Netflix Is Turning One of the Decade’s Biggest Murder Mystery Books Into a New Crime Series

Published Sep 6, 2026, 9:03 PM EDT Chelsea Adelaine Hassler is an award-winning editorial, social, and creative director with two decades of media and entertainment experience and an all-consuming obsession with TV. A native New Yorker, she always completes the Sunday crossword, reads at least 100 books per year, and has Knicks season tickets. Netflix may have just found its next great franchise, and it's coming from a familiar cozy-crime place. Richard Osman, the best-selling author behind last year's star-studded The Thursday Night Murder Club, is once again teaming up with the streamer to bring his latest book series to life. But this time around, there won't be a two-hour runtime capping the action; instead, We Solve Murders is currently in development to become a television series. Osman, who rose to prominence as a television producer and presenter, was once best known for long-running comedic quiz and panel shows he often had a hand in creating. Now, he's the king of cozy mysteries and the powerhouse behind two chart-topping book series, the second of which could prove to be the ideal follow-up for Netflix. We Solve Murders retains the signature warmth, wit, and unlikely-detective appeal Osman is now synonymous with, but provides a bigger, more globe-trotting plot to build a crime series around. ‘We Solve Murders’ Retains the Appeal of ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ but Expands the Scope Image via Giles-Keyte/Netflix After a 10-publisher bidding war led to a long-term deal with Penguin Random House imprint Viking in 2019, Osman began building a new legacy with The Thursday Murder Club, an ongoing series focused on four elderly retirees in a British village who solve historical and cold cases. The 2024 debut of We Solve Murders saw him take on a more fast-paced, action-packed type of mystery, introducing a new set of eccentric yet deeply human characters with the same charming prose: the unlikely detective trio of young private security officer Amy Wheeler, her retired cop and pub trivia aficionado father-in-law Steve, and the massively wealthy celebrity novelist Rosie D'Antario. The first book opens with Amy guarding Rosie on a remote island off of South Carolina, when she finds herself framed for a string of high-profile influencer murders using her own blood. Forced to go on the run, Amy calls her father-in-law for assistance, and he chooses to leave his quiet life behind and join Amy and Rosie on an international quest to outrun the killers and solve a global conspiracy. The second book, We Chase Shadows, is set to be released later this month and will pick up with Amy, Steve, and Rosie at their newly-formed detective agency, embarking on a quest to identify the murderer of a body found with a threatening note at a villa in the Italian hills. ‘We Solve Murders’ Presents an Opportunity for a Massive Mystery Franchise Image via Penguin Random House/Viking Developing We Solve Murders as a standalone series presents a unique opportunity to create a broader, more accessible murder-mystery franchise that exists entirely outside the cinematic universe of The Thursday Murder Club. Though the two series certainly share DNA, there's very little overlap in their plot; the characters are younger, the locations more exotic, the wealth is extravagant, and the action more rooted in trained professionalism as opposed to hobby. And having the main trio come from three different generations – Amy is 28, Steve is in his 50s or 60s, and Rosie is anywhere from 60 to 90 – means that the age-based barrier to entry with the older-skewing movie won't be a problem, as there will be something for cozy-crime fans of all ages to relate to. Netflix hasn't commissioned the series yet, and We Solve Murders remains in development, but it's an exciting development that could lead to a truly captivating franchise. There's something deeply appealing about Osman's writing, the way he approaches his characters with love and respect, and it does feel like the series would present an opportunity to show the depth of the second murder-mystery series. Yes, it's still a cozy crime story – but it's also high-stakes, action-packed, and luxuriously backdropped. In other words, it offers the kind of premise Netflix has been known to execute masterfully, so it's definitely something to keep an eye on as things progress.