Exciting New Mystery & Thriller Adaptations To Watch in May 2025
Welcome to the May round of new mystery and thriller adaptations to watch! If you missed any of 2025’s past rounds, you can find January and February’s new adaptations here (which include true crime, Scam Goddess, and Black Warrant), March’s adaptations here (which include Jane Harper), and April’s adaptations here (which include Alex Dahl’s Playdate).
Before diving into May’s adaptations, I want to mention a few new releases that are sequels.
- Poker Face season 2 finally returns on Peacock. This isn’t based on a specific book, but it is rather a nod to Columbo and old school procedurals. Rian Johnson has made it clear throughout all his work his love for the mystery genre—including Agatha Christie—and all its tropes. I rewatched season 1 in anticipation of season 2, and it was a very good decision on my part. ‘Poker Face’ Season 2 Trailer Heads Back on the Road With Natasha Lyonne
- Another Simple Favor is a dark comedy mystery sequel to A Simple Favor, which was based on Darcey Bell’s same-titled novel. The leads—Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, and Andrew Rannells—are back, along with Paul Feig as director and Jessica Sharzer as writer. It’s now streaming on Amazon Prime Video
- Nine Perfect Strangers was originally a Hulu limited series based on Liane Moriarty’s same-titled novel, but it got greenlit for a second season in 2023, so here we are. Season 2 brings back a mostly new cast, except Nicole Kidman remains as lead and is once again set in a wellness retreat: ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ Season 2 Trailer Reveals an Icy (& Terrifying) New Retreat
The Better Sister by Alafair Burke
Alafair Burke’s twisty domestic murder mystery is all the drama catnip for an adaptation. Chloe married her estranged sister’s ex-husband Adam, and now Adam has been murdered…
The eight episode thriller will stream on Prime Video on May 29th and stars Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks as the estranged sisters with Corey Stoll as Adam.
Kakegurui (Compulsive Gambler, Vol. 1) by Homura Kawamoto, Toru Naomura (Illustrator), Matthew B. Alberts (Translator) (aoc)
The Japanese manga is set in an elite academy where the wealthiest people’s kids don’t focus so much on academia as they do on an underground gambling game.
Netflix’s 10 episode English-language live-action adaptation is titled Bet. It follows a transfer student, Yumeko, as she upends the school’s social hierarchy—created by the underground gambling game—on her quest for revenge.
The Keeper of Lost Causes (Department Q #1) by Jussi Adler-Olsen, Lisa Hartford (Translator)
The Department Q book series—written and translated by Jussi Adler-Olsen and Lisa Hartford—is a procedural series set in Copenhagen that starts with Carl Mørck being placed in charge of a new cold case unit (Department Q) as punishment.
The nine-episode series, which will premiere through Netflix worldwide on May 29th, sticks to the core of the series—Detective Carl Morck banished to a cold case unit —but moves the setting from Denmark to Scotland. Matthew Goode (A Discovery of Witches) stars as Morck, and at the helm of the adaptation (writing/directing) is Scott Frank, who was also behind The Queen’s Gambit adaptation.
Browse the books recommended in Unusual Suspects’ previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming 2025 releases, and mysteries from 2024 and 2023. Check out this Unusual Suspects Pinterest board and get Tailored Book Recommendations! Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on Bluesky, Goodreads, Litsy, and Substack.
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