Screen rights to Cara Hunter’s DI Fawley novels have been optioned by Castlefield, part of Fremantle, by the team behind BAFTA-winning In The Flesh and BBC One crime series In The Dark.
Hunter's four-book series is the biggest crime-writing brand to have launched in the UK in the last five years, selling over one million copies to date in the UK and across 25 territories worldwide. Her debut novel Close to Home topped The Sunday Times and Amazon bestseller lists and was Penguin Random House’s biggest selling eBook of 2018.
Castlefield Managing Director Hilary Martin and Creative Director Simon Judd said: “We are so thrilled to be joining forces with the brilliantly talented Cara Hunter to bring her hit novels to screen. Cara collides noisy, epic crime stories with vivid, visceral characters that you just can’t look away from. Her razor-sharp depiction of contemporary life is a gift and we can’t wait to get cracking.”
Cara Hunter, whose fifth novel The Whole Truth will be published in early 2021, said “I’ve always ‘seen’ the Fawley books play out in my head as I write them, and the style I developed for the books was a deliberate attempt to replicate the feel and pace of the best TV crime – the short scenes, the fast pace, and the changing points of view. Hilary and Simon completely ‘get’ what the books are all about, and have a wonderful feel for the characters. I can’t think of a better producer for the series than Castlefield.”