Dublin Murders: Is The Thriller Based On A True Story?

Not everything is completely fictional in the gritty series

@BBC

If there’s an open spot for a good old detective drama on your watchlist, then have we got news for you. BBC’s twisty Irish crime thriller Dublin Murders is landing on Netflix – and it’s bringing a whole new audience to the gritty psychological thriller.

Starring Killian Scott (Love/Hate, Kaos) and Sarah Greene (Bad Sisters, Rosie), Dublin Murders first aired on the BBC back in 2019. The binge-worthy eight-part series follows Dublin detectives Rob Reilly (Scott) and Cassie Maddox (Greene) as they investigate the ritualistic murder of a young girl found dead in the woods.

The synopsis reads, ‘The victims – a young talented ballerina who is found dead on an ancient stone altar; and a vivacious free-spirited woman, who is found stabbed in a roofless famine cottage – are seemingly unrelated, but as we will discover, are actually knitted together by powerful shared themes – the macabre ‘red in tooth and claw’ elements of both stories, and their heart-thumping psychological thriller qualities.’

And with a rating of 79 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s garnered strong praise since its release. Branded ‘gripping’ and min-twisting,’ several viewers admitted they were ‘hooked’ from the first episode.

Of course, as compelling as the show is, there is one question that viewers have been left wondering – is there any truth to Netflix’s Dublin Murders?

Is Dublin Murders based on a true story?

No – and considering just how twisty and chilling the plot is, that might be a good thing…

The drama isn’t based on a true story, but rather is based on crime novelist Tana French’s bestselling Dublin Murder Squad books, which began with 2007’s In the woods. Switching between timelines in the 1980s and 2006, the series draws on French’s novels In The Woods and The Likeness.

But while the plot isn’t based on reality, French did draw on her own childhood memories and interviews with Dubliners to help create the right atmosphere for her crime novel. She revealed, ‘I spent a lot of summers in Ireland during the ’80s, so I had a certain amount of memories to draw on for atmosphere and detail, but I topped up by doing research and by talking to people who were living here full-time.’

‘When you’re trying to create a period atmosphere, factual research can only take you so far; you need to know what it felt like to live in a certain place at a certain time.’

Is Knocknaree from Dublin Murders a real place?

Knocknaree – meaning ‘hill of the king’ – is described in the series as being located ‘only a few miles from Dublin.’ While there are actually places in Ireland called Knocknaree (in both County Waterford and County Sligo), the particular setting we see in the series is totally fictional.

The series was filmed on-location in Dublin, as well as some locations in and around Belfast.

How do I watch Dublin Murders?

Clear your evening schedules – Dublin Murders is available to watch right now over on Netflix. If you don’t have access to Netflix, then the series is also available to watch on BBC iPlayer and Disney+…