The crime thrillers of comedian turned novelist Caimh McDonnell could be turned into a TV or film series after the rights were sold to production company Avalon.

And now Chris Addison, who has written, directed and produced on Veep and Breeders, attached to develop the writer’s Dublin trilogy for the screen. The comedian, below, is said to be a fan of McDonnell’s books.

The series, which has sold more than 500,000 copies, comprises A Man with One of Those Faces, The Day That Never Comes, and Last Orders, all of which were bestsellers on Amazon. The trilogy has a prequel, Angels in the Moonlight and a sequel to this book, Dead Man’s Sins, which will be published next Tuesday,  extending the trilogy to five books. 

Set in McDonnell’s original hometown of Dublin, the books are published by McFori Ink and follow the adventures of an unlikely crime-solving trio, including former guard Bunny McGarry

McDonnell said: ‘I’m thrilled to be working with both Avalon and Chris. Breeders, which they made for Sky, is one of my favourite shows of the past few years and Taskmaster [which is made by Avalon] got me through at least one of the lockdowns.

‘I’m particularly delighted to be working with Chris as we’re both grizzled veterans of the comedy circuit and I’ve long been a big fan of his brilliant live shows. I know Bunny and the rest of the gang are in very safe hands.’

Now based in Manchester, McDonnell is also the author of The Stranger Times which is written under his pen name C K McDonnell.

The Dublin Trilogy deal was done via Caimh’s agents, Ed Wilson of Johnson & Alcock and Emily Hayward-Whitlock of The Artists Partnership.