Last updated March 2024
Looking for acclaimed Best Mystery Tv Shows worth adding to your watch list? Check out our selection of 30 stellar, must-see Best Mystery Tv Shows available for your immediate viewing pleasure. Universally beloved by IMDB critics and our knowledgeable community of users, these top-tier Best Mystery Tv Shows earn high praise across the board. Help other viewers discover hidden gems by voting for the titles you consider keepers. We value your contributions toward spotlighting the cream of the crop!
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005)
Plot Summary:
In a war-torn world of elemental magic, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world
Duration: 23 min
IMDB Rating: 9.3/10
IMDB Votes: 350000
Genere: Animation, Action, Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: USA
Plot tags: friends, supernatural ability, chosen one, martial arts, magic, friendship, peril, training, heroic mission, save the day, magical, honor, good versus evil, young kid, forces of nature, young heroes, journey, imaginary kingdom, danger, pride and honor, master warrior, superhuman powers, warrior, imaginary, rivalry
Sherlock (2010)
Plot Summary:
A modern update finds the famous sleuth and his doctor partner solving crime in 21st century London
Duration: 88 min
IMDB Rating: 9.1/10
IMDB Votes: 977000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Plot tags: sherlock holmes, investigation, private detective, murder mystery, mastermind, genius, friendship, british, murder, mind game, riddles and clues, prodigy, danger, partner, talented, buddies, eccentricity, intelligence, expert, friendship between men, inspector, police detective, deduction, mysterious character, teamwork
Leyla and Mecnun (2011)
Plot Summary:
Leyla ile Mecnun is a Turkish television comedy series. The show is set in Istanbul, Turkey and premiered in 2011 on TRT. The series is a surreal and absurd comedy that revolves around the fictional love story between Leyla and Mecnun
Duration: 80 min
IMDB Rating: 9.1/10
IMDB Votes: 96000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
Country: Turkey
Plot tags: social differences, family relations, parents and children, taxi driver, destiny, poverty, society, young man, love, muslim, kurd, true love, love and romance, dream, couples, silly humor, hopes, twentysomething life, university, memory, memories, loss of loved one, grieving, fall in love, young woman
Batman: The Animated Series (1992)
Plot Summary:
Batman: The Animated Series is an American animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. The series was widely praised for its thematic complexity, dark tone, artistic quality, and faithfulness to its title character's crime-fighting origins
Duration: 23 min
IMDB Rating: 9.0/10
IMDB Votes: 114000
Genere: Animation, Action, Adventure, Crime, Family, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Plot tags: superhero, double life, villain, heroes, good versus evil, guilt, disguise, vigilantism, superpower, undercover, evil, danger, imaginary, mysterious character, heroic mission, multiverse, werewolf, comic book, batman, gotham city, partner, christmas, immortal, moving, organized crime
Persona (2018)
Plot Summary:
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, a retired judicial officer decides to commit a murder that he had been planning for years
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 9.0/10
IMDB Votes: 45000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Turkey
Plot tags: serial killer, investigation, rape, secret, police, death, journalist, anti hero, danger, alzheimer's disease, family relations, muslim, murder mystery, sister, life lesson, nordic, cognitive science, killer, police officer, cat, suicide, corruption, blood, flashback, dead body
Death Note (2006)
Plot Summary:
Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects—and he’s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But will Light succeed in his noble goal, or will the Death Note turn him into the very thing he fights against?
