Good mystery novels that have been adapted to large or small screen

My sister-in-law is looking for good books to read that have also been adapted on TV or in movie format. I'd like to oblige her with recommendations and with eBooks and shows/movies she can listen/watch using iTunes. She likes a grittier mystery than I do, though, so I am a bit of a loss.

Anyone have recommendations? She is listening to/watching Sharp Objects right now, which I think might be more thriller than mystery. She and my brother are fans of the Wire. Shoot I'll come back when I remember more....

Probably one of my favorites is James Ellroy's L.A. Confidential. The book is longish and the plot of the movie is changed or simplified substantially...but I think both the book and the movie are excellent. Ellroy's The Black Dahlia has also been adapted as a film, but I haven't seen the movie...and if I remember correctly, it received mixed to poor reviews. Both books are certainly gritty.

If your sister-in-law likes Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn also wrote a novel called Gone Girl that was adapted into a successful movie of the same name. I never got around to seeing the movie, and I thought the book was a decent read. But I think I am in the minority there because anyone else I knew who read it loved it.

Okay, one more. Dennis Lehane has written a number of novels, and several have been made into some wonderful movies. Three that come to mind for me are Mystic River, Gone Baby, Gone and Shutter Island. I loved all three of those books, and the movies were all great in my opinion too. The only word of caution I'd give is that Gone Baby, Gone is chronologically the 4th book in a series of 6 novels about a pair of private investigators, but is the only book of that series to be filmed, so be aware that if you pick that book up, you'd be in the middle of a series.

Happy reading!

For lighter reading/ TV viewing try the Phryne Fisher Mysteries series by Kerry Greenwood. Cocaine Blues is the first book, taking place in 1920s Australia.

>2 Dr_Flanders: Oooh, Dennis Lehane is a good thought.
>3 Raspberrymocha: I enjoy the Phyrne Fisher books, wasn't sure if my brother and sister-in-law would or not. I understand the TV show is quite good.

Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley was adapted into a movie strring Denzel Washinton. Ken Bruen's series based on an Irish PI had a number of the books adapted into TV movies starring Iain Glen starting with The Guards. Along a similar vein, though probably harder to come by due to being on French TV, were the Adamsberg books by Fred Vargas which started with The Chalk Circle Man.

For TV Series there's always Bosch which is adapted from Michael Connelly's series of books starting with The Black Echo.

There are also the Ann Cleeves books that have been adapted into 2 series, Vera & Shetland. Very atmospheric. Books and tv shows are both very good and compliment each other I think, though both series have differences from the books, which to be honest I see as a plus

Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie series, starting with Case Histories was made into a BBC mini series starring Jason Isaacs. Excellent books and show!

Wallender is an excellent Swedish television series based on Hanning Mankell's Kurt Wallender novels. (I watched it on Netflix). There is also a British version (PBS? BBC?). I have not seen it but heard it is not quite so good.

An oldie but goodie (and one of my new favorites) is In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes. The movie version of the same name (I watched it on TCM, but it may be available elsewhere) stars Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Graham (who is the subject of the recent movie Film Stars Dont Die in Liverpool and played by Annette Benning).

Not sure if this Canadian TV series is available wherever your sister-in-law lives but Cardinal based on a series of books by Giles Blunt is really well-done. They are set in the Canadian shield country of northern Ontario and the scenery alone is worth watching it. Of course, the shows are not as good as the books but they come close.

One of the best is Laura, by Vera Caspary. The film is quite faithful to the book, and it's a classic noir. And speaking of noir, how about Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon or Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep?

>10 lilithcat: Just read Laura. I did not realize there was a film. I will have to catch it.

My wife and I enjoyed the BBC (I think) Shetland series, based on books by Ann Cleeves.

The Sidney Chambers books by James Runcie are the basis for Grantchester (4 seasons so far on PBS). Also on PBS is Father Brown based on the books by G.K. Chesterton.
I was a library director for 35 years in a rural area. When possible, I got movies based on books with the hope that more reading would happen. Many of the older books have been made into excellent films: The Moonstone-Wilkie Collins; The Maltese Falcon-Dashiell Hammett; Thirty Nine Steps-John Buchan; The Big Sleep-Raymond Chandler.

>10 lilithcat: Adding some noir to these great suggestions: The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity by James M. Cain. Both the books and the films are wonderful!

And of course, for a more contemporary book/movie combo, there is always The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo books. I personally found the book too gritty for me but it sounds like your sister-in-law would like it if she hasn't read it already.

I haven't seen the movie of The Girl on the Train but that's another book/movie combo that might appeal to her.