If you read our Top 15 Binge Worthy One-Hour TV Shows from 2017 and liked it, here is a brand new list from 2024! Only this time, we are going to focus on the Crime Mystery Dramas. Here are some really great shows to watch, a few are older, but still just awesome, and a lot of these are new & obscure or just really great binge-able TV Shows that are flying under the radar! This time we’ve added links and listed where to find them!
15 – Mystery Road (2018-Present) 12 Episodes & 2 Movies & 12 Episodes Prequel Series
ACORN TV
This started out as a movie (Mystery Road, 2013) with the fantastic actor Aaron Pedersen playing aboriginal detective, Jay Swan. I talked about Aaron Pedersen in a previous post, Click Here. He is really great and under-appreciated. After that movie, came a sequel, Goldstone (2016) and then 2 seasons of the TV Show (2018-2022) and now we have an Origin Series, where the character of Jay Swan has been cast by a younger actor and played by Mark Coles Smith. They nailed the casting with Mark as he is the spitting image of Aaron Pedersen. All around great movies, great TV Show. Plays a bit slow in parts but overall, just fantastic acting, writing and directing. I really enjoyed every new show and movie. Hope they find a way to get Mark Coles Smith and Aaron Pedersen in one movie or season of Mystery Road, that would be a great way to continue this. Maybe a cold case from his past comes to haunt him in the present. Woah, that would be great!
14 – The Diplomat (2023-Present) 8 Episodes Available, Season 2 in Production
NETFLIX
The writing really shines in this political chess drama. Cast is really solid with Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell leading an all around amazing group of scenery chewers. Rufus Sewell is always so good, he’s so under-appreciated. The real powerhouse behind the scenes is Deborah Cahn. She has a fantastic pedigree with The West Wing, and Grey’s Anatomy.
13 – Foyle’s War (2002-2015) 8 Seasons, 28 Episodes
ACORN TV
I LOVE it when the BBC has a series where each episode runs 90 minutes, essentially you are getting a high grade mystery movie every episode with each episode being a new case. So in reality, Foyle’s War is 28 MOVIES with the same cast and ongoing story threads to connect the series. Just fantastic. I wish we did this in the US, but I guess you can count the Tom Selleck movies he did as Detective Jesse Stone, as it’s essentially the same thing only we release them as movies of the week here in the US. And there are only 9 of those. Anyway, Foyle’s War, is a lot like the BBC’s Endeavor Mystery Series. So if you like Endeavor, you’ll like Foyle’s War. And a lot like the Jesse Stone mysteries, come to think of it. All well written and well cast. Michael Kitchen and Honeysuckle Weeks follow through in the cast for 13 years, with some great guest stars like Rosamund Pike, Emily Blunt, Edward Fox, David Tennant, James McAvoy, and Charles Dance, just to name a few.
12 – Line of Duty (2012-2021) 37 Episodes in 6 Seasons
ACORN TV
This series just got better and better with every season. Very taunt and tight scripts, never any fluff or extraneous stuff. With a great ensemble cast featuring Adrian Dunbar, Martin Compston, and Vicky McClure, they are surrounded by a who’s who of amazing guest stars like Keeley Hawes, Polly Walker, Kelley MacDonald, Thandiwe Newton and Lennie James. From looking at the list so far, you may think I favor the BBC, but it’s a simple fact that they make far superior mysteries than we do in the US. All we get in the US is police procedurals with no real mystery involved. Usually, a strong lead is called in or “someone saw something, let’s go check it out”, kinda stuff. Heavy melodrama disguised as mysterious and dark.
11 – Slow Horses (2022-2024) 18 Episodes, 3 Seasons – 2 More Seasons in Production
APPLE+
Lookie here, another good example about how Great Britain does mystery better than we do. This one is a high functioning spy vs spy series. With Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristen Scott Thomas and Jonathan Pryce leading the fantastic cast. Masterly created by Mick Herron, can’t wait for his next show, Down Cemetery Road, in production now with Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson, which will be a must see when it comes to the US.
10 – Troppo (2022-2024) 8 Episodes, 1 Season – 2nd Season in Production
PRIME VIDEO
Thomas Jane and Nicole Chamoun do not disappoint here! Travel to the Far North of Queensland, Australia, land of big crocs, for the thrilling crime drama series “Troppo” based on the book “Crimson Lake” by Candice Fox. Troppo means to go mad because of the tropical heat. Which we could certainly do here in Arizona, where I live. Great characters, great little mystery, the Australian’s are trying to give Great Britain a run for their money in gripping Mystery TV Shows. Here is the first of 2 that enter my list this year.
9 – Mare of Easttown (2021) 7 Episodes
HBO MAX (Still Can’t Call It Just Max)
When is Kate Winslet not great? She’s a solid as they come for picking really compelling parts, and always nails it. Just phenomenal watching her as a detective in a small Pennsylvania town who investigates a local murder while trying to keep her life from falling apart. Got a surrounding cast that boggles the mind with Jean Smart, Angourie Rice, Julianne Nicholson, Guy Pearce and the ultimate under-appreciated actor of his time…Evan Peters! Evan is just amazing in this, he keeps up with Kate at every turn AND manages to completely blow my mind in a scene where he plays the most convincing drunk person I have ever seen. Ever.
