Is the Double Trap series based on a true story?

Double Trap has been a huge success for Netflix since its launch on January 1, but is the series inspired by a true story?

Starring Michelle Keegan, Richard Armitage, Joanna Lumley, Adeel Akhtar and Emmett J. Scanlon in the lead, Double Trap is a crime thriller which takes place over eight episodes.

The series received negative reviews, but that did not prevent it from maintaining its place in Netflix’s Top 10 for several days since its release. At the time of writing this article, it is still in first place.

So, is the plot – full of betrayal and murder – based on a true story?

Is the Double Trap series based on a true story?

No, Double Trap is not inspired by a true story. The series is adapted from a novel by Harlan Coben, published in 2016.

The French summary of the book presents the story like this: “New Jersey, today. To monitor the babysitter, Maya installs a camera in her living room. One day, a man appears on the screen, playing with his little Lily. A man Maya knows well: Joe, her husband… whom she has just buried. It’s the shock. Dead or alive, who was Joe really? Should we believe everything we see? For Maya, the time has come to delve into a troubled past; a world on the border between truth and illusions. A dangerous world, of which she could be the new victim…”

Netflix’s adaptation retains much of this story, but changes the setting from the US to the UK, with the series having been filmed in Manchester in 2023.

Even more Harlan Coben adaptations on Netflix

Harlan Coben is a writer with a prolific career. Enough to interest Netflix, which saw a great opportunity: in 2018, the streaming giant signed a several-year contract with the novelist to adapt his works. A contract extended into 2022, the result of which is the multiple adaptations of his stories: