Crime and detective dramaDeaths that work for the mystery.
Every crime drama turns on a death. We help writers and producers plan deaths that are dramatic, credible and fair to the audience, and make sure the medicine behind the clues holds up to a doctor watching at home.
How we help
From the first outline to the post-mortem scene
We can come in at any stage. Early on we help devise how a character dies so the method fits your plot, your suspects and your clues. Later we check scripts, advise on what the body, the scene and the pathologist would show, and help on set so injuries and procedures look right on camera.
We are just as happy to rescue a plot that is struggling with realism, finding the smallest change that keeps the writer's twist intact.
- Ideas for how a character dies, built around your plot
- What the scene, the body and the post-mortem would reveal
- Time of death and why pathologists give a window, not a minute
- Poisons and overdoses: how fast they act and what witnesses would see
- Toxicology, and how long results really take
- Wounds and injuries, and how they look hours or days later
- Pathologists, police surgeons, coroners and inquests
- Forensics true to the period for historical mysteries
EXT. WOODLAND - DAWN
Police tape flickers in the wind. DI WALSH crouches beside the PATHOLOGIST.
PATHOLOGIST
She was strangled. Around midnight.
Bruising to the neck, tiny bleeds in the eyes. I'll know more once she's on my table.
Adviser's notePathologists rarely commit at the scene. Your detective gets the clue now and the confirmation later- a second beat for the investigation.
Illustrative example written for this website. We never share or publish material from clients' scripts.
Crime and mystery credits
Trusted by crime and detective series
- Death in Paradise
- Beyond Paradise
- Grace
- Dark Heart
- Father Brown
- Sister Boniface Mysteries
- Culprits
He has a brilliant ability to understand the needs of the story first and foremost, and to prioritise the right approach for the screen, while ensuring the factual aspects are always watertight and ironing out any flaws.
Planning a death for your next series?
Tell us about the story and where the medicine needs to land. Everything you share is treated in confidence.