Murder mysteries tend to conjure up very specific imagery. The lone, idiosyncratic detective. A dark and dreary landscape. The mustache of Hercule Poirot. Professor Plum in the library with the candlestick. But the truth is that murder mysteries come in all shapes and sizes. Some are atmospheric and moody. Some are bright and funny. Some are by-the-book procedurals that you watch precisely because they’re reliable and formulaic. And television has them all. No matter your taste, there’s a murder mystery with your name on it (this is much better than there being a murder weapon with your name on it).
In our attempt to highlight the best of the best murder mysteries, we’ve carefully curated a list that features period shows and modern mysteries, stark snow noirs and vivid fairy tales. There are Serious Dramas and shows that find the humor in life alongside the shadow of death. It’s a bit of everything, so no matter what mood you’re in, you’ll likely find something to watch below. These are the best murder mysteries to stream right now.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is based on the young adult mystery novel of the same name—specifically, the UK edition of the book—and follows Pip Fitz-Amobi (Emma Myer) as she looks into the disappearance of Andie Bell (India Lillie Davies) and the subsequent suicide of her boyfriend, Sal Singh (Rahul Pattni), that occurred five years before. Pip begins her investigation as a school project and things quickly spiral out from there as she starts digging into the past, attempting to disprove the assumption that Andie’s disappearance was a case of murder-suicide at the hands of Sal.
It is rare that a series is so casually well-rounded. Myers’ performance gives Pip a multitude of layers, from happy-go-lucky to afraid and massively out of her depth. Pip’s ensemble of friends are a believably active part of the story without overwhelming the center thread of Pip trying to find the truth. It is a perfectly packaged, breezy adventure with a Wednesday alum as the lead, and even though there are two more books’ worth of material that the series can build from, the ending of its inaugural season ties things off in a satisfying way. Closing the door on this type of mystery is difficult, but the strength of the writing leaves no stone unturned and no question unanswered—a testament to the rock-solid execution of this series, which undeniably stands as a summer mystery worth binging. —Kathryn Porter
Death and Other Details
Rian Johnson, bless you. The huge success of his Knives Out (2019) ignited a resurgence in popularity for the frothy ensemble mystery, Agatha Christie style, and Hulu’s Death and Other Details is just the latest entry in this beloved genre. Eighteen years ago, young Imogene’s (Violett Beane) mother was killed in a car explosion on the wealthy Collier family’s grounds. Since she was a treasured employee of the company, the Colliers adopt her now-orphaned daughter and hire the “world’s greatest detective,” Rufus Cotesworth (Mandy Patinkin), to get to the bottom of the tragedy… to no avail. The lack of resolution to the case means there’s plenty of resentment harbored by grown Imogene, as she’s never gotten closure on the event that shaped her whole life. When the two reunite on the Colliers’ luxury cruise excursion (meant to mark the beginnings of a deal between their company and wealthy Chinese investors), a murder brings them together once again, all leading back to the mystery that they couldn’t solve all those years ago. Beane and Patinkin are an excellent entry into the pantheon of mystery duos, and this series is absolutely worth seeking out for its smart mystery and compelling central pair. —Tara Bennett
Mare of Easttown
If you like your small-town murder with a side of deep emotional suffering and personal trauma, the HBO limited series Mare of Easttown is the show for you. Emmy winner Kate Winslet stars in the exquisite seven-episode series as Mare Sheehan, a haggard detective and local basketball star from a town just outside Philadelphia who’s been tasked with solving the murder of a local teen while trying to find several more who’ve gone missing. As is required by Murder Mystery Law, Mare must do all of this while personally hanging on by a thread, her own life having been shattered by a moment of suffering so deep and painful that it has created cracks through her world like a spiderweb. This is the type of show where the central crime arguably comes second to the personal stories, which are a careful study in how everyone is damaged, but Winslet gives the kind of performance that is utterly unforgettable. And thanks to excellent supporting performances from Evan Peters and Julianne Nicholson (who also won Emmys for their work) and the incomparable Jean Smart (who was a nominee), it’s a compelling murder mystery that keeps you on your toes until the very end. —Kaitlin Thomas
True Detective: Night Country
The fourth season of True Detective, subtitled Night Country, is the first from someone other than series creator Nic Pizzolatto. Issa López acts as the showrunner, director, and lead writer of the show, which follows Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis), detectives in Ennis, Alaska, who find themselves sucked into an intertwined pair of unsolved deaths. The first is a cold case involving a local indigenous woman, Annie K, who was murdered after protesting against the local mine, while in the second, a group of scientists from a nearby research station were found frozen in the ice amidst perplexing circumstances. As the duo start digging, they’re forced to face elements of their own pasts as they unearth hidden truths about their community. Through its cast of compelling and flawed characters, supernatural undertones, and chilling setting, it convincingly conveys the frigid dread of endless arctic nights and the ghosts that haunt this tundra. —Elijah Gonzalez
The Afterparty
If I can only use one word to describe Christopher Miller and Phil Lord’s genre-bending series The Afterparty, it’s “super-freaking-fun.” A welcome addition to the trend of comedic murder mysteries, the first season follows the investigation of a high-profile murder that occurs at a high school reunion afterparty, while the second season is set at a wedding. What sets the show apart from other series is that each episode is a retelling of the night’s events as viewed through the lens of a different popular film genre that corresponds to the perspective and personality of the person being interrogated. The result is a series that both operates within and pokes fun at the tropes of not just the formulaic murder mystery, but also romantic comedies, psychological thrillers, musicals, teen dramas, heist movies, period romances, and even Wes Anderson films (though that last one is arguably not a real genre). It’s not a terribly deep show, but with a cast filled with actors and actresses who are often the funniest and best parts of every project they’re in, it’s an exceptionally good time from start to finish. —Kaitlin Thomas
