Department Q

This article is about the Danish novel series. For the Scottish television series, see Dept. Q.

Department Q

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

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.

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  [ da; de ]	Kvinden i buret	2007 2011 (USA & UK)	The Keeper of Lost Causes	2013
Disgrace  [ da; de ]	Fasandræberne	2008 2012 (USA & UK)	The Absent One	2014
Redemption  [ da; de ]	Flaskepost fra P	2009 2013 (USA & UK)	A Conspiracy of Faith	2016
Guilty  [ da; de ]	Journal 64	2010 2013 (USA) 2014 (UK)	The Purity of Vengeance  [ da; ca; cy; de; es; fa; fr; it; ko; no; sv ]	2018
Buried  [ da; de ]	Marco Effekten	2012 2014 (USA & UK)	The Marco Effect  [ da; ca; cy; de; fr; sv ] [3]	2021
The Hanging Girl  [ da ]	Den Grænseløse	2014 2015 (USA & UK)	Boundless  [ da; sv ] [4] [5]	2024
The Scarred Woman  [ da ]	Selfies	2016 2017 (USA & UK)
Victim 2117  [ da ]	Offer 2117	2019 2020 (USA & UK)
The Shadow Murders  [ da ]	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  [ da; ca; cy; de; es; fa; fr; it; ko; no; sv ] (2018)
• The Marco Effect  [ da; ca; cy; de; fr; sv ] (2021)
• Boundless  [ da; sv ] (2024) ^{[4] [5]}

Upcoming ^{[6] [7]}

• 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  [ da ] taking over for the remainder of the series, with all the recurring roles recast. ^[8]

Television series

Main article: Dept. Q

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, Alexej Manvelov as Akram Salim (renamed from Hafez el-Assad), Leah Byrne as Rose, Chloe Pirrie as Merrit 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 Keeper of Lost Causes	The Absent One	A Conspiracy of Faith	The Purity of Vengeance	The Marco Effect	Boundless	The Scarred Woman	Victim 2117	The Shadow Murders	Locked In	Dead Souls Don't Sing	Dept. Q
	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 Merrit Lingard	Sonja Richter											Chloe Pirrie

Zaki Youssef  [ da ] was unable to return as Assad after The Marco Effect  [ da; ca; cy; de; fr; sv ] due to having recently become a father and having other scheduling conflicts with the filming of Boundless  [ da; sv ], 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  [ da; ca; cy; de; es; fa; fr; it; ko; no; sv ] (2018)	The Marco Effect  [ da; ca; cy; de; fr; sv ] (2021)	Boundless  [ da; sv ] (2024)
Director	Mikkel Nørgaard  [ da; no ]		Hans Petter Moland	Christoffer Boe	Martin Zandvliet	Ole Christian Madsen
Producer(s)	Peter Aalbæk Jensen Louise Vesth				Mikael Rieks  [ da ]	Mikael Rieks  [ da ] Malene Blenkov
Screenwriter(s)	Nikolaj Arcel	Nikolaj Arcel Rasmus Heisterberg	Nikolaj Arcel	Nikolaj Arcel Bo Hr. Hansen  [ da ] Mikkel Nørgaard  [ da; no ]	Anders August Thomas Porsager	Jakob Weis
Composer(s)	Patrik Andrén Uno Helmersson Johan Söderqvist		Nicklas Schmidt  [ da; de ]	Mikkel Maltha Anthony Lledo	Sune Martin	Jonas Struck  [ da; de ] Lasse Ziegler
Cinematographer	Eric Kress		John Andreas Andersen	Jacob Møller	Aske Foss	Jørgen Johansson  [ da ]
Editor(s)	Morten Egholm Martin Schade		Olivier Bugge Coutté  [ no ] Nicolaj Monberg	Janus Billeskov Jansen  [ da; ar; arz; de; fr; sv ] 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  [ da; ca; cy; de; es; fa; fr; it; ko; no; sv ]	October 4, 2018	DKK 72,500,000 [16]	765,111 [23]	#1 [16]	€5,200,000 [24]
The Marco Effect  [ da; ca; cy; de; fr; sv ]	May 27, 2021	DKK 23,300,000 [25]	225,243 [26]	N/A	€7,400,000 [27]
Boundless  [ da; sv ]	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  [ da; ca; cy; de; es; fa; fr; it; ko; no; sv ] (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  [ da; ca; cy; de; fr; sv ] however, which marked a complete recast, was significantly less successful despite a larger budget. The sixth film, Boundless  [ da; sv ], 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  [ da; ca; cy; de; es; fa; fr; it; ko; no; sv ]	66% (3 reviews) [40]	N/A	4/6 (7 reviews) [41]
The Marco Effect  [ da; ca; cy; de; fr; sv ]	N/A	N/A	3.5/6 (8 reviews) [42]
Boundless  [ da; sv ]	N/A	N/A	4/6 (7 reviews) [43]

