The best murder mystery TV shows to watch now

The best murder mystery TV shows to watch now

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Tuesday, 11th May 2021
From top left clockwise: Killing Eve (Credit: BBC), Broadchurch (Credit: ITV), The Undoing (Credit: Sky), The Flight Attendant (Credit: Sky)
From top left clockwise: Killing Eve (Credit: BBC), Broadchurch (Credit: ITV), The Undoing (Credit: Sky), The Flight Attendant (Credit: Sky)

Murder mystery shows are a great way to put your amateur detective skills to the test.

But working out ‘whodunit’ is not always easy. Here are some of the top shows to put your sleuthing skills to the test. 

Flight Attendant

New Yorker Cassie Bowden (Kaley Cuoco) is an alcoholic unable to form meaningful emotional connections. Instead, she uses her job as a flight attendant to occupy her time with a never-ending list of random strangers. 

After a romantic tryst with a passenger, Bowden wakes up with a hangover and a dead man in her bed in Bangkok. 

Unable to remember what happened, Bowden cleans up the crime scene and tries to pretend that nothing happened. 

But with intrusive flashbacks and hallucinations plaguing her, Bowden takes matters into her own hands and attempts to find out who the killer is. 

In the Dark 

Murphy (Perry Mattfeld) is muddling through her twenties pushing people away with her self-destructive behaviour, excessive drinking and promiscuity. 

Blind since she was 14 due to a genetic disorder, Murphy and her guide dog Pretzel discover the dead body of one of her few friends’ drug dealer Tyson. 

With the police reluctant to investigate when the body disappears, Murphy is determined to find out what happened to her friend. 

But with her life falling apart, solving this murder is the only thing Murphy can cling on to in order to stay sane. 

Barry 

Hitman Barry Berkman (Bill Hader) has worked as a gun for hire since being discharged from the Marines and is lonely, depressed and looking for more from life. 

When he gets sent to LA to kill a target, he ends up joining an acting class where he meets a whole host of interesting characters who make him question if he should leave his old life behind and start on a new path.  

Unable to leave his criminal life behind him, Berkman struggles to balance his two opposing worlds which are on a collision course. 

Killing Eve 

British intelligence investigator Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) is obsessed with female serial killers, who they are, how they think, their methods of killing. 

When she is recruited by MI6 to capture psychotic international assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer), the pair become infatuated with each other and a cat and mouse game ensues. 

Each lethal in their own way, the pair start to become increasingly preoccupied with learning more about each other than focusing on their own assignments, which leads to deadly consequences. 

Dead to Me 

Jen (Christina Applegate) and Judy (Judy Cardellini) meet in a grief support group and develop a close relationship based on their shared experiences. 

Jen is a recently widowed real estate agent and is using anger and resentment as a method to cope with her grief after her husband was killed in a hit and run.

Judy initially joins the group under the guise that her fiancé died of a heart attack but the truth is much darker. 

Judy maintains a positive outlook in contrast to Jen’s pessimistic attitude, but as the women grow closer, Jen starts to become suspicious about what really happened to her husband.

Your Honour 

Michael Desiato (Bryan Cranston) is a widowed and respected New Orleans judge who will do anything to protect his teenage son Adam (Hunter Doohan). 

When Adam accidentally kills another teenager in a tragic hit and run, Michael initially encourages his son to tell the truth and turn himself in. 

When Michael discovers the boy killed was the son of the local mafia kingpin, he instead attempts to dispose of the evidence which leads to terrible consequences and forces him to make impossible choices. 

The Undoing 

Based on the novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Undoing is a twisted psychological murder mystery.

Psychotherapist Grace Fraser (Nicole Kidman) lives a privileged life at the top of the social ladder with Jonathan (Hugh Grant), her oncologist husband, and their young son Henry (Noah Jupe), who attends an elite New York private school.

The violent death of a young mum throws Grace’s life upside down and leads to a series of disturbing revelations, which make Grace question everything and everyone. 

Sharp Objects  

Psychological mini series based on Gillian Flynn’s novel of the same name, Sharp Objects follows crime reporter Camille (Amy Adams), who is emotionally vulnerable and has recently been discharged from a psychiatric hospital for self-harm. 

Camille returns to her hometown in Missouri to investigate the violent murders of two young girls whose killer has yet to be found. 

Upon returning to her childhood home, Camille is once again under the watchful and belittling eye of her socialite mother Adora (Patricia Clarkson). 

Plagued with the return of psychological demons from her past, Camille attempts to uncover the truth without returning to her self-destructive ways. 

Broadchurch 

Set in the fictional seaside town of Broadchurch in Dorset, DI Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and DS Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) find themselves investigating a heinous crime that has rocked the sleepy community. 

Series one and two focuses on the death of a local 11-year-old boy, which leads to widespread grief, suspicion and anger taking over the town. 

Series three follows the rape of a local woman and the subsequent ramifications that unveil deep secrets and bring hard truths to light. 

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Murder mystery shows are a great way to put your amateur detective skills to the test.