Best Detective TV Shows

2026 • Rating 10.0 • crime, mystery, drama

A fiercely competitive police officer and an idealistic prosecutor, former high school classmates, reunite while investigating a nationwide serial murder case, pulling them into both a dangerous pursuit and an unresolved personal past.

Genre: Crime, Mystery, Drama

Style: Cerebral, Dark, Gritty, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Date Night

Plot: Detective, Investigation, Police, Serial Killer, Buddy Cop, Police Procedural, Crime Thriller, A Fiercely Competitive Police Officer And An Idealistic Prosecutor, Former High School Classmates, Reunite While Investigating A Nationwide Serial Murder Case

Time: Year 2026, 2020S, 2026-04-20

Place: South Korea, Korean

Cast: Park Hae-soo, Lee Hee-jun, Kwak Sun-young, Seo Ji-hye, Jung Moon-sung, Bek Hyun-jin

2006 • Rating 8.6 • animation, mystery, sci-fi & fantasy

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?

Genre: Animation, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Style: Cerebral, Dark, Psychological, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Family, Teens

Plot: Detective, Journalism, Secret Identity, Police, Supernatural, Sociopath, Rivalry, Murder, Serial Killer, Grim Reaper

Time: Year 2006, 2000S, 2006-10-04

Place: Japan, Japanese

Cast: Mamoru Miyano, Shido Nakamura, Aya Hirano, Kappei Yamaguchi, Kimiko Saito, Naoya Uchida

1992 • Rating 8.6 • action & adventure, animation, drama

Vowing to avenge the murder of his parents, Bruce Wayne devotes his life to wiping out crime in Gotham City as the masked vigilante "Batman".

Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Drama, Mystery

Style: Cerebral, Dark, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Date Night, Family

Plot: Detective, Asylum, Race Against Time, Cartoon, Deformation, Superhero, Based On Comic, Organized Crime, Robin, Super Power

Time: Year 1992, 1990S, 1992-09-05

Place: United States Of America, English

Cast: Kevin Conroy

2016 • Rating 8.4 • crime, mystery, reality

The cast is introduced to the settings and suspects of a murder case for the new episode. The cast then chooses their role in the episode, as a particular suspect or the detective.

Genre: Crime, Mystery, Reality

Style: Cerebral, Dark, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult

Plot: Detective, The Cast Is Introduced To The Settings And Suspects Of A Murder Case For The New Episode, The Cast Then Chooses Their Role In The Episode, As A Particular Suspect Or The Detective

Time: Year 2016, 2010S, 2016-03-27

Place: China, Mandarin

Cast:

1997 • Rating 8.0 • action & adventure, mystery, animation

After a long hiatus -- The Caped Crusader is back and cooler then ever, in the animated action-packed series -- The New Batman-Superman Adventures. Picking up years after Batman: The Animated Series, the series highlights Batman and his crimefighting cadre of Nightwing, Robin and Batgirl, as they join forces to battle Gotham City's classic super-villains.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Mystery, Animation, Kids

Style: Cerebral, Psychological, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Family

Plot: Detective, Vigilante, Deformation, Superhero, Based On Comic, Robin, Super Power, Ward, Double Identity, Dc Animated Universe (Dcau)

Time: Year 1997, 1990S, 1997-09-13

Place: United States Of America, English

Cast: Kevin Conroy

2019 • Rating 8.0 • animation, comedy, mystery

The Mystery Inc. gang solve bigger mysteries while also encountering many memorable celebrities.

Genre: Animation, Comedy, Mystery, Family

Style: Cerebral

Audience: Adult, Family

Plot: Detective, Friendship, Friends, Talking Dog, The Mystery Inc, Gang Solve Bigger Mysteries While Also Encountering Many Memorable Celebrities

Time: Year 2019, 2010S, 2019-06-27

Place: United States Of America, English

Cast: Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Grey DeLisle, Kate Micucci

1999 • Rating 7.9 • crime, drama, mystery

In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Style: Cerebral, Dark, Gritty, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Date Night, Teens

Plot: Detective, Sexual Abuse, Sex Scandal, Domestic Abuse, Sexual Violence, Domestic Violence, Criminal, Sex Trafficking, Interrogation, District Attorney

Time: Year 1999, 1990S, 1999-09-20

Place: United States Of America, English, New York

Cast: Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, Kelli Giddish, Peter Scanavino, Aimé Donna Kelly, Kevin Kane

2003 • Rating 7.8 • crime, drama, mystery

The Philadelphia homicide squad's lone female detective finds her calling when she is assigned cases that have never been solved. Detective Lilly Rush combines her natural instincts with the updated technology available today to bring about justice for all the victims she can.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Style: Cerebral, Dark, Gritty, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Date Night, Teens

Plot: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Detective, Victim, Investigation, Police, Police Detective, Female Detective, Murder Investigation, Homicide Detective, Cold Case

Time: Year 2003, 2000S, 2003-09-28

Place: United States Of America, English

Cast: Kathryn Morris, Danny Pino, Jeremy Ratchford, Thom Barry, Tracie Thoms, John Finn

2000 • Rating 7.6 • crime, drama, mystery

A Las Vegas team of forensic investigators are trained to solve criminal cases by scouring the crime scene, collecting irrefutable evidence and finding the missing pieces that solve the mystery.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Style: Cerebral, Dark, Gritty, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Date Night, Teens

Plot: Detective, Police, Crime Scene, Las Vegas, Criminal Investigation, Forensic, Murder Investigation, Homicide Detective, Crime Investigation, Police Procedural

Time: Year 2000, 2000S, 2000-10-06

Place: United States Of America, English

Cast: Ted Danson, George Eads, Jorja Fox, Eric Szmanda, Robert David Hall, Wallace Langham

2024 • Rating 6.6 • crime, drama

In the heart of London, an anonymous phone call draws two brilliant detectives—a young woman in the early stages of her career and a well-connected man determined to protect his legacy—into a fight to correct an old miscarriage of justice.

Genre: Crime, Drama

Style: Cerebral, Gritty, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Date Night

Plot: Detective, Investigation, Aggressive, Cold Case, Thriller, In The Heart Of London, An Anonymous Phone Call Draws Two Brilliant Detectives, A Young Woman In The Early Stages Of Her Career And A Well-Connected Man Determined To Protect His Legacy, Into A Fight To Correct An Old Miscarriage Of Justice

Time: Year 2024, 2020S, 2024-01-10

Place: United Kingdom, English, London

Cast: Peter Capaldi, Cush Jumbo, Zoë Wanamaker, Cathy Tyson, Stephen Campbell Moore