Best Serial Killer 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

2008 • Rating 8.4 • crime, drama, mystery

Patrick Jane, a former celebrity psychic medium, uses his razor sharp skills of observation and expertise at "reading" people to solve serious crimes with the California Bureau of Investigation.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Style: Cerebral, Dark, Gritty, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Date Night, Teens

Plot: California, Con Man, Cop, Serial Killer, Criminal Investigation, Mourning, Mysterious, Forensic Psychology, Criminal Consultant, Desperate

Time: Year 2008, 2000S, 2008-09-23

Place: United States Of America, English

Cast: Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Tim Kang, Rockmond Dunbar, Joe Adler, Josie Loren

2006 • Rating 8.2 • crime, drama, mystery

Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police also leads a secret life as a serial killer, hunting down criminals who have slipped through the cracks of justice.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Style: Cerebral, Dark, Gritty, Suspenseful

Audience: Adult, Date Night

Plot: Miami, Florida, Based On Novel Or Book, Double Life, Homicide, Vigilante, Murder, Serial Killer, Psychological Thriller, Killer, Forensic Science

Time: Year 2006, 2000S, 2006-10-01

Place: United States Of America, English, Spanish

Cast: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, Geoff Pierson, David Zayas, James Remar, Aimee Garcia