Duration: 851 min
IMDB Rating: 8.9/10
IMDB Votes: 365000
Genere: Animation, Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Plot tags: mind game, anti hero, secret identity, vigilante, police, rivals, battle of wits, supernatural, heart attack, law enforcement, supernatural ability, intelligence, serial killer, teenage life, fighting crime, outsmarting, artifact, student, arrogance, police detective, moral dilemma, fbi, mature, eternal love, darkness
True Detective (2014)
Plot Summary:
An American anthology police detective series utilizing multiple timelines in which investigations seem to unearth personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within or outside the law
Duration: 55 min
IMDB Rating: 8.9/10
IMDB Votes: 618000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: serial killer, police investigation, investigation, murder, murder mystery, police detective, murder investigation, murderer, drinking problem, partners against crime, insomnia, antisocial behavior, troubled, female nudity, graphic violence, uncover truth, haunted by the past, violence, partner, corrupt cop, mysterious man, buddy cop, sexual content, evidence, cruelty
Twin Peaks (1990)
Plot Summary:
The body of Laura Palmer is washed up on a beach near the small Washington state town of Twin Peaks. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate her strange demise only to uncover a web of mystery that ultimately leads him deep into the heart of the surrounding woodland and his very own soul
Duration: 1505 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 211000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: serial killer, small town, surrealism, murder, nightmare, supernatural, investigation, secret, hallucination, mysterious death, mysterious villain, small town life, double life, under the surface, murder investigation, mysterious place, hotel, who done it, evil spirit, parapsychology, small town sheriff, death, another dimension, riddles and clues, coffee
Steins;Gate (2011)
Plot Summary:
The self-proclaimed mad scientist Rintarou Okabe rents out a room in a rickety old building in Akihabara, where he indulges himself in his hobby of inventing prospective "future gadgets" with fellow lab members: Mayuri Shiina, his air-headed childhood friend, and Hashida Itaru, a perverted hacker nicknamed "Daru." The three pass the time by tinkering with their most promising contraption yet, a machine dubbed the "Phone Microwave," which performs the strange function of morphing bananas into piles of green gel. Though miraculous in itself, the phenomenon doesn't provide anything concrete in Okabe's search for a scientific breakthrough; that is, until the lab members are spurred into action by a string of mysterious happenings before stumbling upon an unexpected success—the Phone Microwave can send emails to the past, altering the flow of history
Duration: 24 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 71000
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Japan
Plot tags: time travel, time machine, time loop, changing the past or future, experiment, student, youth, memory loss, father daughter relationship, parallel world, scientist, sent to the past, hopes, inventions and discoveries, good versus evil, young woman, research, secret organization, imaginary, characters in danger, science, peril, mature, rescue attempt, changing the future
Over the Garden Wall (2014)
Plot Summary:
Two brothers find themselves lost in a mysterious land and try to find their way home
Duration: 22 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 68000
Genere: Animation, Short, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Plot tags: folk horror, siblings relations, beast, getting home, forest, danger, brother brother relationship, child protagonist, children, imaginary, brothers, travel, lost in the woods, lost, halloween, moving, darkness, life & death, trippy, hipster, woods, dream, frog, forest ranger, male protagonist
Dark (2017)
Plot Summary:
A missing child causes four families to help each other for answers. What they could not imagine is that this mystery would be connected to innumerable other secrets of the small town
Duration: 1455 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 429000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Plot tags: time travel, investigation, time loop, time machine, mysterious past, cave, time portal, missing child, repeated event, changing the future, disappearance, alternate dimension, deja vu, small town, loss of father, mysterious disappearance, butterfly effect, corpse, time traveler, family crisis, family relations, conspiracy, nuclear waste, apocalypse, school
Black Mirror (2011)
Plot Summary:
A contemporary British re-working of The Twilight Zone with stories that tap into the collective unease about our modern world. Over the last ten years, technology has transformed almost every aspect of our lives before we've had time to stop and question it. In every home; on every desk; in every palm - a plasma screen; a monitor; a smartphone - a black mirror of our 21st Century existence
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 622000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK
