Murder mysteries and detective stories continue to be huge draws in the streaming world and the best detective shows on Netflix show the best of the genre.

Netflix is home to a wide variety of crime dramas which keep audiences on their toes as they try to eagerly predict the story’s conclusion. With the popularity of this genre soaring, Netflix has consistently delivered engaging and thought-provoking detective series. Whether it’s in a big city or a small town, a crime or investigation can go anywhere, and more often than not, no character is safe.

For crime drama enthusiasts, it may feel that all available storylines have been exhausted. However, 2023 saw a wave of new releases for Netflix, including new episodes of viewer favorites Luther and season 5 of Top Boy. Detective stories have been around for many years, going back to Sherlock Holmes stories and Agatha Christie novels. While some older classics of the genre are still available, Netflix also proves there are inventive and fresh ways to approach these intriguing crime stories. These gripping detective shows on Netflix offer the thrills and suspense genre fans expect as well as something more.

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Monk (2002-2009)
A Detective With OCD Helps Out The Cops With Their Cases

Some of the best detective shows on Netflix prove that a comedic approach to the genre can work quite well. Such is the case with the hilarious and critically acclaimed series Monk. Tony Shaloub stars as Adrian Monk, a detective who works with obsessive-compulsive disorder who works alongside the police solving cases. His anxieties and personal eccentricities make the job difficult at times.

Shaloub is hilarious in the main role, infusing Monk with charm while also showing off his brilliant comedic skills. As funny as the show is, it also delivers great mysteries in each episode, with the show following a case-of-the-week format. The writing is clever and the reveals work well, leading to the show collecting several Emmy Awards over the course of its eight seasons. The series proved to still have a lot of fans with the release of the TV movie Mr. Monk’s Last Case in 2023.

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The Blacklist is a crime thriller series that follows a wanted fugitive as he assists the FBI in catching deadly criminals.

Featuring eccentric American star James Spader, The Blacklist is a crime thriller series that follows a wanted fugitive who suddenly turns himself into the FBI. He reveals that he is in possession of a list of some of the most heinous criminals operating around the world and offers his services in helping the authorities hunt them down. It provides a case-of-the-week format as more bad guys are crossed off the list with each new episode while also diving deeper into the motives of Spader’s mysterious antihero.

This fast-paced mystery was praised for its overall entertainment, and Spader’s incredible performance added an extra layer of tension to the screen. Despite some elements that require a suspension of disbelief and comedic moments that feel out of place, The Blacklist was generally positively received and well-worth watching. Following its 10-season run, The Blacklist came to an end in 2023.

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Mindhunter (2017)
The True Story Of The FBI’s Study Of Serial Killers

While many detective stories can draw inspiration from real-life crimes, Mindhunter is actually based on a true story. The psychological drama follows two FBI agents in a unique take on the 1955 non-fiction book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit. It stars Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany as two FBI agents who take on an experimental new approach to understanding the mind of a serial killer by interviewing several infamous killers.

The show ran for three seasons, but Mindhunter was canceled in 2023. The one silver lining of Mindhunter’s cancellation is it means that viewers can now binge every episode on Netflix. Unlike other shows that revolve around the FBI, Mindhunter follows a research project trying to understand the in-depth psyche of serial killers, rather than being out in the field, offering a unique perspective on real-world practices.

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The Sinner (2017)
A Detective Explores Crime Committed By Unlikely Suspects

The Sinner is something of an anthology series with Bill Pullman as Detective Harry Ambrose being followed on a new case with each new season. The series takes an interesting look at crimes of passion and typical murders as Ambrose focuses on crimes committed by surprising and typical culprits, trying to work out the motivation that led to their crimes.

The show started as an eight-part miniseries, but due to an overwhelmingly positive response, the series was commissioned for a further three seasons. Each season of the show brought in new and interesting characters with the likes of Jessica Biel and Carrie Coon joining the show at various points throughout its four-season run. The Sinner also received multiple nominations for several awards while it was airing, including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Miniseries or Television Film.

