Whether it's a seemingly impossible murder, a missing person, or a conspiracy set against the backdrop of a small town, the best TV mysteries keep you guessing right up until the credits roll. They're the kinds of shows that make you scrutinize every passing detail and second-guess each new character. Still, despite the overriding conviction that you cracked the case long before the detectives, it’s almost always someone you least expect.
That’s the power of an insightful mystery series. Some of the greatest examples use their central investigations to explore complicated emotions, ranging from grief and loneliness to rage and guilt, while others hang their hats on more refined themes, focusing instead on institutional corruption and generational trauma. The most effective mysteries peer into the darkest recesses of human nature, showcasing some of the ugliest kinds of villains the world could ever imagine.
These days, there's no shortage of excellent mystery shows to get lost in. Action-packed thrillers like Reacher and The Terminal List offer that extra level of spectacle for those who can’t quite sit for a more methodical investigation, while the unforgettable Law & Order: SVU just aired its 28th season earlier this month. However, the following shows offer a bit more to their mysteries, featuring drawn-out investigations that keep you hooked to the very last word.
From slow-burning Nordic noir to anime mind benders, these are the best mystery series ever put on TV. Not every great mystery begins with a dead body, and Slow Horses makes a compelling case for espionage as a genre built around the same pleasures of suspicion, misdirection, and assembled clues. The Apple TV series follows a team of disgraced British intelligence officers exiled to the Slough House, a bureaucratic dumping ground for MI5 agents who've made spectacular career-ending blunders, like mistakenly shutting down an airport mid-training exercise.
Led by Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), a foul-mouthed Cold War veteran, the misfit squad of "slow horses" is relegated to soul-crushing paperwork only to repeatedly tumble into high-stakes conspiracies that the main desk at Regent's Park would prefer to keep buried. Adapted from Mick Herron's novels, the series combines the tangled plotting of a spy thriller with the character dynamics of a workplace comedy. Yes, it’s not quite the same as True Detective or its noir ilk, but the mysteries of Slow Horses rewards close attention without sacrificing momentum, all while offering a more cynical view of institutional incompetence that makes it a welcome alternative to the polished heroics of more conventional espionage dramas.
A perfect critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes is enough to make River worth investigating, particularly for anyone who appreciates detective dramas built around complicated protagonists. Stellan Skarsgård stars as John River, a London police detective whose immense investigative capabilities are complicated by his tendency to see and converse with the dead. Among the apparitions haunting him is his recently murdered partner, Stevie (Nicola Walker), whose death becomes the central mystery of the series.
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