Plot tags: technology, dystopia, twists and turns, human nature, satire, alternate reality, society, social decay, computers and web, media satire, dystopian future, media, dark humor, distopia, technology gone awry, gadget, media coverage, mind control, storytelling, chaos, loneliness, serial killer, social satire, cyberpunk, dehumanization
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984)
Plot Summary:
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984–1985), The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1986–1988), The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1991–1993) and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1994), collectively known as Sherlock Holmes, are a series of adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories which were produced by Granada Television and originally broadcast by ITV in the United Kingdom. The series starred Jeremy Brett as Holmes and David Burke (in the Adventures series) and Edward Hardwicke (Return, Case-Book, Memoirs) as Dr. Watson. The programme adapted 42 of the original stories in 41 episodes, with 36 running for 50 minutes (in a one-hour timeslot), and five being feature-length specials. Adventures ran for two series totalling 13 episodes, from April to June 1984 and August to September 1985. Return ran for two series from July to August 1986 and April to August 1988, as well as the specials "The Sign of Four" and "The Hound of the Baskervilles", which aired on 29 December 1987 and 31 August 1988 respectively. Case-Book ran for one series from February to March 1991 and three specials which aired on 2 January 1992 and 27 January and 3 February 1993. Memoirs ran for one series from March to April 1994. A short episode was also produced as part of "The Four Oaks Mystery" which aired during the ITV Telethon in 1992. Sherlock Holmes appeared in the first part, with the casts of Van der Valk, Taggart and Inspector Wexford appearing in the second, third and fourth parts respectively
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Plot tags: sherlock holmes, private detective, investigation, riddles and clues, partners against crime, murder, victorian england, who done it, ego clash, rivalry, danger, law enforcement, talented, misfit partners, friendship, brother brother relationship, police, murder mystery, asexual, christmas, serial killer, steampunk, writers, driver, taxi
Severance (2022)
Plot Summary:
Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs
Duration: 55 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 181000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: office, memory, distopia, alternate world, office politics, secret identity, conspiracy, mind control, private vs public, office worker, psycho, surgery, coworker, dark secret, surgical operation, coworker relationship, personal safety, satire, apocalypse, robot, post apocalypse, hunting, writers, human experiment, disaster
The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1986)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Watson, finds a mystery in an empty house, while Holmes and he later solve the mysteries of an abbey grange, the Musgrave ritual, a second stain, a man with a twisted lip, the priory school, and a half-dozen plaster busts of Bonaparte
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Plot tags: sherlock holmes, private detective, investigation, mind game, mastermind, serial killer, police, writers, spirituality, murder mystery, murder, prodigy, who done it, law enforcement, partner, partners against crime, uncover truth, riddles and clues, gangster, isolation, mystery, crime, tv show, crimes
Dexter (2006)
Plot Summary:
Dexter is an American television drama series. The series centers on Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter pattern analyst for 'Miami Metro Police Department' who also leads a secret life as a serial killer, hunting down criminals who have slipped through the cracks of justice
Duration: 5076 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 753000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: serial killer, crime investigation, right and wrong, hidden identity, double life, gory, vigilantism, anti hero, serial murder, loner, police station, dark humor, murder, dark secret, corpse, killings, expert, forensics, secret life, psycho, murder investigation, police detective, blood splatter, law enforcement, police department
Homicide: Life on the Street (1993)
Plot Summary:
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de facto series finale. The series was originally based on David Simon's book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. Many of the characters and stories used throughout the show were based on events depicted in the book, which was also part of the basis for Simon's own series, The Wire on HBO. Although Homicide featured an ensemble cast, Andre Braugher emerged as the series' breakout star through his portrayal of Frank Pembleton. The show won Television Critics Association Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Drama in 1996, 1997, and 1998. It also became the first drama ever to win three Peabody Awards for best drama in 1993, 1995, and 1997. In 1997, the episode "Prison Riot" was ranked No. 32 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2007, it was listed as one of Time magazine's "Best TV Shows of All-TIME." In 1996 TV Guide named the series 'The Best Show You're Not Watching'. The show placed #46 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: police detective, police, murder, justice, homicide detective, cop, police protagonist, team, fighting crime, police investigation, fbi, african american, workplace, partners against crime, tough law enforcer, police officer, police procedural, investigation, die hard, swat team, serial killer, legal, punishment, black, law and order
