Red Bones by Ann Cleeves to be Adapted for Television

The "Shetland Quartet" of crime novels by Ann Cleeves are being developed into a crime drama for BBC One.

In what is likely to be considered a "pilot", Shetland will be adapted from the third book in the series, Red Bones. Douglas Henshall has been cast in the lead role of Detective Jimmy Perez, recently widowed, a native Shetlander who has returned home after a long spell away. When a young archaeologist discovers a set of human remains, the island community is intrigued to know if it's an ancient find or a contemporary mystery. And when an elderly woman is shot on her land in a tragic accident, Perez and his team find themselves at the center of two feuding families whose envy, greed and bitterness has divided the surrounding community.

"I'm delighted that my old friends from ITV Studios have teamed up with the BBC to create a television adaptation of the Jimmy Perez book Red Bones," said Cleeves. "I couldn't be in safer hands. And it's brilliant that the UK now has its own Nordic TV drama!"

The first book in the quartet, Raven Black, was the winner of the 2006 CWA Gold Dagger Award.

Ann Cleeves is also the author of the "Vera Stanhope" mysteries, which have been adapted by ITV into the series Vera.