the first book: the murder of shady developer Tony Curran and then another death in front of a crowd, giving the club their first “live” case.
You still get Elizabeth’s sharp mind, Joyce’s diary‑style view of things, Ron’s bluster, and Ibrahim’s quiet observation, but the casting (Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie) gives them an instant lived‑in feel.
For readers who know the series, the fun is spotting what’s changed because the film streamlines the plot and tweaks motives, but it keeps that mix of warmth, wit, and real stakes that made the books so addictive.
Agatha Christie’s Marple
If you grew up with Miss Marple on the page, then the ITV Agatha Christie’s Marple series feels like settling into a favorite armchair that’s been reupholstered a few times.
These are modern(ish) adaptations of Agatha Christie’s village and country‑house mysteries, airing on ITV in the UK and PBS/streaming in the US – and also available on Netflix in some countries.
Whether you preferred Geraldine McEwan or Julia McKenzie, the show pulls from several of the classic novels and short stories, giving us a spinster sleuth who drifts through tea rooms and vicarages while quietly clocking everyone’s secrets.
Some episodes stay very close to the books; others take more liberties with characters and subplots. Either way, the core pleasure is still there: watching Miss Marple notice what nobody else does, just because she’s been paying attention to human nature her whole life.
If you want something that feels cozy, familiar, and pleasantly old‑fashioned without being slow, this is a strong anchor pick for your list.
Grace
If you like your cozy slightly cloudier, Grace is a good bridge between village comfort and modern crime drama.
Based on Peter James’s Roy Grace novels and set in Brighton, the TV series uses feature‑length episodes, each usually adapted from a different book.
Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is dogged and a bit haunted, carrying the loss of his missing wife while he unpicks often very twisty cases along the south coast.
It’s darker than a cupcake‑cozy but still grounded in community, recurring characters, and that satisfying feeling of a full novel being played out in a single, film‑length story.
If you fancy something with real emotional weight and seaside atmosphere, this is a solid choice.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
This may originally have been for younger readers (or anyone who lives on BookTok), but Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder was adapted into a really solid TV series, too – even for adults!
The BBC version, now on Netflix internationally, covers the first book: Pip Fitz‑Amobi’s school project that secretly becomes a full‑blown reinvestigation of a local girl’s murder.
The show keeps the core premise where Pip doesn’t believe the official story, and she methodically digs through interviews, school gossip, and old evidence to uncover what really happened.
There are changes in pacing and some character details, as you’d expect, but the tone feels right, and it is still very rooted in a small town where everyone knows everyone.
Sherlock
On the page, Sherlock Holmes is all fog, hansom cabs, and gaslight; on TV, the BBC’s Sherlock drags him into modern London without losing his oddness.
I’m specifically talking about the Benedict Cumberbatch series that is loosely based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, but each episode riffs on a specific case, updating the clues and motives for a smartphone era.
This isn’t cozy in the traditional sense, but it absolutely lands with readers who love clever plotting and character dynamics.
You still get Holmes and Watson sharing rooms (and arguments), Moriarty lurking in the background, and familiar titles like A Study in Pink nodding to the original canon.
The joy here is watching how the show plays with what you think you know – taking classic reveals and twisting them just enough to surprise you without breaking the spirit of the stories.
Hannah Swensen Mysteries
If you like your mysteries served with coffee and cake, the Hallmark Hannah Swensen movies, starring Alison Sweeney, are basically comfort food on screen.
They’re based on Joanne Fluke’s long‑running series about a small‑town baker who keeps tripping over bodies between batches of cookies, originally adapted under the Murder, She Baked title and now branded as Hannah Swensen Mysteries.
The adaptations keep Hannah’s world small and cozy with the family bakery, local law enforcement (including her love interests), and the kind of community where everyone is at least mildly suspicious but still turns up to the same bake sales.
The movies simplify plots from the books and lean into romance and seasonal vibes, but the core appeal is intact. You get a familiar heroine, culinary clues, and that feeling that things will probably turn out all right, as long as Hannah remembers to take the cookies out of the oven!
Midsomer Murders
With the recent announcement that season 26 is in production, my list would not be complete without Midsomer Murders.
By now, it isn’t just based on books; it has become the show that many people think of when they hear “cozy English village murder.”
The early seasons draw from Caroline Graham’s Chief Inspector Barnaby novels, then expand the same world and tone into original stories.
Each episode is essentially a feature‑length puzzle set in some impossibly charming village, complete with local feuds, fetes, eccentrics, and far more bodies than any rural county should reasonably allow.
For book fans, it’s an example of an adaptation that outgrew its source while still honoring it. The literary Barnaby gives us the blueprint, and the TV version has turned it into a long‑running comfort watch where the scenery is almost as important as the solution.
The Marlow Murder Club
Robert Thorogood already proved he could design satisfying TV mysteries with Death in Paradise. With The Marlow Murder Club, he wrote the books first, then helped bring his trio of older female sleuths in a riverside English town to the screen.
The TV version follows Judith, Suzie, and Becks as they stumble into murder and decide they’re the ones to solve it, blending amateur detection with everyday life, friendship, and a few secrets of their own.
If you’ve read the novels, you’ll recognize the tone immediately: it’s playful without being silly, and the Marlow setting is as important as the mystery.
This is one of those adaptations that feels designed for readers who want to see “book‑cozy” made literal with mismatched friends, a scenic town, and a murder or two to keep things lively.
Cooper & Fry
Cooper & Fry brings Stephen Booth’s Peak District police procedurals to TV, with DS Ben Cooper and DC Diane Fry investigating murder against a backdrop of moors, caves, and very small communities with long memories.
The Channel 5 adaptation focuses on individual novels – Black DogHudson & Rex Season 8 Confirmed With Even More Crimes To Sniff Out, Dying to Sin, Blind to the Bones, Dancing with the Virgins – treating each as an event‑length case.
On the page, the books sit on the border between cozy and gritty; on screen, that balance stays similar.
You get scenic locations, tight‑knit villages, and a strong sense of local history, but also some genuinely unsettling crimes and personal tension between the two leads.
For readers who like their village mysteries with more bite and a proper police angle, this is a very natural next step from Midsomer and Grace.
Big Little Lies
Big Little Lies is the outlier on this book to screen adaptation list in tone, but it earns its place by being an adaptation many mystery readers already know inside out.
The HBO series is based on Liane Moriarty’s 2014 novel about a group of mothers in an affluent coastal town whose lives spiral around a school incident, domestic secrets, and a death that we know is coming from the very first episode.
Season 1 largely follows the book’s core mystery: who dies, who killed them, and what all those seemingly minor lies add up to.
The later seasons push beyond the original plot, with Moriarty now writing a follow‑up novel to match the show’s expanded world, but that first run is a strong example of how to translate a “suburban whodunit” from page to screen.
If your readers are happy with something darker and more emotionally intense alongside their cozier picks, this is a good way to round out the list.
Why These Ten Are Worth Your Time
What I like about this mix is that you can hop around depending on your mood. If you want pure comfort, you’ve got Hannah Swensen, Marple, and Marlow.
If you fancy something sharper, there’s Sherlock, Cooper & Fry, and Big Little Lies. And if you want newer voices and fresher faces, The Thursday Murder Club and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder bring you right up to date.
Most importantly, each of these shows and movies respects the heart of the books they come from: the characters, the relationships, and the places that keep you coming back.
The details may change from page to screen, but the feeling of “I know these people” is still there – and that’s what makes a book‑to‑screen adaptation worth curling up with.
