The 23 Best Murder Mystery Shows

Now in its third season, The White Lotus centers on wealthy guests staying at one of the titular luxury resorts, where a murder sets off a cascade of tension and chaos. Set across stunning locales—Hawaii, Sicily, and currently Thailand—the show blends a gripping whodunit with biting social commentary. It expertly explores how societal power dynamics—shaped by race, class, and gender—unravel in the face of violence and disorder. The series has featured a star-studded cast, including Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, Natasha Rothwell, Parker Posey, and Lisa (of BLACKPINK), while also helping to propel the careers of younger talents like Leo Woodall, Haley Lu Richardson, and Aimee Lou Wood.

You’ll remember Kate Winslet’s knockout performance in this Max miniseries as Mare Sheehan, a detective in the fictional suburb of Easttown, Philadelphia, who is investigating the murder of a local teen girl. Sheehan completely immerses herself in her work in an attempt to outrun her own devastation, caused by the recent passing of her son, who died by suicide, and the long-ago loss of her father, who died the same way. Twisty and heartrending, this series is as much about the crime at its heart as it is an examination of how our own ghosts can follow us through life.

This recently released Netflix conspiracy thriller follows Muncie Daniels (Colman Domingo), a political media pundit who inadvertently becomes entangled in a deadly plot after discovering a murder while away in the Pocono Mountains. Upon his return to Philadelphia, he realizes he’s been framed for the crime when he sees his face on every news station in America and, instead of turning himself in to the police and facing a historically racist justice system, he fights to clear his name while on the run and reconnects with old family members who aid him in his fight.

It’s impossible to definitively decide which of this Max anthology series’ four seasons is the best because each one features an intricately twisted plot—and appearances from some of the decade’s biggest stars, including Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Vince Vaughan, Mahershala Ali, and Jodie Foster. Throughout the series, detectives investigate everything from a serial killer with ties to the occult in Louisiana to the sudden disappearance of eight scientists from a research station in remote Alaska.

Based on the true story of a 1980 murder, this Max miniseries centers on a devout Methodist woman named Candy Montgomery (Elizabeth Olsen), a housewife beloved by her local Collin County, Texas community who is experiencing marital issues with her husband Pat (Patrick Fugit). Montgomery begins to pursue Allan Gore (Jesse Plemons), a married man she knows from church, but when his wife is found brutally murdered, she becomes the prime suspect.

Allan Cumming! In a castle in Scotland! Wearing the most fabulous tartan pieces! What more could you really want? The host of Peacock’s buzzy reality competition series The Traitors is almost reason enough alone to watch the show, but its contestants, all of whom appeared on other reality tv shows and are pitted against one another in a Mafia-style faux murder game, serve up drama, perplexing alliances, and conniving plots that you won’t want to miss.

A fictional retelling of the real-life 1997 murder of 14-year-old Reena Virk in British Columbia, this Hulu miniseries will tug at your heartstrings. But it’s important to note that rather than sensationalizing or exploiting Virk’s story, it uses it to illustrate larger issues around race, class, and identity. When Virk (Vritika Gupta) doesn’t return from a party one night and is found murdered under a bridge, detective Cam Bentland (Lily Gladstone) and journalist Rebeccca Godfrey (Riley Keough) become determined to figure out what happened to her. As they begin to look more closely at Virk’s group of friends, shocking revelations about them and the true nature of their relationships come to light.

Created by Mark Frost and the late, great David Lynch, Twin Peaks debuted in 1990 and quickly earned a cult following for its surrealist style and supernatural elements. Set in the Pacific Northwest, the series centers on FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), who is investigating the murder of local homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). In reading Palmer’s diary as part of his investigation, Cooper discovers she was living a double life.

Spanning six seasons, this Shonda Rimes-backed legal drama thriller stars Viola Davis as Annalise Keating, a brilliant defense attorney and professor of law living in Philadelphia. When she and some of her law students become involved in a complex murder plot that will radically change their lives forever, they begin using their legal knowledge in ways that push the boundaries of justice and morality.

