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Last Updated on January 22, 2023 by Stefanie Hutson

Cozy mysteries have long been popular with British mystery readers and British TV fans alike – but since the massive success of Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club series, they've been HOT. For that reason, it should come as no surprise that TV producers are combing the cozy section for new titles they can adapt for TV.

Recently, the same production company behind Agatha Raisin, Free @ Last TV, optioned the rights to English comedian Ian Moore's Death & Croissants.

*As a side note to Agatha Raisin fans, there's still no news on their website or social media about whether there will be a season 5 of Agatha Raisin.

What's Death & Croissants About?

If you know much about author Ian Moore's real-life, you'll know where he got the inspiration for the mystery series that begins with Death and Croissants. The series follows Richard, a middle-aged Englishman who lives in a fictional part of the real Loire Valley in France. There, he runs a B&B and generally tries to lead a quiet, simple sort of life.

Unfortunately for Richard, that all changes when a guest disappears, leaving a bloody handprint on the wallpaper. The destruction of his peaceful life is complete when another guest, the exotic Valérie, convinces him to join her in investigating the disappearance.

He's largely passive in his participation until someone murders one of his much-loved hens, Ava Gardner. At that point, he's all in on catching the culprit.

As you might imagine, the death of a loved animal will render the first novel inappropriate for serious animal lovers who prefer to avoid that kind of unpleasantness – something highly unusual among cozy mysteries.

It's anyone's guess as to whether they'll include that part in the TV series (especially considering how many people shut off Recipes for Love and Murder when the opening scenes implied a chicken would be killed). That particular chicken didn't die, but many people (myself included) just don't to be reminded of animal death, no matter how many ridiculously unlikely human murders we're happy to see in a mystery.

Death & Croissants is the first in a series, so there will be others to read if you skip the first. You can view the entire book series in order HERE.

Who's Involved in the TV Adaptation of Death & Croissants?

Death and Croissants has been optioned by Free@Last TV, the same independent production company that produced Agatha Raisin. The rights were optioned from Farrago, an imprint of Duckworth Books, after the book was successful upon its UK release in summer 2021.

Barry Ryan of Free@Last TV said of the deal:

Charm. Wit. Flair. It’s rare to come across a first novel that manages to combine an intriguing twisty plot with laugh-out-loud humour. Ian is a first-class writer and we immediately saw the potential for a long-running series with returnable characters we know people will adore. We’re proud to add Follet Valley to the Free@Last slate and are very much looking forward to getting going.

When & Where Can We Watch Death & Croissants?

Unfortunately, it's still too early to know when or where we'll – or even IF – we'll be able to watch this one on television. Rights are optioned all the time, but that doesn't always translate to active production. The Maisie Dobbs series has been optioned for TV a couple times in the last 10 years, but at present we're still waiting to see if it will actually happen.

We'll continue to keep an eye out for updates and edit this post as needed. In the meantime, we recommend checking out the Follet Valley book series (including the Christmas-themed short story), along with the author's non-fiction titles about life in rural France.