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Lupin (2021)
A Cunning French Thieves Evades The Police

Sometimes the best detective shows are more focused on the criminal side of the law than on the police work. Such is the case with Lupin, which is a retelling of the story of fictional French thief Arsène Lupin, created by author Maurice Leblanc. Lupin follows Assane Diop, a young thief who models himself after Arsène Lupin. It follows him as he pulls off his elaborate heists with style while also managing to stay a step ahead of the police who are trying to catch him.

The French language drama was watched by seventy-six million people in its first month, making it the most popular non-English language show on Netflix at that time (per The Hollywood Reporter). The show was then renewed for two further installments, the latest airing in October 2023, with no announcements for further episodes at this time.

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Inside Man (2022)
A Death Row Inmate And Captive Woman Are Linked In A Surprising Way

The audience is forced to play detective and piece together the wider story that is at play in the gripping British series Inside Man. Starring David Tennant and Stanley Tucci, Inside Man tells the intense story of two very different people whose lives end up intercrossing: a prisoner in the United States, currently on death row, and a woman trapped in the cellar of an old, English vicarage.

The show was created by Stephen Moffat, who was also behind the excellent Sherlock series, so it should already be on the radar of mystery fans. It is a twisting story while Tennant’s performance is laced with anticipation and drama, and the dark themes throughout have the occasional comedic moment. It leads to the complex ending of Inside Man that ties everything together in a fascinating way.

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How To Get Away With Murder (2014)
A Law Professor And Her Students Are Caught Up In A Murder Plot

Shonda Rhimes is a television producer known for her incredible run of hits, such as Grey’s Anatomy and Bridgerton. However, one of her best series saw her exploring the murder mystery genre to great effect. The show follows a brilliant law professor who finds herself and her students caught up in a murder case when one of them is killed. It sets the stage for a terrific drama as everyone becomes a suspect.

How to Get Away with Murder made an incredible impact upon its initial release in 2014.

Starring EGOT winner Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder made an incredible impact upon its initial release in 2014. The show ran for six years and finished in 2020. It follows Davis’ character Annalise Keating, a defense attorney based in Philadelphia who, alongside five of her students, manages to get caught up in a murder plot. Davis’ performance earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, making her the first black woman to ever win the award (per NPR).

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Stay Close (2021)
Various People Are Impacted By A Tragic Event From The Past

Many of the best detective and mystery series explore the idea of a dark secret from the past coming back to haunt the characters. Stay Close does just that with a disturbing event shattering the peaceful life of several people. When the stories of a suburban mother, a photographer, and a detective overlap, the mystery of missing father Stewart Green begins to rear its head once again, seventeen years after his disappearance.

The Netflix detective series is based on the novel of the same name by author Harlan Coben. Coben has adapted more of his crime novels for Netflix, including Safe and The Stranger which also rank highly among the best detective series on Netflix. The author has a talent for gripping mysteries that pull the audience in with Stay Close among the best adaptations. The interlocking stories and great characters help to elevate it within the genre.

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Collateral (2018)
An Investigator Must Analyze Unrelated Suspects For A Murder Case

The popularity of the detective genre and the acclaimed stories that it can produce result in many top-tier and extremely talented actors being drawn to these projects. Collateral is one such show that is further elevated by the starring role of Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan. The four-part criminal thriller stars Mulligan as DI Kip Glaspie, who is thrown into the murder investigation of a delivery driver in South West London.

Set across four days, the gripping British drama interweaves the lives of several seemingly unconnected characters. Collateral does a great job of making a comment on societal structures, while still focusing on the mystery at its core. It makes for a bold and complex crime story with an ensemble of interesting characters and Mulligan provides a great anchor to it all with her solid lead performance.

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Deadwind (2018)
A Grieving Detective Returns To Investigate A Murder

Another international detective series from Netflix, Deadwind is a Finnish crime drama that follows Detective Sofia Karppi who returns to work following the very sudden and accidental death of her husband. Upon her immediate return, Sofia is thrown into a murder investigation of a woman with suspicious connections to a construction company, while still having to raise her two children by herself.

