Department Q
Series of novels by Jussi Adler-Olsen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Department Q (Danish: Afdeling Q) is a series of ten Danish Nordic noir crime novels by author Jussi Adler-Olsen[1] which have been adapted in an ongoing series of highly successful Danish films and a Scottish television adaptation for Netflix.
The American first-edition cover of The Keeper of Lost Causes, the first book in the series | |
| Author | Jussi Adler-Olsen |
|---|---|
| Original title | Danish: Afdeling Q |
| Country | Denmark |
| Language | Danish language |
| Genre | Nordic noir |
| No. of books | 10 |
Novels
Originally written in Danish, the novels have been translated into numerous languages, including English, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish and Vietnamese.[2]
Despite using the same translations, the Penguin Group titled the first five novels differently in the UK and the United States. Their editions use the same British titles as the film adaptations.
| Novel | Original title | Year | Film adaptation | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercy | Kvinden i buret | 2007 2011 (USA & UK) |
The Keeper of Lost Causes | 2013 |
| Disgrace | Fasandræberne | 2008 2012 (USA & UK) |
The Absent One | 2014 |
| Redemption | Flaskepost fra P | 2009 2013 (USA & UK) |
A Conspiracy of Faith | 2016 |
| Guilty | Journal 64 | 2010 2013 (USA) 2014 (UK) |
The Purity of Vengeance | 2018 |
| Buried | Marco Effekten | 2012 2014 (USA & UK) |
The Marco Effect[3] | 2021 |
| The Hanging Girl | Den Grænseløse | 2014 2015 (USA & UK) |
Boundless[4][5] | 2024 |
| The Scarred Woman | Selfies | 2016 2017 (USA & UK) |
||
| Victim 2117 | Offer 2117 | 2019 2020 (USA & UK) |
||
| The Shadow Murders | Natrium Chlorid | 2021 2022 (USA & UK) |
||
| Locked In | Syv m2 med Lås | 2021 2022 (USA & UK) |
||
Adaptations
Films
- The Keeper of Lost Causes (2013)
- The Absent One (2014)
- A Conspiracy of Faith (2016)
- The Purity of Vengeance (2018)
- The Marco Effect (2021)
- Boundless (2024)[4][5]
- The Scarred Woman (2026)
- Victim 2117 (2028)
- The Shadow Murders (2030)
- Locked In (2032)
The first four films were produced by Peter Aalbæk Jensen and Louise Vesth through Zentropa. But despite their commercial and critical success, author Jussi Adler-Olsen was unhappy with the results and the casting, feeling that the films and characters departed from his novels too much and that his suggestions were being ignored, leading to Nordisk Film (who had already distributed the prior films in Denmark) and producer Mikael Rieks taking over for the remainder of the series with all new castings.[8]
Television series
In April 2023, it was announced that an English-language adaptation of the books would be adapted for the streaming service Netflix by filmmaker Scott Frank.[9] Frank first acquired the US television rights for the novels in 2014 and initially planned to set the series in Boston, Massachusetts instead of Denmark. The nine-part series was produced by Left Bank Pictures and Sony Pictures Television with the setting finally being Scotland and filming taking place in Edinburgh.[10] Frank is showrunner and also co-wrote the series alongside Chandni Lakhani, Stephen Greenhorn and Colette Kane.[11] Filming began in Edinburgh in February 2024, with Matthew Goode in the lead role of Carl Morck (renamed from Mørck), Alexej Manvelov as Akram Salim (renamed from Hafez el-Assad), Leah Byrne as Rose, Chloe Pirrie as Merritt Lingard (renamed from Merete Lynggaard) and Kelly Macdonald as Dr. Rachel Irving (renamed from Mona Ibsen).[12] The series premiered on Netflix in May 2025[13] and was renewed for a second series in August 2025.[14]
Cast and characters
| Character (🇩🇰/🇬🇧) |
Films | Series | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Scarred Woman |
Victim 2117 |
The Shadow Murders |
Locked In |
Dead Souls Don't Sing |
||||||||
| 2013 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | 2021 | 2024 | 2026 | 2028 | 2030 | 2032 | 2034 | 2025 | |
| Carl Mørck Carl Morck |
Nikolaj Lie Kaas | Ulrich Thomsen | Matthew Goode | |||||||||
| Hafez el-Assad Akram Salim |
Fares Fares | Zaki Youssef | Afshin Firouzi | Alexej Manvelov | ||||||||
| Rose Knudsen Rose Dickson |
Johanne Louise Schmidt | Sofie Torp | Leah Byrne | |||||||||
| Gordon | Mads Reuther | TBA | ||||||||||
