Series Deserving of Dramatization

As an avid consumer of crime-related content, in both print and visual forms, including true crime and fiction, the advent of the Internet and streaming platforms has provided the wonderful ability to view and read creations from all over the world like never before, and instantly at one’s fingertips.

Although in some ways, even with this wide variety of material to choose from, people often remain in their preferred reading and viewing lanes of known expectations, because then we already know what we are getting, and as fast-food restaurants have illustrated, returning customers prefer to know just that.

Mainly within fiction, I keep hoping the wide expanse of streaming possibilities will encourage producers and creators to look elsewhere, rather than the typical featured characters portrayed over and over again.

Here are a number of fictional characters I feel are ripe for dramatization in the brave new world of streaming: 

James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux Series – James Lee Burke has now written twenty-five novels featuring the Louisiana born and bred Robicheaux series that not only features a troubled and violent main character with unbending integrity in a swamp of deviance, but also with a wide ranging number of regulars and a uniquely created world of villains woven into such a vibrantly described Southern atmosphere perfect for long form dramatization.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/51948-dave-robicheaux

Alan Parks – Harry McCoy – With six novels featuring Harry McCoy, Parks delivers a detective in the gritty, past era of 1970s Glasgow, Scotland, where McCoy is willing to swim among the most dangerous, including a very well-developed childhood friend and benefactor who also happens to border on being a terrifyingly violent psychopath.  Parks’ tales are gritty, dark, and memorable.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/244071-harry-mccoy

 Garry Disher – Hal Challis Series and Constable Paul Hirschhausen Series – Garry Disher, the vastly prolific and underrated writer, especially out of Australia, pulls in with two different characters deserving of series.  Hal Challis, of the seven-novel Peninsula Crime Series,  is followed as he methodically solves cases by assembling his information piece by piece, as he solves complex crimes without becoming stale or repetitive.  While reading the series, my mental image of Hal Challis was that of an older Paul Newman. 

https://www.goodreads.com/series/59891-peninsula-crimes 

Next for Disher is his Constable Paul “Hirsh” Hirschhausen of four novels, with a fifth set to be published later this year.  The Hirsch series follows the lead character in rural Australia and reads like a modern-day western. In many ways, Hirsch is the embodiment of the philosophy of rural community policing.  Disher, like other Australian writers, is so adept at capturing the rustic rural environment of Australia.  Hirsch is a kind fellow pushed to smaller locales that seem to suit his personality and abilities very well, with a depiction of being the type of police officer one would want to show up at one’s door when called. 

https://www.goodreads.com/series/262760-hirsch 

Patricia Wolf – Patricia Wolf – DS Lucas Walker – in four published novels, with a fifth on the way, Patricia Wolf is another Australian writer who captures the Australian environment and landscapes so well.  Walker has been pushed to a rural area due to unfounded misconduct accusations.  Through the series, Wolf maintains a progressive nature to her story telling where each novel continues that progression in both plot and character development. In the first four novels, Wolf has given Walker an excellent White Elephant nemesis to pursue that does not grow old and allows Walker to pursue his quarry outside of Australia, while introducing him to some locale discomfort of his own.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/354472-ds-walker

Ace Atkins – Quinn Colson – Through his novels, Atkins introduces and establishes the arrival of the Southern-born Colson. Colson has returned back home to Mississippi from his days in the Marines, which he now finds includes dealing with some of the most interesting Southern crime figures in rural noir, some of which re-appear throughout the series without growing into stale characters, tropes, or endless cliches.  If was reported back in 2020 a Quinn Colson series was in development from HBO, though little has been reported since then.  

https://www.goodreads.com/series/74631-quinn-colson 

Tom Leins – Detective Joe Rey Series – This series is not for everyone and depicts an investigator so down deep in the muck of the street and depravity, readers come away with images of alleys no one wants to go down and of an imagined stench so strong it remains stuck in one’s nose.  A series filmed in the style of Frank Miller’s Sin City films with such imagination as Amazon Prime’s Fallout and based upon the stories of Rey could be remarkable in both style and story.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/337619-paignton-noir 

Attica Locke – Texas Ranger Darren Matthews – So far, in three novels, Locke has introduced such a compelling character in Darren Matthews and tells stories in such a descriptive nature that one’s imaginary visuals run like a strip of film. Locke’s writing becomes so clearly visceral, creating a fascinating serialization of a Black Texas Ranger. Upfront, I have yet to read novels beyond the first, with those on the “to be read” pile; however, after reading the first, it is clear this series is more than worthy of a limited series depiction. 

https://www.goodreads.com/series/224449-highway-59 

Adrian McKinty –  Detective Sean Duffy – Over eight novels, McKinty has given readers a dashing and smart-ass talking suave detective in the time of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Duffy, who often finds himself in some of the most precarious situations, also seems to find ways of escape never too far-fetched to believe.  Full of whip-smart, witty dialogue and tales that could sometimes be described as with a flair of locked-door mysteries, it is one of my most desired series to see in a visual format. Oddly, it has been reported that McKinty was told he could gain a wider readership if he moved his Duffy character out of The Troubles era in Ireland. You know, sort of like casting Tom Cruise to play Jack Reacher.  We all know how that went. 

https://www.goodreads.com/series/75285-detective-sean-duffy#

 And these are just the tip of my own personal iceberg, with others out there just deserving and deserving an honorable mention.

These include others like William Shaw’s two series that blend his Sergeant William South and Alexandra Cupidi, based out of Kent, England. These series perfectly capture the serene shore life of those involved as if it were a sheltering blanket obscuring depravity, which also includes well-developed villains and stories where blows do leave marks.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/210495-ds-alexandra-cupidi

Brian Panowich makes my list with the Bull Mountain series, detailing the Borroughs family and rural crime. Full of richly developed villains, some much worse than others, and vibrantly described scenes of nature and mountain life.  Panowich’s worlds read like sips of fine whisky, warming the mind with wonder of how so many Southern writers describe such vivid scenes with just the amount of sparseness needed.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/222624-bull-mountain 

Let’s not forget Rachel Howzell Hall and her Elousie Norton series of modern-day murder in Los Angeles, California. Hall’s writing and storytelling are, if not better, on the same level as those of Michael Connelly when it comes to crime out of urban California. How so many readers have overlooked her novels to the point of her placing this character on written hiatus is a crime lover’s loss.  Her series is that good.

 https://www.goodreads.com/series/175141-detective-elouise-norton

Next, on the very honorable mentions list is Chris Offutt and his Mick Hardin series. In four novels featuring Hardin, and other developed characters, Offutt, like Ace Atkins and Brian Panowich, has created such a richly described Southern environment with such the perfect amount of words, rather than needless filler.  

https://www.goodreads.com/series/337290-mick-hardin

With these, there are plenty of new characters from many places for dramatization, but what I’m finding is how those who produce these movies and programs often rely upon safe bets and tend to stay within already established entertainment tracks, rather than expanding original source material for dramatization.  Hopefully, if it is to be believed, that as streaming continues to expand, more producers and creators will be willing to step beyond known expectations and comfort levels and reach for just as deserving source material to dramatize.

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