30 of the Best Murder Mystery Shows That Will Leave You Wanting More (2024)

Season 1 of True Detective was one of the best TV sagas of all time; but the HBO anthology’s fourth season gives a new meaning to “cold case.” Set in the fictional, freezing Alaskan town of Ennis, it chronicles the sudden disappearance of eight scientists conducting experiments at a remote research station. Led by police chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and trooper Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis), the investigation into the men’s demise is linked to another unsolved murder, that of an indigenous Iñupiat woman whose tongue was cut out at the time of her death—and was found at the scene of the researchers’ disappearance. It’s quite a dark case, and not just because the drama unfolds during Ennis’ long winter night.

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Hulu’s gutting new true-crime miniseries Under the Bridge isn’t always an easy watch. Based on Rebecca Godfrey’s book of the same name, it explores the grisly 1997 murder of 14-year-old Reena Virk (played by Vritika Gupta) in British Columbia. The show presents a compelling exploration of bullying as it slowly builds its case against the group of gang-obsessed high schoolers who attacked the Indian-Canadian teenager, ultimately revealing who was responsible for her death. Lily Gladstone stars as the detective on the case and has great onscreen chemistry with Riley Keough, who portrays Godfrey—but it’s the performances of Chloe Guidry, Aiyana Goodfellow, Javon Walton, and Izzy G as deeply troubled teens that make this show a must-watch.

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Looking for something lighter, perhaps with an A-list cast? Only Murders in the Building is it. With three entertaining seasons, the Hulu dramedy follows true crime-obsessed neighbors Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), who team up to solve a string of murders tied to their New York City apartment building. Over the course of their investigations—done via podcast, of course—the unlikely pals encounter a curious cast of characters played by the likes of Meryl Streep, Paul Rudd, Cara Delevigne, and Jane Lynch. Season 4 is slated to premiere in August.

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The critically-acclaimed Mare of Easttown stars Kate Winslet as the titular Mare Sheehan, a stubborn detective who’s tasked with investigating the brutal killing of a teen mom in her rural Pennsylvania hometown. Throughout seven bleak episodes, Mare works to solve the murder—as well as a previous missing person’s case—while grappling with grief and family drama of her own. Jean Smart, Julianne Nicholson, Evan Peters, and Angourie Rice co-star in the suspenseful HBO miniseries.

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Mandy Patinkin plays world-renowned detective Rufus Cotesworth in this cruise ship-set murder mystery. The one-season Hulu drama follows Imogene Scott (Violett Beane), a woman who has a personal past connection to the sleuth and, despite feelings of distrust, must join forces with him to prove that she didn’t commit a deadly crime aboard the luxury liner. A stylish whodunnit in a world of excess, the suspects in their quest for the truth are anything but boring.

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Adapted from Liane Moriarty’s bestselling book, Big Little Lies is set in the wealthy beach town of Monterey, California, where a group of moms—played by Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Zoë Kravitz, and Shailene Woodley—suddenly find themselves at the center of a murder investigation. Extramarital affairs and glamorous frenemies abound, and the local rumor mill never stops churning as the series explores the shockingly dark underbelly of what appears to be a picture-perfect life. Season 2 saw the addition of Meryl Streep to the HBO series’ already stacked cast.

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The cultural phenomenon that is The White Lotus has all the makings of a good murder mystery: beautiful settings, multiple suspects with motive, and, of course, Jennifer Coolidge. The first season of the anthology series took place at the titular resort in Maui, while the second hopped across the Atlantic to its Sicilian sister property. With a different (save for Coolidge) ensemble cast playing dysfunctional guests and employees—one of whom is likely responsible for a murder at the glamorous hotel—each season is bitingly funny. A highly-anticipated third trip to paradise is currently being filmed in Thailand.

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Waking up in Bangkok with a dead man in her hotel room and no recollection of the night before, flight attendant Cassie Bowden (Kaley Cuoco) panics, cleans up the crime scene, and takes herself (and her hangover) to the airport. But when the FBI questions her as soon as she arrives in New York City, Cassie realizes that she’s their prime suspect—and channels her spotty flashbacks to find the real killer in the two-season Max thriller.

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Based on Gone Girl writer Gillian Flynn’s debut novel, Sharp Objects is decidedly disturbing. The series follows crime reporter Camille Preaker (Amy Adams), who’s fighting her own dark mental-health demons when she returns to her hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri, to investigate the murders of two local girls. Back in the childhood home that she was so desperate to leave, things only get more sinister as chilling details of the Preaker family’s past come to light. Patricia Clarkson stars as Camille’s deeply critical mother, Adora, and Eliza Scanlen plays her teenage half-sister, Amma.

