"Five years ago, student Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend Sal Singh. Case closed. The police know it was him. The whole town knows it was him. But the smart and determined Pip Fitz-Amobi is not so sure, and is determined to prove it." This is the premise of Asesinato para principiantes, a British miniseries that has everything to succeed in Netflix's catalog.

Based on the novel of the same name written by Holly Jackson, the series focuses on how, although everyone thought the crime was committed by the victim's partner, it seems that it was not.

The consensus reached was that the material author of the murder was Sal Singh, who is also the older brother of Pip's boyfriend, Ravi. However, as the protagonist investigates more and more about the incident, she discovers that there is a possibility that Sal may not be guilty after all.

Created by Poppy Cogan, the series consists of a total of six episodes directed by Dolly Wells and Tom Vaughan, and written by Poppy Cogan, Zia Ahmed, Ajoke Ibironke, and Ruby Thomas. The cast includes Emma Myers (Wednesday), Zain Iqbal, Anna Maxwell Martin, Gary Beadle, Mathew Baynton, India Lillie Davies, Rahul Pattni, Henry Ashton, Mitu Panicucci, Orla Hill, and Ephraim O.P. Sampson, among others.

During the adaptation process, the author herself was involved, who stated in an interview that the series is a completely different product from the book.

The author's view

Whether it's an adaptation in the form of a series or a movie, the truth is that when a novel is chosen to start an adaptation process, it is also assumed that there will be certain changes and some creative liberties taken along the way.

And this has also happened with Asesinato para principiantes, a production that had to undergo certain modifications to bring the story from the pages to the small screen. Fortunately, it had the novel's author during the process.

"If I hadn't interfered - and I say interfered, although I should use a better word - if I hadn't offered my wise advice and guidance and meddled, the series wouldn't look like we see it today. I am proud of what we have done, but ultimately it wasn't me who wrote it," expressed Jackson in an interview with Variety.

The writer also shared how she reached a delicate balance with the series' screenwriters. "I made many suggestions and said things that I thought would be very important for the book fans, who would feel betrayed if they weren't there," she said, anticipating the readers' response and reaction.

"But ultimately, it wasn't my decisions. So I completely sympathize with the book fans who wanted to see their favorite moments [and haven't seen them in the series]," she added, referring to the absence of certain iconic scenes from the story.

However, even though the series has left behind some of the fans' favorite scenes, the truth is that it still works as an independent product. And as an entertaining story, with endearing characters and unexpected twists to take a look at and get hooked on this summer.

*This article has been automatically translated using artificial intelligence