Bolton's Craftsman trilogy optioned for TV

Sharon Bolton's The Craftsman trilogy has been optioned by the same producers of the hit TV series "Killing Eve", Sid Gentle Films.

The deal optioning television rights in the three thrillers was struck with Anne-Marie Doulton of The Ampersand Agency, who said the team at Sid Gentle "genuinely understood what Sharon is aiming to achieve with these stories" and have "the creative flair and determination to develop an outstanding TV adaptation".

Scriptwriters Ben Court and Caroline Ip, who worked on ITV’s "Whitechapel", have been confirmed to adapt the novels.

Set between 1969 and 1999 in the shadow of Lancashire's Pendle Hill, notorious for its link to the 17th-century witch trials, the trilogy tells the story of a community shattered by a merciless predator through protagonist Florence Lovelady. As a young police constable in 1969, Florence finds herself out of her depth in a climate of misogyny and superstition as she battles to solve an extraordinary murder case that could make her career - and change her forever. 30 years later, events start to repeat themselves, and Florence must ask herself: did she get it wrong all those years ago?

The Craftsman was published in the UK in hardback, audiobook and e-book by Trapeze earlier this year, after world English publishing rights in the book and two succeeding novels were acquired in 2017 by editorial director Sam Eades. Prior to this, Bolton had been published for the past decade with Transworld. The UK paperback edition of The Craftsman is due to be published this week (18th October). The Poisoner, second in the planned trilogy, will follow next year.