Created by Knives Out director Rian Johnson, Poker Face follows Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne), a casino worker with an uncanny ability to discern when someone is lying. After witnessing a murder, she becomes a target and goes on the run, traveling across the U.S. She encounters a variety of characters and crimes and uses her unique skill to uncover the truth. Each episode presents a self-contained mystery, blending crime-solving with dark humor, as Charlie tries to stay one step ahead of those who want her silenced.

Nicole Kidman is no stranger to psychological thrillers, having appeared in a healthy handful of them over the past decade or so. She’s excellent at portraying characters with complex and oftentimes conflicting emotions and taking viewers along with her on an emotional ride. Her performance in Max’s psychological thriller miniseries The Undoing is no different. Kidman stars as Grace Fraser, a psychologist whose life is turned upside down when her husband Jonathan (Hugh Grant) is accused of murdering a young mother. As he attempts to convince her of his innocence, Grace begins unearthing damning details about his past.

Starring Riz Ahmed as Pakistani American college student Nasir Khan, this Max miniseries kicks off when Khan borrows his taxi driver dad’s yellow cab to go out partying in New York City with friends. On the way, a woman hops into his cab—its off-duty light isn’t working—and friendly chatter between them soon gives way to drug-fueled infatuation and Khan ultimately ends up in her bed. But when he wakes up, he finds the woman stabbed to death next to him and, in a moment of panic, he takes the apparent murder weapon and drives back home. So begins the twisty unraveling of what really happened that night.

If you’re not ready to have your mind blown, then don’t watch this German thriller series, all three seasons of which are available on Netflix. The story revolves around four families in the small town of Winden that are interconnected by a string of long-suppressed secrets. When children start disappearing from the town, their past dalliances come to light—and a dizzyingly complex mystery spanning decades, generations, and universes begins to unfold.

This dark comedy-mystery series, which you can watch on most platforms, follows Dory Sief (Alia Shawkat) a self-absorbed millennial, who becomes obsessed with solving the disappearance of a former college acquaintance. As Dory drags her boyfriend Drew (John Reynolds) and a cast of friends into the search, what began as a seemingly simple case turns into a twisted journey of deception, danger, and self-discovery that only gets more enticingly bizarre across the show’s five seasons.

This thriller crime drama is based on Stephen King's 2018 novel of the same name, so you can trust that it’s rife with plenty of twists and nail-biting turns. When an 11-year-old boy is brutally murdered, evidence points to a local teacher and Little League baseball coach, Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman). However, as detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) investigates the crime, unsettling clues suggest that Terry may be innocent—and that a supernatural entity might be involved.

Across its five seasons, Fargo has featured knockout casts led by the likes of Billy Bob Thornton, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Jean Smart, Chris Rock, Carrie Coon, Juno Temple, and Jon Hamm. But the show’s appeal lies in so much more than its star power. Each season presents a self-contained mystery that takes place in the Midwest and follows a cast of characters, from crime bosses to police officers to unlucky civilians, as they become entangled in various schemes, murders, and conflicts.

Led by the charming trio of Selena Gomez, Martin Short, and Steve Martin, this Hulu series is the perfect watch for those who love mystery with a side of comedic relief. When a string of strange murders happens within the Arconia apartment building, three of its tenants, all true crime fanatics, decide to investigate the crimes via a podcast of their own.

Big Little Lies is another black comedy drama with a truly stellar cast that will have you guessing until the very last episode. The show is centered around a group of affluent women—portrayed by Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, and Zoe Kravitz—in Monterey, California, whose seemingly picture perfect lives unravel after a tragic death at their childrens’ school. At first, it’s unclear how the women are connected to the incident, but as the story unfolds through a series of flashbacks, it gradually reveals the complex relationships, secrets, and lies that bind the women together.

Based on real events, Netflix’s Mindhunter follows psychologist Wendy Carr (Anna Torv) and FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) as they pioneer criminal profiling in the late 1970s. The trio interviews incarcerated serial killers to understand their motives and behaviors, in hopes the new insight will help them solve ongoing cases.