The series is based on the bestselling Roy Grace crime novels by Peter James, adapted for television by screenwriter Russell Lewis.

John Simm stars in the title role of Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, a detective haunted by the disappearance of his wife years earlier.

The first series was predominantly filmed in Brighton and Hove, with additional location filming elsewhere in Sussex, particularly around the border of East and West Sussex.

Filming for the second series began in September 2021 in the West Sussex town of Burgess Hill.

The opening titles of each episode feature the shipping forecast read by Zeb Soanes.

The first episode, Dead Simple, was moved forward a week in the schedule to avoid clashing with the launch of the sixth series of the BBC's Line of Duty, which in turn delayed the broadcast of the series 2 opener Looking Good Dead.

Because of that scheduling shift, Looking Good Dead was available to stream in the United States more than a year before it aired in Britain.

Dead Simple, broadcast in March 2021, drew an estimated 7.2 million viewers, making it the fifth-most-watched programme in the UK for the week of 8–14 March according to BARB.

Russell Lewis stepped down as showrunner and principal writer for series 3, with former Whitechapel writers Ben Court and Caroline Ip penning two episodes and screenwriter Ed Whitmore writing another.

Sam Hoare joined the cast as the new Assistant Chief Constable Cassian Pewe in series 3, following Rakie Ayola's departure from the role of Alison Vosper at the end of series two.