The Perfect Couple (2024)

Murder mystery on an island? Check. A bunch of rich suspects who all have ulterior motives for wanting the victim dead? Check. Nicole Kidman playing an icy rich blonde who holds her family together through NDAs, a killer wardrobe and a strategically raised eyebrow? Check, check and check. All this plus Liev Schreiber like a pill-making philanderer named Tag, Dakota Fanning in pregnancy prosthetics and Donna Lynne Champlin as the beleaguered detective trying to solve the crime. Use this streak as intended – like shucking 12 dozen Pocomo oysters on ice that cannot be returned to the caterer.

Where to look The Perfect Couple: Netflix

EW class: B (read the review)

Distribution: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Dakota Fanning, Donna Lynne Champlin, Eve Hewson, Meghann Fahy

Related Content: The Perfect Couple the killer shares why they did it and acts out the final scene

Knives out (2019)

This love letter to the old school was a new classic the moment it premiered. When mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) dies mysteriously, private eye Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) brings his Foghorn Leghorn meets Tennessee-Williams accent and deductive prowess to the investigation.

While the greedy family of Thrombey (Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, Chris Evans in a fisherman’s sweater) is full of suspects, most of the suspicion falls on Marta (Ana de Armas), loyal immigrant nurse Harlan left her entire fortune. With mystery, social commentary and the slowest car chase on record – this Oscar-nominated screenplay is sharp.

Where to look Knives out: Netflix

EW class: B+ (read the review)

Principal: Ryan Johnson

Distribution: Christopher Plummer, Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, Chris Evans

Related Content: Knives out… out of the closet: Rian Johnson confirms Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc is ‘obviously’ weird

Bodies (2023)

This series has several murder mysteries in one – or not? Set in 1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053, four different detectives (Kyle Soller, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Amaka Okafor, Shira Haas) investigate a corpse that appears on the same London street throughout history.

The show uses its time-bending confidence to great effect, giving each investigation a different flavor and letting the prejudices of the era affect the detectives. The twists are twisty and the all-too-human detectives quadruple the flawed hero. A very good time, time, time and time.

Where to look Bodies: Netflix

Distribution: Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Shira Haas, Kyle Soller, Amaka Okafor, Stephen Graham

Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023)

If you missed the BBC series Lutherstart there (don’t worry, it’s British, so it’s only 20 episodes). You will want to watch every minute of the wonderful charisma Idris Elba playing DCI John Luther, hunched over in a gray tweed overcoat as they obsessively (and violently) solve major crimes. Then back to this stellar 2023 film, which, because of his many previous illegal infractions, begins with a disgraced Luther in prison. His incarceration doesn’t last long, however, as a taunting serial killer causes a prison break. From there, it’s game on for our now vigilante anti-hero.

Where to look Luther: The Fallen Sun: Netflix

Principal: Jamie Payne

Distribution: Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, Andy Serkis

Related Content: Luther: The Fallen Sun villain Andy Serkis in his most disturbing scene: “That made me stand up”

Who killed Sara? (Quién mató a Sara?) (2021)

Spoiler alert: The answer to the question in the title is definitely not the guy who served 18 years in prison for it. The streamer recently embraced the “Netflixnovela”: murder mysteries, beautiful people and, of course, escándalo!

This Mexican limited series follows Alex Guzmán (Manolo Cardona), fresh out of the slammer and out for venganza (Spanish for “revenge,” amigos) against the powerful family that framed him. If you like a soapy plot, settle for this crime mystery.

Where to look Who killed Sara: Netflix

Distribution: Manolo Cardona, Ginés García Millán, Carolina Miranda, Claudia Ramírez, Eugenio Siller

Midnight at Pera Palace (2022)

Agatha Christie is believed to have written Midnight on the Orient Express to the famous Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, making it a perfect setting for this Turkish delight of a mystery series. Journalist Esra (Hazal Kaya) is tasked with writing a hit list for the hotel’s 130th anniversary, but accidentally travels back in time to 1919 and discovers that she is the doppelganger of Peride, a key figure in Turkey’s independence . When Peride turns up dead, Esra must solve the crime, save the empire, and return to her own time before the item arrives, making her “deadline” dangerously precise.

Where to look Midnight at Pera Palace: Netflix

Distribution: Hazal Kaya, Tansu Biçer, Selahattin Paşalı, James Chalmers

7 Women and a murder (2022)

Bye! Welcome to this remote Italian mansion in the 1940s, where phone lines are cut and storms keep the police away, even when a patriarch is stabbed (very). But don’t worry, we’ve got everything you need – seven dolce donne suspects with a reason to want that man dead, including a fainting aunt, a late-arriving mistress and a matriarch trying to look like she be mourned (isn’t) . And at just 90 minutes, the film wastes no time getting to the truth, making this a satisfying Italian mystery table.

Where to look 7 Women and a murder: Netflix

Principal: Alessandro Genovesi

Distribution: Margherita Buy, Diana Del Bufalo, Sabrina Impacciatore, Benedetta Porcaroli, Micaela Ramazzotti

The woman in the window (2021)

Witnessing a murder through a window is a classic trope for a reason. The frame of this drama is a tribute to Hitchcock, with Amy Adams taking the agoraphobic reins as Anna Fox, portrayed by would-be criminal Alistair (Gary Oldman) as a “drunk, closeted, pill-popping cat lady”. That’s right, which means the police don’t remember Alistair stabbing his wife Jane (Julianne Moore), especially when Jane turns out to be a different woman altogether (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Gods of the movies, hear our prayer: may the movie killers never remember to close their blinds, amen.

Where to look The woman at the window: Netflix

Principal: Joe Wright

Distribution: Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anthony Mackie, Wyatt Russell

Related Content: The woman at the windowhis long and suitably bizarre journey from best-seller to Netflix thriller

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (2024)

The young British Pippa (WednesdayEmma Myers) decides to do a school project on the murder of 5-year-old local girl Andie, despite the fact that no one wants to revisit the painful event. But Pip is convinced the police got the wrong guy and can’t forget seeing Andie the day she was killed. Myers captures the realistic teenage girl who is far from the flawless Nancy Drew, messing up a lot and often terrified of what she’s gotten herself into. It just makes her path to the truth an even more satisfying victory.

Where to look A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder: Netflix

Distribution: Emma Myers, Zain Iqbal, India Lillie Davies

Young Wallander (2020–2022)

The original Swedish Kurt Wallander detective novels always had a healthy dose of social commentary, so when updating the character, creator Ben Harris set his TV series in the present day to bring modern issues to the table. Wallander (Adam Adam Pålsson) is a rookie cop whose first case quickly goes awry – and not just because he knows both the victim and the suspect personally. Soon immigration, racism and police brutality add layers to the whimsical mystery of Scandinavian Noir, leading Wallander to parts of Malmö his predecessors never ventured.

Where to look Young Wallander: Netflix

Distribution: Adam Pålsson, Richard Dillane, Ellise Chappell

For a crime (2021)

This mystery comedy hails from Poland and features a detective-obsessed housewife (Anna Smolowik) who discovers a dead body while walking her dog. Magda attaches herself to the detective assigned to the case (Pawel Domagala), all the better to take her mind off her sleazy husband, lack of career, and best friend who disappeared 15 years ago. The neighborhood is full of suspects and one very attractive vet, while Smolowik’s turn as a woman yearning for a purpose will have you rooting for this overwhelmed amateur..

Where to look For a crime: Netflix

Principal: Piotr Mularuk

Distribution: Anna Smolowik, Pawel Domagala, Szymon Bobrowski, Piotr Adamczyk