Castlefield gets rights to Hunter crime novels

Close to Home, the first book in Hunter’s DI Fawley franchise

Fremantle-owned prodco Castlefield has picked up the TV rights to British author Cara Hunter’s DI Fawley crime novels.

Set in Oxford, the four-book franchise follows a detective who investigates domestic tragedies and crimes. The first novel, Close to Home, was published in 2017 and was followed by In the Dark in 2018 and No Way Out and All the Rage in 2019.

Castlefield, which was launched by Fremantle execs Hilary Martin and Simon Judd last year, is based in Manchester and focuses on contemporary drama series. The prodco hopes to turn the DI Fawley franchise into a returnable, multi-episodic series.

“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,” said Martin and Judd in a joint statement.

Hunter added: “I’ve always ‘seen’ the Fawley books play out in my head as I write them, and the style I developed for them 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.”