Are you on the case looking for a good new detective show to watch? Are you following the breadcrumbs and examining the evidence? Are you unbothered that I’m talking like a police procedural? Then you’re probably a detective diehard and have seen your fair share of crime series. You may need to dig a little deeper if you’re going to find something fresh.
This is what this article is all about: uncovering those under-seen detective series that deserve more recognition. Some of these shows are ongoing, and some have long since wrapped up. All are worth a look.
Dark Winds
Leaphorn, Chee, and you
Based on the Leaphorn & Chee book series by Tony Hillerman, Dark Winds is set in the 1970s and follows a trio of Navajo tribal police officers as they investigate crimes in the American southwest. Anchored by a fantastic performance from Zahn McClarnon as Joe Leaphorn, Dark Winds is deliberate, atmospheric, and rich in detail. The show is produced by the likes of George R.R. Martin and the late Robert Redford, so it’s got impressive talent both behind and in front of the camera. With three seasons already out and a fourth on the way, this AMC detective show will keep you busy for a minute.
The Sinner
The real sin is passing up this show
Dark Winds is ongoing, so there’s still a chance we can band together and get it the mainstream attention it deserves. The Sinner is over, and while it was never treated as the classic it was, it’s still very much worth watching.
The Sinner is an anthology series that stars Bill Pullman as Harry Ambrose, a detective who tackles a different case each season. All four seasons are solid, but the first remains the best, thanks in part to Jessica Biel’s performance as Cora Tanetti, a seemingly ordinary wife and mother who stabs a man to death. Detective Ambrose visits her to figure out why she did it.
The Sinner is a great mix of detective procedural and psychological thriller, a combination that recurs a lot in these sorts of series.
The Fall
The one where the guy from 50 Shades of Grey is a serial killer
The Fall is a good example. Starring The X-Files alum Gillian Anderson as a police superintendent sent to figure out why a Belfast murder case has remained active for more than 28 days, The Fall is tense, believable, sexy, and gripping. Once it becomes clear that the police have a serial killer (Jamie Dornan) on their hands, Anderson’s character settles in for the long haul, and we get four seasons of great TV.
Ripper Street
After Jack
Shifting gears a bit, I strongly recommend this period drama. Ripper Street is set in the months after Jack the Ripper has cut a swath through London, as police officers go about solving crimes in the Whitechapel neighborhood fearful that he could return. It’s a dynamic show that mixes the thrills of a normal crime drama with real-world history, with each season jumping forward in time a bit to show us how England changes as it approaches the 20th century.
Like the show itself, the actors on Ripper Street are well-known but not quite household names, even if they deserve to be: Matthew MacFadyen from Succession and Death By Lightning plays Detective Inspector Edmund Reid, and Jerome Flynn (Bronn from Game of Thrones) is his right-hand man Bennet Drake.
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
The roaring, bloody 20s
Let’s lighten things up a bit with another period show, this one set in the 1920s. Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries is about a glamorous private detective named Phryne Fisher (Essie Davis) living in Melbourne, Australia. The show brings the drama—Phryne is haunted by the death of her sister when they were kids, which inspired her to solve crimes as an adult—but this show is lighter, brighter, and more fun than some of our other entries, with lots of verbal repartee to enjoy and fancy costumes to ogle. It’s just a bit too quirky to have broken out and become a huge mainstream hit, but it’s perfect for a fan of crime dramas looking for something a little different.
Deadloch
Murder ha ha
Staying in Australia, Deadloch is set in the fictional Tasmanian town of the same name, where the body of a local man washes up on the beach. The investigation uncovers plenty of seedy secrets, but the hook is that Deadloch is a comedy. The officers investigating the man’s death, Senior Sergeant Dulcie Collins (Kate Box) and Detective Eddie Redcliffe (Madeleine Sami), are a classic odd couple, with Dulcie as the fastidious stickler and Eddie as the reckless loose canon. A lot of the pleasure of watching the show comes from seeing these two bounce off each other.
This is another show that’s ongoing; a second season of Deadloch is on the way in 2026.
Happy Valley
The title is extremely misleading
Out with the good vibes! Despite the name, Happy Valley may be the grimmest show on this list. It’s about a divorced police sergeant named Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) who’s trying to move past her daughter’s suicide, which is difficult when she’s raising her daughter’s son. When the man Catherine holds responsible for her daughter’s death gets out of prison, Catherine becomes preoccupied with the idea of confronting him, unaware that he’s hatching a new criminal scheme.
If you want serious, straightforward, unrelenting darkness, Happy Valley is the detective show for you.
Shetland
One last British detective series to bring us home
You’ve probably noticed that a lot of these shows are set in the United Kingdom. I’m not sure what it is, but folks from the British Isles seem particularly good at making this kind of series. Maybe the constant rain forces them inside where they have nothing to do but mull over murders, I dunno. And while some of these shows may be popular in the U.K., a lot of them have yet to break into the mainstream elsewhere in the world, which is to our gain.
Anyway, add Shetland to the pile. This show is about a team of police officers who solve crimes on the remote Shetland Islands in Scotland. It’s a good meat-and-potatoes detective show that’s run for nine seasons with a tenth airing right now, so it’ll keep you watching for a good long while.
A detective for all seasons
There have been a lot of detective series made over the years, and while not all of them are as popular as they should be, many of them are very good. We’ve barely scratched the surface here. Want a detective show you can finish in a weekend? We’ve got you covered. How about detective shows sharper, stranger, and better than Sherlock? Ends up there are plenty. If you get tired of scripted shows, there are also great true crime documentaries to keep you entertained.
But there’s something special about watching a series that hasn’t (yet) gotten the attention it deserves. These shows are hidden gems you get to discover, which should appeal to your inner detective.