House (2004)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Gregory House, a drug-addicted, unconventional, misanthropic medical genius, leads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton–Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey
Duration: 7788 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 497000
Genere: Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Plot tags: medicine, doctor, hospital, talented, mastermind, prodigy, loner, patient, expert, human nature, surgery, unconventional method, peril, insubordination, antisocial behavior, doctors and patients, teamwork, dark humor, hotshot, danger, riddles and clues, rebelliousness, medical, medical profession, team
Line of Duty (2012)
Plot Summary:
Steve Arnott is a young officer who’s fallen foul of his superiors for refusing to help in the cover-up of an operation that ended in the shooting of an innocent father. He seems ideal to join AC-12, an anti-corruption police unit, just as it starts to investigate Detective Chief Inspector Tony Gates, the regional force’s Officer of the Year
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 68000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Plot tags: police corruption, honest law enforcer, corruption, female police detective, dirty cop, police detective, police, british police, policewoman, twists and turns, law enforcement, law enforcer, police procedural, secret, evidence, corrupt law enforcer, right and wrong, interrogation, police officer, officer, dishonesty, squad, investigation, internal affairs, murder mystery
Monster (2004)
Plot Summary:
Kenzou Tenma, a Japanese brain surgeon in Germany, finds his life in utter turmoil after getting involved with a psychopath that was once a former patient
Duration: 24 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Animation, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Plot tags: moral dilemma, false accusation, mastermind, doctor, hospital, murder, protagonist as suspect, life is a bitch, choice, manipulation, guilt, society, police detective, nihilism, orphanage, murderer, boy, investigator, mature, human experiment, mental disorder, psychology, bad guy, sexual content, mind game
Mouse (2021)
Plot Summary:
A psychopath’s ruthless serial murders have left the entire nation gripped with fear and chaos. A honest and justice-seeking rookie police officer and a veteran detective with tragic past, face against the killer. After the encounter with the psychopath, their lives totally change
Duration: 80 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Crime, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Plot tags: investigation, serial killer, murder, serial murder, murder mystery, psycho killer, psychopath, murder investigation, police officer, homicide detective, killings, homicidal maniac, criminal, crime investigation, dna, killing spree, secret, police investigation, fighting crime, crime solving, police partner, teamwork, unsolved crime, partner, cold case
Stranger Things (2016)
Plot Summary:
When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, and one strange little girl
Duration: 51 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 13000000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: supernatural, monster, telekinesis, small town, parallel universe, experiment, parallel world, friendship, supernatural power, super powers, government conspiracy, missing person, boy, parents and children, group of friends, fear, middle school, teenage boy, investigation, missing child, alternate dimension, paranormal phenomena, teenager, single mother, secret experiment
Mindhunter (2017)
Plot Summary:
An agent in the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit develops profiling techniques as he pursues notorious serial killers and rapists
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.6/10
IMDB Votes: 323000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: serial killer, psychopath, psychology, fbi, police, serial murder, murderer, criminal psychologist, police investigation, murder, fbi agent, killings, interview, profiler, prison, rapist, true crime, killer, lesbian, investigation, whodunit, criminal, murder mystery, sapphic, sociopath
Endeavour (2012)
Plot Summary:
The early days of a young Endeavour Morse, whose experiences as a detective constable with the Oxford City Police will ultimately shape his future
Duration: 89 min
IMDB Rating: 8.6/10
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Plot tags: police, police detective, investigator, murderer, talented, police investigation, coworker, british, oxford, murder, intelligence, bodies, police procedural, law enforcement, investigation, whodunit, police protagonist, justice, murder mystery, who done it, uncover truth, mafia, pride and honor, boss, victim