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HBO’s limited series The Night Of presents a lurid tale about New York City’s criminal justice system. When Pakistani-American college kid Nasir “Naz” Khan (Riz Ahmed) goes out for a night of partying, it sets off an unthinkable chain of events that culminates in the discovery of his one-night-stand’s dead body. With no memory of the brutal murder and only circ*mstantial evidence to tie him to the crime, Naz is sent to Rikers Island, where he aligns himself with dangerous inmates. As he transforms into an unrecognizable character, his frustrated defense lawyer, John Stone (John Turturro) begins to present a compelling case for trial.

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Bill Pullman plays Detective Harry Ambrose in USA Network’s The Sinner, a police procedural in which his character investigates complex murders. Season 1 of the anthology series was inspired by Petra Hammesfahr’s novel of the same name, and opens with married mom Cora Tannetti (Jessica Biel) stabbing a man to death on the beach for seemingly no reason. As Ambrose digs into the case—and Cora’s past—horrific details about her past traumas begin to emerge. Three subsequent seasons followed, with each one based on a new crime.

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Twists and turns abound in Fargo. Based on the 1996 Coen brothers’ film, each season of the FX anthology series follows the investigation of a gruesome murder in the Midwest. While the quirky cast of characters continues to change, as does the era in which they’re living, the mysterious crimes throughout all five seasons of the show are all connected by the fact that they’ve taken place in or around Fargo, North Dakota, between 1950 and 2019.

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This one’s title says it all. A Murder at the End of the World is set at a billionaire’s remote compound in Iceland. A brilliant hacker, true-crime author, and amateur sleuth, Darby Hart (Emma Corrin) is shaken to her core after witnessing the murder of a fellow guest while attending an elite Arctic retreat hosted by Andy Ronson (Clive Owen) and his ex-hacker wife, Lee Anderson (Brit Marling). Determined to find the killer—and prove that a homicide was, in fact, committed—Darby begins her own impassioned investigation.

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Based on a true story, The Staircase stars Colin Firth as crime novelist and convicted killer Michael Peterson, who was accused of murdering his wife, Kathleen (Toni Colette), after she was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their Durham, N.C., home in 2001. The HBO limited series traces the impact of Kathleen’s unexplained death on her children, the legal battle that follows, and the French documentary crew that decides to chronicle the investigation, throughout which Michael continues to declare his innocence.

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Crime author Harlan Coben’s Safe stars Michael C. Hall as surgeon Tom Delaney, an English widower and father of two. When his oldest daughter, 16-year-old Jenny (Amy James-Kelly), goes missing and her boyfriend turns up dead, Tom springs into action to find her—and uncovers a series of dark truths involving his late wife Rachel, his new detective girlfriend Sophie (Amanda Abbington), and a school fire that took the lives of eight kids over two decades ago.

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Inspired by Jon Krakauer’s true-crime book, the FX miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven delves into the dark undertones of the LDS church. When a suburban young mom and her infant are violently murdered at their Salt Lake Valley home, detective Jeb Pyre (Andrew Garfield) launches an investigation—and discovers the horrors of fundamentalism that put his own faith to the test. Gil Birmingham, Wyatt Russell, Sam Worthington, and Daisy Edgar-Jones also star.

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Set among Manhattan’s elite, the psychological thriller The Undoing follows Grace (Nicole Kidman) and Jonathan Fraser (Hugh Grant), a wealthy couple who become embroiled in the murder of a young mom named Elena (Matilda De Angelis) when Jonathan is accused of the heinous crime. As their lives are turned upside down, Grace begins to search for the truth—no matter how unsettling it may turn out to be.

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In Peaco*ck’s case-of-the-week dramedy Poker Face, Natasha Lyonne stars as a casino co*cktail waitress who’s on the run—and who just so happens to have an uncanny knack for lie-detecting. As she heads from one town to the next on her misadventures, Charlie Cale tries to solve local murders in a Columbo-inspired inverted detective series, where each episode begins with the killer committing the crime.

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For four seasons of Veronica Mars, Kristen Bell played the series’ eponymous teenage private eye. Initially inspired to solve the murder of her best friend, Mars begins working with her detective father to investigate a multitude of crimes in Neptune, their affluent California town. The noir drama features season-long mysteries as well as smaller cases to crack in each episode, so the big reveals—and Mars’s sarcastic remarks—just keep on coming.

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It certainly has its funny moments, but Wednesday does have an intriguing murder mystery at its core. The Netflix fantasy series stars Jenna Ortega as the dead-eyed Wednesday Addams, who’s sent away to her parents’ old school, Nevermore Academy, after being expelled from every other institution. As she learns to put her psychic abilities to use, the macabre teen helps to solve the 25-year-old homicide of Garret Gates—for which her father, Gomez, was arrested—and tracks down the monster that’s been killing residents of the small spooky town.

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