Netflix has added The Breakthrough, a four-part murder mystery inspired by a real double murder case in Sweden which was solved years later using groundbreaking genetic genealogy techniques.
The Breakhtough is a mini-series based on the nonfiction book of the same name, about Sweden's second largest murder investigation to date. The plot, which is fictional but inspired by actual events, sees a double murder go unsolved for 16 years. Peter Eggers (Snabba Cash, Blinded) and Mattias Nordkvist (The Restaurant, The Wife) team up as the police officer and the genealogist who work together to crack the case.
As Netflix puts it, "The Breakthrough is a fictional story about the unexpected hero, an unlikely collaboration, and the hunt for a killer. But it is also a story about how an unsolved crime affects a society and what happens to people who are left without answers to both 'Who?' and Why?'."
The real-life case that inspired the series took place in 2004 in the Swedish city of Linköping. The case was eventually solved using genealogical research, the first time that had happened in Europe. Genealogical research combines the use of DNA analysis with traditional genealogy, the study of family history, to link people. The attacker in the real case had left DNA at the crime scene and genealogical research was used to produce a shortlist of suspects leading ultimately to the killer being caught.
Oskar Söderlund, the show’s scriptwriter said: "When I read the book 'The Breakthrough', I was struck by the fact that there was such strong human destinies behind this massive murder investigation. Police officers who refuse to give up, relatives who wanted answers and last but not least the genealogist who finally came up with the solution. It is a terrible trauma that has affected the people and the city of Linköping and I want to respectfully tell about the attempts to move on from such trauma. In the midst of this tragedy, there are people who refuse to give up, who're struggling to move on and whose whole life is marked by what happened."
Anna Bodin and Peter Sjölund, the book authors, added: "We’re excited that FLX and Netflix will tell this story, based on our extensive work. This is the first criminal case in Europe that has been solved with genetic genealogy, and it is a case that has touched both of us, the city of Linköping and Sweden deeply."
If you'd like to read the book the series is based on it’s "The Breakthrough: How the genealogist solved the double murder in Linköping" by Anna Bodin and Peter Sjölund.
