10 Crime Drama Shows Based On Popular Novels Ranked (According To IMDb)

10 Crime Drama Shows Based On Popular Novels, Ranked (According To IMDb)

Tons of great crime dramas are based on popular novels. Here are the best of them according to IMDb.

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Behind every good television show is an idea. A lot of the television shows streaming online or still on air have come from published books. There are some old and recent crime drama shows that were inspired by already popular written characters and storylines.

With novels as a base, some show creators look to it for guidance on how scenes need to unfold or how certain characters need to be portrayed when it comes to casting. Fans of the crime drama genre may not have realized just how many popular shows were first novels that sold thousands of copies. Here’s a list of crime dram shows that first came to life on paper.

10 Rizzoli & Isles (2010): 7.6

Fans fell in love with the dynamic relationship between Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles in the show, Rizzoli & Isles. The show’s premise is based on the popular novels by Tess Gerritsen starting with The Surgeon. The show and books follow Rizzoli, a Boston detective and Isles, a medical examiner.

The show’s pilot is largely based on Gerritsen’s second book, The Apprentice. Her first book focuses mostly on Rizzoli and her backstory before Isle’s is introduced in the second.

9 Father Brown (2013): 7.7

Father Brown is more of a period detective crime drama. The show originally aired on BBC in 2013 starring Mark Williams in the main role of Father Brown. The show follows the same premise as the short stories by G.K. Chesterton. Chesterson was an earlier writer having been born in 1874 and his death being in 1936.

The short stories were published between 1910 and 1936 and came to a total of 53 published works. The stories followed a Roman Catholic priest who gets his kicks solving mysterious murders in town. Chesterson loosely based the character on parish priest from Bradford.

8 The Alienist (2018): 7.7

The American period drama, The Alienist became a hit crime thriller show when it premiered on TNT. The show was initially thought to be a one-shot mini-series but it announced a second season set to premiere in 2020. The show follows a criminal psychologist, a newspaper illustrator and the police commissioner’s secretary. They investigate to find the culprit of gruesome murders in New York City.

The show is set in 1896 but gets in inspiration from the popular crime novel of the same name by Caleb Carr published in 1994. The book and show have received numerous praises from critics for its chilling murder mystery and its profound characters.

7 Bones (2005): 7.8

Bones is a popular crime procedural comedy-drama that enchanted fans with their main cast. The show was inspired by and loosely based on the novels by a real-life forensic anthropologist, Kathleen Reichs. She is an American crime writer and academic.

Her first novel was titled, Déjà Dead in 1997. This was the first book that introduced her character, Temperance Brennan. Her books continued into 2020. Reichs and Brennan have similar characteristics such as the same qualifications and personality traits. Reichs also uses her own experience as a forensic anthropologist to get the scientific details correct in the novels. She was also the show’s producer.

6 The Sinner (2017): 8

The anthology crime drama, The Sinner, was originally meant to be ad close-ended series before it was renewed for the following seasons. The show has received Golden Globe nominations for Best Miniseries and Best Actress. The first season starred Jessica Biel in the main role of Cora Tannetti.

The story and characters came from German crime writer, Patra Hammesfahr who wrote The Sinner. The book was originally published in 2007 in its rignal language and then translated and republished in 2017. It follows a troubled woman as she is being investigated as detectives try to figure out her motive for stabbing a man.

5 Defending Jacob (2020): 8.1

Audiences are praising Appl TV+’s new crime drama miniseries, Defending Jacob. The show is based on the novel of the same name by William Landay. The show follows the book’s storyline almost seamlessly, with minor tweaks here and there. Landay is a born and raised Bostonian who was a former Assistant District Attorney before becoming a writer.

Defending Jacob was his third novel and became a hit and a New York Times bestseller. The show and book follow Andy Barber (Chris Evans), an ADA, as his family and life unravel as his son is accused of murdering a schoolmate.

4 Longmire (2012): 8.3

Writer, Craig Johnson is responsible for the popular western crime drama novel series, Walt Longmire Mysteries. The novels first began in 2004 and Johnson has since written 15 novels, including novellas and short stories. His work was picked up for the series, Longmire, in 2012.

The book and series follow Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor). A sheriff in a fictional town in Wyoming. He and his staff, friends and family help solve heinous crime cases within their town. The show went on for a total of six seasons before ending its run in 2017.

3 Dexter (2006): 8.6

Dexter was highly popular amongst audiences for its main character, Dexter Morgan, (Micahel C.Hail) living a double life as a blood-splatter analyst and a vigilante serial killer. Before this serial killer perfected his craft on-screen, he was first a character in a series of novels.

Jeff Lindsay wrote the novel, Darkly Dreaming Dexter in 2004. The novel series continued up until 2015 with the last book titled, Dexter is Dead. The show follows the same characters and storyline just as the first novel. Lindsay even wrote a comic book version of Dexter distributed by Marvel.

2 Justified (2010): 8.6

Justified is another Western crime drama that originally came from a popular story by Elmore Leonard. Leonard is no stranger to his work being adapted into motion pictures. His most recognized work being Rum Punch that was adapted to be the film, Jackie Brown.

For the show, creators used his short story titled, “Fire in the Hole.” The show follows a deputy U.S. Marshal by the name of Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) who enacts his own form of justice in his home town. The success of the series pushed Leonard to create a new novel about the character.

1 Mindhunter (2017): 8.6

Mindhunter has fans in a flurry when Netflix announced the show was on indefinite hold for the production of its third season. The show has received numerous praise for its accurate portrayal of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit and America’s most notorious killers.

The show was originally based on the book, Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit. A true-crime book by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker. Unlike other shows, the book is more of a non-fiction crime book. It details the “criminal-personality profiling” done on famous murders by retired FBI agent, Douglas.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/best-crime-drama-shows-based-on-novels-ranked-imdb/

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