Castle cancelled after season 8 following Stana Katic exit

Richard Castle might have written his last crime novel if ABC had anything to do with it. However, the network will not be renewing its long-running crime show Castle for a ninth season.

The move comes on the heels of the announcement that Stana Katic (Detective Kate Beckett) and Tamala Jones (forensic expert Lanie Parish) were leaving the show after season eight as part of ABC's budgetary decisions. The move has upset numerous fans of the no-nonsense NYPD detective, since they were expecting the drama to take a fresh turn with her exit. Instead, it looks like it took a turn into a dead end.

Andrew Marlow, the creator of the show about crime-solving duo novelist Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Detective Beckett, bid farewell to the show in a tweet. "To the whole Castle family- our amazing cast, our remarkable crew, our imaginative writers & our wonderful fans, thank you for 8 amazing yrs!" he posted.

The show, which started off in 2009 and ran for seven consecutive years on ABC, witnessed a drop in ratings of late but fans were not expecting its cancellation and reacted to the news dramatically.

The announcement means the season eight finale is going to be a series finale, so expect it to have a dramatic ending. Watch Crossfire, the last episode of Castle, on 16 May at 10pm EST on ABC.