11 Criminally Good Adaptations To Travel the World With

There are crime writers whose work I follow because, 1) they write great mysteries and thrillers, and 2) they allow me to travel to places that I’ve yet to put a pin in on my world map. Amy McCulloch took me to the eighth-highest peak in the world (which I do not want to physically be at), Catherine Ryan Howard has taken me around Ireland, and Kwei Quartey has shown me Ghana. Being able to experience new places I’ve never been through books is why I get bummed out when a book that is set outside of the US gets an adaptation that moves the location to the US.

If you like traveling the world with your sleuth cap on, here’s a list of adapted films and TV series that will put some armchair stamps on your passport. And there’s something for every reading and watching mood, from a cozy murder mystery set in Ireland to a revenge plot set in South Korea.

Mexico: The Dead Girls (Netflix)

The Dead Girls (Las Muertas) by Jorge Ibargüengoitia, Asa Satz (translator) Jorge Ibargüengoitia wrote a black comedy satire, Las muertas , about brothel-owning sisters based on the very real and infamous case of the González sisters, who imprisoned, trafficked, and murdered young women in 1950s and 6’0s Mexico. The six-episode limited series takes the satirical black comedy tone of the book and focuses on the corruption of the time while following the sisters’ crimes from a much less horrific lens than reality. Watch The Dead Girls trailer. All access members continue below for more criminally good adaptations