Foyle's War (2002)
Plot Summary:
As WW2 rages around the world, DCS Foyle fights his own war on the home-front as he investigates crimes on the south coast of England. Foyle's War opens in southern England in the year 1940. Later series sees the retired detective working as an MI5 agent operating in the aftermath of the war
Duration: 90 min
IMDB Rating: 8.6/10
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, War
Country: UK
Plot tags: world war two, investigation, police investigation, police detective, war crime, spy, police, espionage, homicide detective, whodunit, detective inspector, murder investigation, investigator, law enforcement, crimes of passion, murder, cold war, village, nazism, bomb, detective sergeant, wartime, robbery, fighting crime, world war
Flower of Evil (2020)
Plot Summary:
Baik Hee Sung, an ordinary family man, is actually a psychopath whose past is dotted with crime and violence. His hopeless life changes completely after he meets his wife. He had to falsify everything about himself to marry her. His wife, Cha Ji Won, starts to doubt her husband as a suspect of a murder case. She becomes emotionally overwhelmed with betrayal, and rages as secrets behind his husband reveal. The story will draw faith and truth between a man and woman who trusted the most and loved each other
Duration: 70 min
IMDB Rating: 8.6/10
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Crime, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Plot tags: hidden identity, female detective, investigation, murder, father daughter relationship, serial murder, psychopath, dark secret, husband wife relationship, mother daughter relationship, family conflict, dual identity, twists and turns, strong female lead, law enforcement, bad guy, forensic, forensics, asian, deception, antisocial personality disorder, basement, married couple, sociopath, hindi
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Plot Summary:
The Crains, a fractured family, confront haunting memories of their old home and the terrifying events that drove them from it
Duration: 572 min
IMDB Rating: 8.6/10
IMDB Votes: 279000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: ghost, haunted house, supernatural, supernatural horror, mysterious past, family relations, addiction, sibling relationship, lesbian, spirit, life is a bitch, past coming back to haunt, sister sister relationship, family in danger, paranormal, brother sister relationship, supernatural ability, old dark house, haunted, supernatural power, mysticism, haunted castle, vengeful ghost, dysfunctional family, haunted by the past
Justice League (2001)
Plot Summary:
Justice League is an American animated television series which ran from 2001 to 2004 on Cartoon Network. It is part of the DC animated universe. The show was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It is based on the Justice League of America and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics. After the second season, the series was renamed Justice League Unlimited, and aired for an additional three seasons
Duration: 22 min
IMDB Rating: 8.6/10
IMDB Votes: 51000
Genere: Animation, Action, Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Plot tags: superhero, superman, justice league, green lantern, superpower, team, super powers, destruction, vigilantism, escapades, disguise, master villain, wonder woman, superheroine, outer space, batman, christmas, new year, winter, multiverse, girl power, black superhero, comic book, badass, space
The X-Files (1993)
Plot Summary:
The exploits of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who investigate X-Files: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder believes in the existence of aliens and the paranormal while Scully, a skeptic, is assigned to make scientific analyses of Mulder's discoveries that debunk Mulder's work and thus return him to mainstream cases
Duration: 45 min
IMDB Rating: 8.6/10
IMDB Votes: 243000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: ufo, supernatural, investigation, fbi, conspiracy, paranormal investigation, alien, top secret, paranormal activity, alien contact, space and aliens, female fbi agent, alien abduction, uncover truth, monster, mysterious place, paranormal investigator, violence against women, female agent, alien conspiracy, government facility, danger, heroine, special agent, alien invasion
Justified (2010)
Plot Summary:
A character drama based on the 2001 Elmore Leonard short story "Fire in the Hole." Leonard's tale centers around U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens of Kentucky, a quiet but strong-willed official of the law. The tale covers his high-stakes job, as well as his strained relationships with his ex-wife and father
Duration: 3400 min
IMDB Rating: 8.6/10
IMDB Votes: 116000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Western
Country: USA
Plot tags: drug lord, u.s. marshal, lone wolves, justice, fighting crime, officer, white trash, tough law enforcer, ex convict, family feud, crime family, rivals, shooting, conflict, machismo, gunfight, dirty cop, criminal, afghanistan veteran, arrest, dumb criminal, police officer, police, murder mystery, cop