Poker Face
The deck is heavily stacked in the audience’s favor with Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne’s Poker Face, a case-of-the-week “howcatchem” that feels less like an ode to Columbo and more like a gleeful, excited squeal of adoration. Johnson writes and directs the pilot, giving us a welcome return to the darker, restrained type of genre filmmaking he showed in Brick and Looper, which provides an impeccable introduction to the world of Charlie (Lyonne), a nobody who can sniff out when anyone is ever lying. Our perceptive idol still has to slum it across America’s backroads, seemingly drawn to impractical, impossible murders being staged in regional theaters, crummy punk bars, and a militant old folks home. There’s a great deal of texture to the world that a team of capable writers and directors explore, and despite some repetitive structure issues, Poker Face makes us wonder why procedurals like these aren’t on TV year-round. —Rory Doherty
Trapped and Entrapped
For fans of Nordic noir, you can’t go wrong with the exceptionally snowy, totally compelling Icelandic crime drama Trapped (note: the show’s third season, which is treated as a sequel series, is known as Entrapped). The series, centered in a town on the coast that has recently been snowed in, kicks off with the discovery of a headless corpse in the local port. From there, the local police—led by Olafur Darri Olafsson’s Andri, whose work has taken its toll on his home life—embark on a twisted mystery that must be solved before the snow melts and the murderer can escape. It’s a beyond tired cliche to say that the location of a show is another character, but in this case, it’s actually true, as Trapped skillfully uses its remote setting to its advantage, upping the dramatic tension at every turn and leaving characters vulnerable to both the effects of Mother Nature and the killer in town. —Kaitlin Thomas
Only Murders in the Building
This endearing comedic murder mystery stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez as a trio of true-crime obsessives who charmingly try to crack a case in their shared apartment building. The neighbors make an unlikely gang: Charles-Haden Savage (Martin) is a washed-up actor who used to star as a TV detective, and the overconfidence he has in his residual investigative skills thinly masks a deeply insecure man; Oliver Putnam (Short) contrasts Charles as a flamboyant former theater director with a big personality and even bigger debts; Mabel (a well-cast Gomez) is a stylish and quietly mysterious young woman who has more of a connection to the first case than she initially lets on. But when they find out they share a suspicion that a tragic suicide in their building was actually a homicide, they decide to try their hand at uncovering the truth—and start a podcast to follow their investigation (each subsequent season finds the trio solving a new murder).
The series—and the podcast within—depend on our central trio being engaging, and the combination of personalities works out well; the cast is wonderfully dynamic, earning laughs while slowly revealing morsels of their secretly lonely lives to each other. Though our heroes like to complicate things, Only Murders in the Building itself keeps things simple; it’s a dazzlingly funny and entertaining series that’s clearly made with a lot of heart. —Kristen Reid
Shetland
A strong sense of place is often key to a good murder mystery. Shetland, a British crime drama based on the novels of Ann Cleeves that draws its name from its setting on the Shetland Isles off the coast of Scotland, uses its location to its advantage. At times, the masterful murder mystery—which begins with standalone stories before transitioning to a more serialized narrative—is remote and suffocating. At others, it’s quaint and beautiful. It all comes down to the story and the framing. But since Douglas Henshall’s Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez most often investigates murders, the setting most often reflects the murky nature of the crimes committed. And yet, Shetland isn’t a glumfest. There is plenty to smile about as well, making for a well-rounded viewing experience. —Kaitlin Thomas
Dark Winds
Set within the Navajo Nation, Dark Winds is the story of a bank heist and a double murder viewed through the eyes of Lt. Joe Leaphorn, played by the excellent Zahn McClarnon. He and his junior officer Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) set about solving both cases while the FBI lingers and their own people look on with suspicion. The supernatural elements are subtle enough to contribute rather than subtract; they fit the atmosphere, and never become so egregious or important that it delegitimizes the actual crime story. In fact, it’s necessary to depict a culture that was almost erased; there is still power here. As the mystery deepens, Leaphorn is the prism through which we see the lingering effects of the conquest that is still resonant for the people who ended up on the wrong side of it; just because a murder takes place in 1971 doesn’t mean it cannot trace its dark lineage back through the painful decades. —Shane Ryan
Veronica Mars
Equal parts witty and riveting, Veronica Mars follows the title character, who is an ostracized high-school student moonlighting as a private eye for her classmates. Kristen Bell uncannily portrays someone who is simultaneously smart, vulnerable, tough and injured. The series, which received a fan-funded movie revival in 2014 and a 2019 Hulu revival, is thematically compelling, stylistically coherent, and fully realized TV show (despite the controversy of the revival’s conclusion). The first season followed Veronica as she solved the murder of her best friend Lilly (Amanda Seyfried) and uncovered who assaulted her at a party. The eventual reveal of the murderer was shocking but the show proved it was much more than a one-trick pony. Subsequent seasons introduced new mysteries and corruption all while delivering some of the most fantastic dialogue on television (“Love stinks. You can dress it up in sequins and shoulder pads, but one way or another, you’re just gonna end up alone at the spring dance strapped in uncomfortable underwear.”) For UPN, the series represented a foray into critically acclaimed television. The show was then and remains one of the best TV series of all time. And marshmallows, we pause here to give a special shout out to Jason Dohring, who brought a nuanced combination of cockiness and hurt to bad boy Logan Echolls. —James South and Shaina Pearlman
