There’s nothing quite like the allure of a fantastic mystery show. Whether you’re enjoying playing armchair detective or simply enjoying the slow-burning discovery of uncovering secrets one layer at a time, mystery TV programs provide a type of excitement that’s difficult to surpass. From chilling ghost tales and time-traveling plots to complicated relationships and sinister psychological twists, the genre spans a great deal of territory. If you want to read stories that are guessing games until the very end, these ten top shows are worth adding to your watchlist.
10. The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window
If you’ve ever found yourself yelling “that’s ridiculous!” at a mystery show, this one leans into the absurd in the best way possible. Kristen Bell plays Anna, a heartbroken artist who spends her days sipping wine, watching her neighbors, and maybe—just maybe—witnessing a murder. The twist? No one believes her. This dark comedy pokes fun at the genre’s most overused tropes while still managing to pull off a compelling mystery of its own.
9. Wednesday
Leave it to Wednesday Addams to turn boarding school into a murder investigation. After getting tossed out of her last school for a little piranha incident, Wednesday winds up at Nevermore Academy. But between classes and psychic visions, she uncovers a string of killings connected to her own family’s past. With a mix of dark humour and supernatural twists, this series manages to balance its gothic vibe with a very modern mystery.
8. The Sinner
As opposed to most crime dramas, The Sinner doesn’t simply wonder “who did it?”—it wonders “why?” Every season takes Detective Harry Ambrose deep into bizarre and disturbing cases. The first season with Jessica Biel starts with a woman doing something grotesque and violent with motivations she can’t even comprehend herself. It’s a show that sacrifices flash for substance, delving into the psychological aspect of crime with an intensity most shows won’t or can’t attempt.
7. Remain Proximate
The past and present intersect in this suspense-ridden series adapted from Harlan Coben’s book. When a new vanishing replicates one from almost two decades past that was never solved, the lives of a suburban mother, a seasoned detective, and a photographer with a checkered past become perilously entangled. It’s one of those tales where everybody’s got a secret, and most are worth dying for.
6. The Residence
A murder during a high-state dinner plunges the White House into lockdown. But this is no ordinary political thriller. What ensues is half-murder mystery, half-character comedy, as detective Cordelia Cupp interrogates a series of offbeat suspects, each of whom has secrets to keep. Against the backdrop of America’s most iconic home, this show is witty, surprising, and very funny.
5. Inside Man
Imagine Silence of the Lambs meets Sherlock Holmes, and you’re in the ballpark. Jefferson Grieff is a criminologist on death row who uses his genius to solve mysteries from behind bars. When a case involving a missing woman unfolds overseas, his unique perspective provides clues no one else can see. With only a few episodes, this miniseries delivers big suspense in a short, powerful burst.
4. High Seas
On board a swanky cruise ship in the 1940s, High Seas mingles Agatha Christie atmosphere with Spanish melodrama. Sisters Eva and Carolina get swept up in a series of homicides during a transatlantic voyage. Uncovering not only a killer on board, but hidden family secrets that can ruin their lives, keeps them digging for clues. It’s glamorous, it’s mysterious, and full of enough twists to keep you guessing until the ship finally docks.
3. The Haunting of Bly Manor
Not all mysteries involve murder—it’s also possible to write about memory, loss, and things we don’t want to confront. When a new au pair comes to Bly Manor, she finds that the house—and its young residents—have more than just emotional baggage. What she unleashes is a ghost story shrouded in mystery, where nothing is as it appears and every haunting has a human origin.
2. Dark
If time-traveling caves, missing kids, and converging timelines are your puzzle speed, Dark is the ultimate test. Based in the tiny German town of Winden, the series begins with a missing child and unwinds into a multi-generational family saga that connects four families in mind-bending fashion. It’s one of the most complex, payoff-driven mysteries around—best experienced with a pad and no distractions.
1. Bodies
What if the same dead body materialized in the very same location, across four entirely disparate timeframes? That’s the gimmick of Bodies, an audacious, time-traveling thriller featuring four detectives from disparate periods solving the very same murder. With every iteration of the crime revealed, the larger conspiracy is uncovered—one which imperils not only the timeline but the future itself. Equal measures of crime drama and sci-fi thriller, it’s a dizzy, addictive ride from beginning to end.
If you like your timelines twisted, your secrets ghostly, or your whodunits old-fashioned, these shows are all about the slow peeling back—the kind that will have you repeating “just one more episode” until dawn breaks. Get a blanket, cancel your plans, and prepare to question everything.