HBO scores its next gritty limited series, Get Millie Black

HBO, the network that never met a limited series it didn’t like—or find a way to rip those limits right off, provided the ratings are good enough—has lined up its next such allegedly small-scale project: Get Millie Black, a new Jamaica-set police drama from novelist Marlon James.

Set to debut on Monday, November 25, the series will star Tamara Lawrance as Millie-Jean Black, a former Scotland Yard detective who, after being forced out of the U.K. police, returns to her home in Kingston, Jamaica to investigate missing persons cases. One such case brings her into the orbit of traveling Scotland Yard detective Luke Holborn (Game Of Thrones‘ Joe Dempsie), in order to—and here, we’ll just give in to the potboiler drama of it all and quote the press release—”solve a case that will blow her world apart and prove almost as tough to crack as Millie Black.”

This is James’ first major TV project; the best-selling and award-winning author is known for more typically historical or fantastical material, most notably his ongoing Dark Star series of books. (Although his self-description of the series as an “African Game Of Thrones” was apparently intended as a joke that got away from him, the books have drawn comparisons for George R.R. Martin’s work for their shared interest in depicting brutally graphic violence in fantastical settings, married to often lovely, even lyrical storytelling.) Lawrance, meanwhile, is best known as a stage actor, although she’s also made regular appearances on British TV; Millie Black is a co-production between HBO and the U.K.’s Channel 4. The series will air on both HBO and Max in the States.