| Marcus Jacobsen Moira Jacobson |
Søren Pilmark | Henrik Noél† | Kate Dickie | |||||||||
| Hardy Henningsen James Hardy |
Troels Lyby | Thomas W. Gabrielsson | Jamie Sives | |||||||||
| Mona Ibsen Rachel Irving |
Lisa Carlehed | Kelly Macdonald | ||||||||||
| Merete Lynggaard Merritt Lingard |
Sonja Richter | Chloe Pirrie | ||||||||||
Zaki Youssef was unable to return as Assad after The Marco Effect due to having recently become a father and having other scheduling conflicts with the filming of Boundless, which started on 5 September 2022, half a year earlier than planned.[15]
Crew
| Film | The Keeper of Lost Causes (2013) |
The Absent One (2014) |
A Conspiracy of Faith (2016) |
The Purity of Vengeance (2018) |
The Marco Effect (2021) |
Boundless (2024) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Mikkel Nørgaard | Hans Petter Moland | Christoffer Boe | Martin Zandvliet | Ole Christian Madsen | |
| Producer(s) | Peter Aalbæk Jensen Louise Vesth |
Mikael Rieks | Mikael Rieks Malene Blenkov | |||
| Screenwriter(s) | Nikolaj Arcel | Nikolaj Arcel Rasmus Heisterberg |
Nikolaj Arcel | Nikolaj Arcel Bo Hr. Hansen Mikkel Nørgaard |
Anders August Thomas Porsager |
Jakob Weis |
| Composer(s) | Patrik Andrén Uno Helmersson Johan Söderqvist |
Nicklas Schmidt | Mikkel Maltha Anthony Lledo |
Sune Martin | Jonas Struck Lasse Ziegler | |
| Cinematographer | Eric Kress | John Andreas Andersen | Jacob Møller | Aske Foss | Jørgen Johansson | |
| Editor(s) | Morten Egholm Martin Schade |
Olivier Bugge Coutté Nicolaj Monberg |
Janus Billeskov Jansen My Thordal |
Per K. Kirkegaard Per Sandholt |
Frederik Strunk Nicolaj Monberg | |
| Production company | Zentropa | Nordisk Film | ||||
| Distribution | Nordisk Film | |||||
| Runtime | 96 minutes | 119 minutes | 112 minutes | 119 minutes | 125 minutes | 126 minutes |
| Release date | October 3, 2013 | October 2, 2014 | March 3, 2016 | October 4, 2018 | May 27, 2021 | February 1, 2024 |
Reception
Box office performance
| Film | Release date | Box office gross (Denmark) | Attendance (Denmark) | Box office ranking (Danish films) | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Keeper of Lost Causes | October 3, 2013 | DKK 59,010,000[16] | 721,256[17] | #5[16] | €5,000,000[18] |
| The Absent One | October 2, 2014 | DKK 68,100,000[16] | 764,002[19] | #2[16] | €5,200,000[20] |
| A Conspiracy of Faith | March 3, 2016 | DKK 64,300,000[16] | 704,971[21] | #4[16] | €5,300,000[22] |
| The Purity of Vengeance | October 4, 2018 | DKK 72,500,000[16] | 765,111[23] | #1[16] | €5,200,000[24] |
| The Marco Effect | May 27, 2021 | DKK 23,300,000[25] | 225,243[26] | N/A | €7,400,000[27] |
| Boundless | February 1, 2024 | TBA | 301,800[28] | TBA | €6,900,000[5] |
| Total | DKK 287,210,000 | 3,482,383 | €35,000,000 | ||
| Average | DKK 57,442,000 | 580,397 | €5,830,000 | ||
The films have been massively successful, selling over three million tickets in Denmark alone, where the installments regularly top the yearly box-office. The Purity of Vengeance (2018) became the highest grossing Danish film of all time upon release,[29] with a gross of 72,500,000 DKK, The Absent One (2014) the second highest with 68,1 M. DKK, A Conspiracy of Faith (2016) the fourth with 64,3 M. DKK, and The Keeper of Lost Causes (2012) the fifth with 59,01 M. DKK. The Purity of Vengeance is additionally the 11th overall highest grossing film in Denmark.[16] The fifth film The Marco Effect however, which marked a complete recast, was significantly less successful despite a larger budget. The sixth film, Boundless, had the best opening for a Danish film since Checkered Ninja 2 in 2021, three years prior,[30] and is currently the most watched film of 2024 in Danish cinemas.[28]
Critical response
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | Kino.dk |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Keeper of Lost Causes | 71% (28 reviews)[31] | 62 (8 reviews)[32] | 4.2/6 (7 reviews)[33] |
| The Absent One | 92% (12 reviews)[34] | 61 (6 reviews)[35] | 3.5/6 (7 reviews)[36] |
| A Conspiracy of Faith | 100% (6 reviews)[37] | 75 (3 reviews)[38] | 3.7/6 (7 reviews)[39] |
| The Purity of Vengeance | 66% (3 reviews)[40] | N/A | 4/6 (7 reviews)[41] |
| The Marco Effect | N/A | N/A | 3.5/6 (8 reviews)[42] |
| Boundless | N/A | N/A | 4/6 (7 reviews)[43] |