There’s something irresistible about a great mystery series. Whether you think you’re the kind of person who can catch the bad guy early on or you like to be thrown for a loop, excellent mystery television doesn’t just entertain you—it keeps you on your toes. It encourages you to keep up, repays your attention, and taunts your brain with each turn. From gothic ghost stories to time-traveling thrillers, here are 14 of the most engaging mystery series to watch, numbered down one suspicious episode at a time.
14. The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window
This one’s half-cheeky spoof and half-mystery. Kristen Bell stars as Anna, a bereaved woman who spends her days mixing wine with antidepressants and gazing out of her window. When she believes she witnesses a savage murder on the street outside, no one pays any attention—not the police, not her pals, not even her mind. It’s a comedic but unexpectedly gripping retelling of the genre, making fun of all the clichés while leaving you doubting until the very end.
13. Wednesday
A gothic boarding school, a killing spree, and the wicked, fast-talking wit of Wednesday Addams—what’s not to want? Jenna Ortega perfects the role, adding a fresh depth and deadpan appeal to the legendary character. As Wednesday works to discern the reality behind an abomination of a killing spree linked to her history, we receive a balanced dose of spooky, intelligent, and wonderfully offbeat.
12. The Sinner
Every season of this anthology series zooms in on a different crime that at first glance appears senseless. But when Detective Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) gets digging, the buried trauma and secret motives begin to surface. From the chilling first season featuring Jessica Biel to the disturbing cases to come, The Sinner is never just about solving the crime—it’s about discovering the fractured individuals behind them.
11. Stay Close
Secrets, vanishing acts, and complicated lives converge in this smooth thriller from Harlan Coben. When a fresh missing persons case echoes an unresolved one from the past, a soccer mom with a secret past, an exhausted detective, and a troubled photographer are drawn into a web that won’t remain in the past. A whirlwind puzzle with precisely the right degree of threat.
10. The Residence
Who knew the White House could double as the setting for a juicy murder mystery? In this twisty whodunit, a high-profile dinner ends in the death of the chief usher, and suddenly every guest is a suspect. Uzo Aduba plays a quirky detective with a love for birdwatching (yes, really) tasked with unraveling the secrets behind closed doors. Political drama meets mystery in a way that’s sharp, witty, and surprisingly fun.
9. Inside Man
Stanley Tucci stars as a condemned prisoner with an IQ for cracking cases, and trust us—yes, it’s as intriguing as that. While he works on cold cases from his prison cell, a seemingly disparate thing happens in England in which a local vicar finds himself in a moral dilemma. How the two narratives intersect is part of the mystery, and the show is toying with your understanding of guilt, justice, and the fine line between right and wrong.
8. High Seas
Take a luxury cruise in the 1940s, add in some family secrets and mysterious deaths, and you’ve got this stylish Spanish drama. Sisters Eva and Carolina board a ship bound for Brazil, but it’s not long before things take a dark turn. With glamorous costumes, old-school elegance, and a murder mystery that deepens by the episode, High Seas feels like Agatha Christie set to sea.
7. The Haunting of Bly Manor
Don’t be fooled by the title—this is more than a ghost story. Based in a desolate English manor with a dark history, this creepy series is riddled with secrets to be discovered. When a fresh au pair takes up residence to look after two orphaned kids, she realizes quickly that something is amiss. Between the ghosts and emotional histories, Bly Manor is stunningly creepy and shattering to the heart.
6. Get Even
High school justice collides with murder mystery in this underappreciated British winner. Four teenage girls in an elite private school have a secret society known as DGM (Don’t Get Mad), which is dedicated to revealing bullies and bad guys. However, when one of the girls they were targeting ends up dead—and they’re accused of the crime—the game is on. It’s half teen drama, half investigative thriller, and utterly addictive.
5. Dept. Q
Drawing on the gritty fiction of Jussi Adler-Olsen, the series meets us through Detective Carl Morck, a profoundly tormented man assigned to solve cold cases in Edinburgh. These aren’t run-of-the-mill unsolved crimes, though—they’re dark, complicated, and filled with emotional landmines. Morck and his department investigate the forgotten, the overlooked, and the concealed secrets that were never meant to surface.
4. Dark
If you haven’t seen this German science fiction thriller yet, strap in—it’s one of the most complex and satisfying mystery series of the past ten years. Set in the small town of Winden, Dark starts with a missing child and careens quickly into a brain-twisting plot about time loops, family histories, and cosmic conspiracies. It’s extremely philosophical, sometimes baffling, but if you’re willing to sit up and pay attention, the reward is massive.
3. Bodies
Here’s one for the puzzle lovers. In four different periods—1890, 1941, 2023, and 2053—a body appears in the same spot in London. Four detectives investigate the death across their respective timelines, slowly uncovering a conspiracy that spans centuries. The storytelling here is ambitious, with each thread interwoven brilliantly. You’ll be thinking about this one long after it ends.
2. Behind Her Eyes
What begins as a romantic triangle among a single mom, her enigmatic boss, and his too-perfect wife soon spirals into something much weirder. This psychological thriller reveals a huge mid-season twist that turns everything upside down. The less you know, the better—but look for a wild ride with secrets, manipulation, and one after another jaw-dropping revelation.
1. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
On our list is this new and witty take on Holly Jackson’s hit book. It follows Pip Fitz-Amobi, a bright and fiercely competitive high school senior who reexamines a dormant murder case for a school assignment. What she discovers isn’t merely inopportune—it’s perilous. Led by Emma Myers in the cast, the show manages to balance suspense, emotion, and plenty of shocking twists. It’s the ideal contemporary mystery for true crime and twisty fiction fans.
From time-traveling probes to high school gossip and White House plots, these shows remind us why mystery TV never fades. If you’re searching for your next binge obsession, you’re bound to find something here to keep you guessing, episode by episode.