Netflix has a great selection of international shows, some of which have been able to find success with the mainstream audience. While Deadwind might be more under the radar, it is another series worth seeking out. The show is often compared favorably to other Danish crime series like The Bridge and The Killing for its dark and dour tone that becomes engrossing. While fans of those shows will be pleased, Deadwind also stands on its own.

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American Vandal (2017)
A Documentary About High School Pranks

There are a lot of true-crime documentary series available on Netflix for mystery fans. However, one of the best shows to take on that approach is actually a spoof of such series as Making a Murderer. The satirical crime mockumentary American Vandal ran for two seasons, with each one covering an investigation into a school incident, such as season 1’s epidemic of crude graffiti or season 2’s bathroom-related prank.

American Vandal was highly praised for its commitment to replicating the tension found in real crime documentaries but still layered in dry humor. The show plays it all with a straight face as the documentary crews explore these childish crimes with utter seriousness and determination. Unfortunately, Netflix canceled American Vandal season 3, but the producers announced their hopes to move the show to elsewhere in the future.

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Dear Child (2023)
A Woman Escapes Captivity Leading To Revelations About Past Cases

The German miniseries Dear Child arrived on Netflix in September 2023 and was immediately praised for how it tackles the topic of child abduction. The show follows Lena, who manages to escape thirteen years of captivity, having birthed a son and a daughter in this time. At the same time as these events, other decades-old disappearances start to be dusted off by authorities who suspect a connection.

The show is another brilliant offering from Netflix’s international collection of mystery shows. It is a harrowing story, and the miniseries dealt with the dark events in a grounded way which will undoubtedly prove too much for some audiences. However, the building mystery is gripping as more and more pieces come together and the audience as well as the characters desperately hope to see justice served.

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The Forest (2017)
A Teacher Finds Herself In The Middle Of A Missing Person Case

Another French drama, The Forest follows the arrest of a teacher after her student disappears in the same forest that she has a suspicious history with. It opens up questions about who this woman really is and if the police have the right suspect. In the meantime, the show also explores the small community that is impacted by the crime, showing plenty of secrets hiding under the surface.

The series aired in France and Belgium in 2017, before being broadcast internationally on Netflix in 2018, running as a miniseries spanning six fifty-seven-minute episodes. The series was generally well-received, with criticisms leveled at some outlandish moments in the plot. While season 1 is solid overall with a gripping small-town mystery that fits nicely into the genre, the show was not renewed for another season.

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Dare Me (2019)
A Cheerleading Squad Is Thrown Into Chaos Following The Arrival Of A New Coach

Dare Me follows the story of competitive high school cheerleading, as the squad gets caught up in a mess of anxious secrets and panic when they meet their new coach, Colette French.

There are a number of mystery shows that are set around the youth in a community. They can be fascinating characters to follow in such a story with the dark side and pressures of teen life being explored. Set in a small, Midwestern town in the United States, Dare Me follows the story of competitive high school cheerleading, as the squad of student-athletes gets caught up in a mess of anxious secrets and panic when they meet their new coach, Colette French.

Dare Me, based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Megan Abbott (who is also co-developer of the show), lasted only one season before being canceled by Netflix less than one month after it finished airing. Despite its cancelation, the show was generally well-received by critics, earning an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Unbelievable (2019)
A Young Woman Faces Charges Of A False Accusation

Unbelievable follows the arrest of a young girl accused of lying about being assaulted and the two detectives who discovered the very complicated truth.

While mystery shows often offer gripping entertainment and pulp storytelling, there can also be shows that use the genre to explore very real and important subject matter. Based on a real-life news article from 2015, Unbelievable follows the arrest of a young girl accused of lying about being assaulted and the two detectives who discovered the very complicated truth.

The series received huge critical acclaim, and has an incredible 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and just thirty-four days after its release, Netflix announced the miniseries had been watched by over thirty-two million viewers (via X). Actors Kaitlin Dever, Merrit Weaver, and Toni Collette all received award recognition for their outstanding performances, including Golden Globe and Emmy nominations. Unbelievable was praised for its grittiness and realism, as well as the gripping performances by the cast.