Penny Black (novel)

Fictional amateur detective Penny Wanawake better known as Penny Black is a beautiful black female photographer and the daughter of a UN Ambassador. Penny Black was created by author Susan Moody and first appeared in the debut novel Penny Black which is tied for 56th place in the British based Crime Writers' Association's Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time.

In June 2014 director and producer Tace Bayliss obtained an option for the screen rights of the Penny Black character and novels and is in discussion with US and UK film and TV companies. Bayliss said that in the 1980s and 1990s there was no great pressure to make whodunnits with young black female detectives, despite the source novel being rated higher by the British Crime Association than the hugely successful Midsomer Murders franchise. However, Bayliss avers that, since the source novel is ranked alongside Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Philip Marlowe, The Jackal, Lord Peter Wimsey, Harry Lime, 007 James Bond and Sherlock Holmes, and several other hugely successful film and TV crime detective screen adaptions, the time is right for Penny Black to join their screen presence.