Sarah Pinborough has built a career out of making readers feel completely safe right up until the moment she pulls the floor out from under them.
So when Carnival Films, the production company behind The Day of the Jackal and All Her Fault, snapped up the TV rights to her brand-new novel before it even hit shelves, my reaction was immediate: oh, this is going to be very good.
Carnival Films has optioned They Say a Girl Died Here for television adaptation. The novel is set to be released in the US on August 25 via Flatiron Books, with Orion publishing the UK edition on August 27.
The ink on this deal was barely dry before the book was even available to buy. That kind of pre-publication confidence speaks volumes.
Who Is Sarah Pinborough?
If you somehow haven’t encountered Sarah Pinborough yet, the fastest way to describe her is this: she is the author who made the phrase #WTFThatEnding go viral on social media, long before the Netflix adaptation made it a global conversation.
Pinborough wrote the Netflix hit Behind Her Eyes and adapted her own novel Insomnia for Paramount+. She has written almost 30 novels, published in over 30 territories globally.
Pinborough has described her own approach to her work with characteristic precision:
“I’ve created my own genre of female-centric thrillers, which is writing books where you can’t say what they’re about or you’ll give it away. When people are surprised, I’m like, it’s there; you just couldn’t tell what you were looking for. You shouldn’t cheat the reader; that’s my one big thing. They should get to the end and think, Ah! I should have seen that!”
Behind Her Eyes was a Sunday Times number one bestseller and became a Netflix limited series in 2021. 13 Minutes is in development with Netflix. Dead to Her is in development with Amazon Studios. And Cross Her Heart is in development for UK television. She is, by any measure, one of the most in-demand thriller writers in the world right now.
What Is ‘They Say a Girl Died Here’ About?
This is the part where, in true Pinborough fashion, summarizing the book without giving too much away becomes a genuine challenge. But here’s what we can tell you.
The novel centers on Anna, a teenager who moves to a new town and finds the only thing worth paying attention to is a series of grisly murders attributed to a local killer known as the Farmhandman.
The prime suspect has long since died, but the case has never officially been closed. As the anniversary of the murders approaches, things start feeling uncomfortably close to home.
The official description gives a sense of the novel’s layered, slow-building dread:
The only interesting thing about her new town, it seems, is the string of grisly murders attributed to a killer called the Farmhandman—and the clue she discovers that reveals the case is yet unsolved. Along with outspoken loner Melissa Laverne and handsome deputy Todd Greenbough, Anna fills her hours with the town’s darkest curiosity—but even though the prime suspect is long dead, the Farmhandman murders begin to feel too close for comfort as the anniversary nears. Tension is building in Harper’s Creek, and everyone can feel it. The house is becoming more claustrophobic by the day, and her grandmother is growing stranger. Anna begins to wonder if her delusional moments are somehow the key to discovering the truth about the murders, and if the old house, and her new start, is haunted by its own bloody baggage.
Why Carnival Films Is the Right Home for This
The production company behind this adaptation does not do things quietly.
Carnival Films’ Peacock series All Her Fault is in the running for seven Emmys this year, including outstanding limited series, while the hit Sky/Peacock series The Day of the Jackal is returning for a second season, which is currently in production.
Carnival is also adapting Katherine Faulkner’s The Break-In for Peacock and developing Andrea Mara’s Such a Nice Girl, making them one of the most active and ambitious companies in prestige crime television right now.
Carnival Films’ co-executive chair Nigel Marchant was direct about what drew them to the book:
“Sarah has a rare ability to take readers somewhere completely unexpected, blending psychological depth with page-turning suspense. They Say a Girl Died Here is a brilliantly original thriller—atmospheric, unsettling and impossible to put down. We were captivated from the very first page and are thrilled to be working with Sarah to bring this extraordinary story to the screen.”
And Pinborough herself is clearly delighted about the match:
“I’m so delighted to be working with Carnival Films bringing this new novel to the screen. They have such flair, style and brilliance as their many successes can attest and are so in tune with my storytelling. I know together we can elevate this book into absolute must-watch television!”
No showrunner, director, cast, or broadcaster has been announced yet. The series is in the very earliest stages of development.
Before the Ending Belongs to Everyone Else
They Say a Girl Died Here lands in US bookshops on August 25, which means you have very little time to read it before the television machine takes over and starts building its own version of Harper’s Creek in your imagination.
If you know Pinborough’s work, you already know what you’re getting into: a story that feels like it’s going one direction for most of its runtime, and then does something you absolutely did not see coming that makes you want to immediately reread everything with fresh eyes.
By the time Carnival Films announces a cast and a broadcaster, you’ll already know exactly what kind of ending to brace yourself for, and yet still, you won’t be ready for it.
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