The Beast In Me (Netflix)
The tropes of this show are the most bookish: Aggie Wiggs is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has become reclusive and angry since her son died four years ago. She’s divorced and two years behind deadline on the biography she’s writing about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Then Nile Jarvis moves in next door and disrupts Aggie’s life on two fronts: he’s a douche canoe of a human being who immediately tries to force her to sign permission for him to build running paths in the woods around the properties; he was the main suspect in his previous wife’s disappearance. Now Aggie is caught in a cat-and-mouse game as he wants her to write her book about him…
The series stars Claire Danes, Matthew Rhys, Brittany Snow, and Natalie Morales.
All eight episodes are now streaming on Netflix. And you can check out the trailer here.
Get Millie Black (HBO Max)
And Still I Rise: A Book of Poems by Maya Angelou
For procedural fans, you get the returning home detective trope. Millie-Jean Black was a detective for Scotland Yard in London but after her mother’s death she’s back in her home country of Jamaica. Now Millie’s trying to convince her sister to get off the streets and move into their childhood home with her, while also working on a case of a missing 16-year-old girl, which puts her in grave danger.
The bookish tie-in? This series is written by Marlon James, acclaimed author of A Brief History of Seven Killings and the trilogy starter Black Leopard, Red Wolf.
Also, literary dialogue:
“And still I rise.”
“Cardi B?”
“Maya Angelou, girl.”
The five-episode first season streamed on HBO Max in the US at the end of 2024, and in 2025 it, played on Channel 4 in the UK.
Browse the books recommended in Unusual Suspects’ previous newsletters on this shelf, and see 2025 and 2026 releases! Until next time, come talk books with me on Bluesky, Goodreads, Litsy, and Multitudes Contained.
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