References

1. "Department Q books in order". deadgoodbooks.co.uk. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
2. "The Keeper of Lost Causes > Editions". Goodreads.
3. "Il film New Department Q The Marco Effect in pre-produzione". cineuropa.org. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
4. Pham, Annika (26 August 2022). "TrustNordisk Boards New Department Q Film 'Boundless' by 'Banshee' Helmer (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety .
5. Abbatescianni, Davide (22 September 2022). "Ole Christian Madsen's crime-thriller Boundless in production". Cineuropa .
6. Bentien, Daniel. "Eksklusivt: Her Er Premieredatoerne For De 4 Nye Afdeling Q-Film" (in Danish). Kino.dk.
7. Teglgaard, Stine. "Bekræftet: 6 Film På Vej Med Jussi Adler-Olsens 'Afdeling Q'" (in Danish). Kino.dk.
8. Hartvig Nielsen, Daniel. "Derfor Blev Carl Mørck Skiftet Ud Til 'Marco Effekten'" (in Danish). Kino.dk.
9. Hamilton, Ben (27 April 2023). "Wee jauntie for Jussi: Netflix to set 'Department Q' TV series in Scotland". cphost.dk. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
10. "Netflix to film Scandi Noir Department Q in Edinburgh". Herald Scotland. 27 April 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
11. Clarke, Stewart (6 February 2024). "'Department Q' Takes Shape: Matthew Goode, Chloe Pirrie, Alexej Manvelov, Leah Byrne, Kelly Macdonald Join Netflix Series Adaptation Of Danish Crime Novels". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
12. O'Rourke, Ryan (6 February 2024). "Matthew Goode Leads Netflix's Gritty New Crime Drama 'Department Q'". Collider. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
13. https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/dept-q-release-date-cast-news ^{[ bare URL ]}
14. Rice, Lynette (18 August 2025). "'Dept. Q' Renewed For Season 2 By Netflix". Deadline. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
15. Ludvigsen, Jacob (15 September 2022). "Castet til ny Afdeling Q-film offentliggjort - Zaki Youssef skiftet ud som Assad" (in Danish). Soundvenue.
16. "Zentropa Crime-Thriller 'The Purity Of Vengeance' Breaks Danish Box Office Record". Deadline Hollywood. 22 November 2018.
17. "Nordic Admissions 2013-Part 1: Denmark-Finland". Nordisk Film & TV Fond. 24 January 2014.
18. "The Keeper of Lost Causes". TrustNordisk.
19. "Nordic Admissions 2014 Part 2: Denmark-Iceland-Sweden". Nordisk Film & TV Fond. 30 January 2015.
20. "The Absent One". TrustNordisk.
21. "Attendance for Danish films drops 33.3% in 2016". Nordisk Film & TV Fond. 23 January 2017.
22. "A Conspiracy of Faith". TrustNordisk.
23. "Denmark 2018 Annual Admissions Charts" (PDF). Nordisk Film & TV Fond. 22 January 2019.
24. "The Purity of Vengeance". TrustNordisk.
25. Pham, Annika (6 February 2022). "Nordic Box Office in 2021: 'No Time to Die" Keeps Screens Alive". Variety.
26. "Denmark 2021 Annual Admissions Charts" (PDF). Nordisk Film & TV Fond. 14 February 2021.
27. "The Marco Effect". TrustNordisk.
28. Martin Kofoed Hansen (3 April 2024). "Påskeferien i biografen" (in Danish). Danish Film Institute.
29. "I film danesi dominano il box office locale 2018". cineuropa.org. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
30. Hartvig, Daniel (5 February 2024). "Ny Afdeling Q-film får bedste biografåbning for en dansk film i flere år!" (in Danish). Kino.dk.
31. "The Keeper of Lost Causes". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media.
32. "Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes". Metacritic . CBS Interactive.
33. "Kvinden i Buret". Kino.dk.
34. "The Absent One". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media.
35. "Department Q: The Absent One". Metacritic . CBS Interactive.
36. "Kvinden i Buret". Kino.dk.
37. "A Conspiracy of Faith". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media.
38. "Department Q: A Conspiracy of Faith". Metacritic . CBS Interactive.
39. "Flaskepost Fra P". Kino.dk.
40. "The Purity of Vengeance". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media.
41. "Journal 64". Kino.dk.
42. "Marco Effekten". Kino.dk.
43. "Den Grænseløse". Kino.dk.