From "Bones" to "The Closer," female detectives are hot right now. So hot, in fact, that two suspiciously similar projects, "Women's Murder Club" (pictured above) and The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, are currently in development (the latter just cast Anika Noni Rose [0]). Lest you be confused should the topic arise at your next cocktail party, I've put together this handy guide to telling the projects apart.
| Title | What is it? | Adapted from | Premise | Location | Stars | It's like ... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Women's Murder Club" | A new ABC drama scheduled for Friday nights in the fall | A series of books [1] by James Patterson | A group of women working in the justice system come together to solve crime | San Francisco | Angie Harmon, Paula Newsome, Aubrey Dollar, Tyrees Allen | "Law & Order" meets Steel Magnolias |
| The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency | A new movie by Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella | A series of books [2] by Alexander McCall Smith | An African woman establishes herself as her country's first female detective | Botswana | Jill Scott, Anika Noni Rose | "Murder She Wrote" in the savanna |
Photo copyright 2007 ABC, Inc. [3]