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Department Q

The same first novel is called Mercy in Britain and The Keeper of Lost Causes in America, and people buy it twice.

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Where to start with Department Q

Read the books in publication order. There are strong continuing arcs running underneath the cases, so this is not a series to dip into. On screen you have a choice between the faithful Danish films and the better known Netflix version, and they are separate tracks rather than one timeline.

  1. 1
    Book one, under whichever title your shop sells it Mercy

    Mercy in the United Kingdom and The Keeper of Lost Causes in the United States are the same novel. Buying both by mistake is the single most common error with this series, and it affects the first five books.

  2. 2
    The 2013 Danish film, if you want the faithful version The Keeper of Lost Causes

    Direct, in order adaptations set in Denmark with the characters' own names. Film one is book one, and that holds all the way through to film six.

  3. 3
    Dept. Q, if you want the version everyone is talking about Dept. Q

    Nine episodes, self contained, no prior knowledge needed. It relocates the whole thing from Copenhagen to Edinburgh and renames most of the cast, and it is the entry point most new audiences arrive through.

Then what? The Danish films come in two blocks with a visible seam. Films one to four are one cast, films five and six are another, so watch them as two runs and expect the leads to change faces. Do not start with The Marco Effect or Boundless, which assume the earlier films, or with book six or seven, which lean heavily on earlier arcs. A reasonable pairing if you want both is to read book one, then watch film one, and so on.

A suggested way in, not an official one. The full list is below — tick anything off in either place.

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