Novelist and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz, known for his Alex Rider books and Susan Ryeland series, as well as TV shows like Foyle’s War and Midsomer Murders, has teased his next project – and it seems he is adapting another of his book series.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Horowitz revealed he is working alongside his wife and long-term producer Jill Green on a TV adaptation of Hawthorne, his book series for which the first novel was published in 2017.
He said: “I am actually working on the TV series of Hawthorne! We haven’t sold it yet, but we have been commissioned to write the screenplay.”
There are so far five novels in the book series, which centres on a detective called Daniel Hawthorne. The novels are 2017’s The Word Is Murder, 2018’s The Sentence Is Death, 2021’s A Line to Kill, 2022’s The Twist of a Knife and 2024’s Close to Death.
In the novels, as Hawthorne takes on cases, he also hires a writer to chronicle his detective work, so they can make some extra money. In a meta twist, the writer he employs his Horowitz himself, who becomes, as he himself explained, “a sort of Dr Watson to his Sherlock Holmes”.
Close to Death takes a particularly meta turn, as it sees a murder take place on the set of a film adaptation of Hawthorne and Horowitz’s first in-universe book.
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It might seem as though the Hawthorne adaptation is a long while away, but fans won’t have to wait too long to see the latest instalment in the BBC’s adaptation of Horowitz’s Susan Ryeland series.
While a TV version of Magpie Murders was released in 2022, and Moonflower Murders was adapted in 2024, Marble Hall Murders, the third and final book in Horowitz’s trilogy, will have its adaptation released this year.
Lesley Manville will be back as Susan in the series, while Timothy McMullan will return as her literary creation, Atticus Pünd.
Marble Hall Murders will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer later in 2026.
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