8 – The Tourist (2022-2024) 12 Episodes, 2 Seasons
NETFLIX
This one took me by surprise, just found it by accident one day and me and the wife spent a whole weekend just devouring the 2 seasons. It was so much fun and so very different. It gets CRAZY! The cast was a complete delight, Jamie Dornan, Danielle Macdonald, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Greg Larsen, Olwen Fouéré, Conor MacNeill, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, and Damon Herriman. Such an amazing cast of characters…did I say, it gets NUTS! Now this one is the BEST of both worlds, a BBC show shot in Australia!
7 – High Desert (2023) 8 Episodes
APPLE +
Another one that is CRA-ZY! But sooooooooo good! Patricia Arquette is AMAZING as Peggy, a former addict, who decides to make a new start after the death of her beloved mother with whom she lived in the small desert town of Yucca Valley, California, makes a life-changing decision to become a private investigator. Sounds good, huh? It’s not good! It’s GREAT. The writers, Nancy Fichman, Katie Ford, and Jennifer Hoppe need a mention for creating one of my favorite female detectives of all time. Them, along with Patricia, created the most hilarious, real, outrageous and engaging character! I love everything about her and this show. Can’t say enough good things about her, she’s a whirlwind. A true force of nature. Patrica gets to work in the desert with such great supporting character actors like Matt Dillion, Brad Garrett, Bernadette Peters, Rupert Friend, Christine Taylor and Weruche Opia.
6 – Dark Winds (2022-2024) 12 Episodes, Season 3 in Production
AMC
I almost gave this slot to Mayor of Kingstown, but truth is all of Taylor Sheridan’s TV Shows should be on the list, so I’ve decided to leave in my favorite 2 and put the rest into a blog post on their own. Dark Winds is my Longmire– it could easily fit into that world as a spinoff, and I love Longmire. Zahn McClarnon is a solid actor and he’s been due his own series for awhile. He’s from the same class of strong silent types like Aaron Pedersen in the Mystery Road series. Kiowa Gordon, Jessica Matten, Deanna Allison, Rainn Wilson, A Martinez, John Diehl, and Noah Emmerich are all great in this as well. I think all series benefit heavily when they come from great books and this is no different with the John Hillerman book series featuring the same characters.
5 – Tulsa King (2022-2024) 9 Episodes, Season 2 in Production
PARAMOUNT +
I was skeptical when Sylvester Stallone finally did his first TV Series, but this one doesn’t disappoint. It’s everything you would want in a production of his and more. With Taylor Sheridan, it feels like he knows what works now and is pumping out one great project after another. Stallone infuses his character with a lot more humor than was originally in the scripts and so he has definitely left his stamp on the character and the series the way he knows how. Being a director and writer in his own right, I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes over more and more as the series progresses. He knows what works for him and it can’t be denied. Also stars Andrea Savage, Martin Starr, Neal McDonough, Max Casella, Domenick Lombardozzi, Dana Delany and Garrett Hedlund!
4 – Sherlock (2010-2017) 15 Episodes, 4 Seasons
EVERYWHERE (PRIME, iTUNES, HULU)
This is another one of those BBC Series that gives you 90 minutes episodes, so you get 15 full-length movies for each case. If you haven’t seen these yet?!?>!? Then drop everything and watch these. They are a master class in writing. And acting. And directing. Heck, man–in every production facet! These are the top of the filmmaking food chain. These are mostly modern day adaptations, so they are very up to date, but actually are so completely different that they don’t seem to match the original material all that much. But better. No offense to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – the books are pretty great. But this series I just love so much more. Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock and Martin Freeman as Watson are just perfect. The creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat are at the top of their game here. The usual finest actors in the world (BBC) appear throughout the series with Andrew Scott, Rupert Graves, Una Stubbs, Louise Brealey, Amanda Abbington, and so many more.
3 – The Terminal List (2022-2024) 8 Episodes, Season 2 in Production
PRIME VIDEO
This one is so good and unexpected that I had to move it up on the list several times as my memory was enjoying this series more and more as I remembered the plot and actors and mostly the action. This one is exceptional on the list because of the action scenes and Chris Pratt is really dialed in. His focus is pinpoint. You don’t get the jovial easy-going joking man in this series and he is truly hardened and ramrod still in his portrayal. He really researched his character’s background and is incredibly authentic in his stance, his delivery and his execution. Just precision personified. Great supporting cast too with Constance Wu, Taylor Kitsch, Riley Keough, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Jai Courtney.
2 – Yellowstone (2018-2024) 53 Episodes in 5 Seasons with the Last Half of Season 5 in Production
PARAMOUNT +
The number one Taylor Sheridan TV Show is just fantastic TV. In any genre. Kevin Costner and the whole cast around him are just great in every scene. They include Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser, who are standouts in every way. But also, Wes Bentley, Kelsey Asbille, Luke Grimes, Breckin Merrill, Jefferson White, Gill Birmingham, Wendy Moniz and so many fantastic actors. There are also 2 spin-offs so far worth every second you can spare with 1883 and 1923. Those casts are unbelievable as well. Just top notch thrillers with tense scenes and action in every episode.
1 – Reacher (2022-2024) 16 Episodes in 2 Seasons with Season 3 in Production
PRIME VIDEO
My number one. For now. I just appreciate this show so much. Been waiting for it for years, as this is my favorite book series from Lee Child. Jack Reacher is one of my favorite literary characters and now one of my favorite TV characters. Perfectly played by Alan Ritchson. Brought to us by an all star producer, Nick Santora, who produced stand out TV shows like Prison Break, Lie to Me, Breakout Kings, Vegas, Scorpion and Fubar— which could ALL be on this list. Easy. So if you want another batch of binge-able TV Shows– look no further! Thank you Nick.
