If you like the work of police and detectives, we have prepared a selection with the best crime investigation series that are currently available on Netflix, HBO and Amazon Prime Video.
If you are a lover of the police genre, you have come to the right place for you. Countless people like a good series in which a crime has been committed and accompany the police during their investigation to try to find out what has happened and who is responsible.
In the Netflix, HBO and Amazon Prime Video catalog there are many series of police and detectives, so if you have started looking for some series of criminal investigation you may have found problems.
To help you, in this list we leave you some recommended titles that are currently available on these platforms. There are some series that we would have liked to include but that we could not because currently, they are not in the catalog of any of the three services, such as Dexter or The Killing, to give some examples. However, we will periodically update the list with new shows coming to the platforms.
When choosing the series we have tried to have a variety of styles so that they are not monotonous and repetitive. It is curious that quite a few are anthological series, in which the plot of each season is independent and focuses on different crimes. This allows each installment to be a breath of fresh air so as not to bore the audience.
Below you can see our recommendations. Enjoy them!
The best crime investigation series
True detective
True Detective is one of the best crime investigation series you can watch. It is an anthological show: the different seasons have independent plots, so you can see them in isolation. If you haven’t seen any of them yet, we recommend that you start with the first, follow the third, and finish with the second.
And it is that the start of the series was truly masterful and garnered critical and public praise. The first season stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson and transports us to the state of Louisiana, where a series of ritual murders are taking place that greatly distresses the police.
The second season also features some luxury protagonists: Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn and Rachel McAdams, and tells the story of three police officers and a criminal who come together to solve a crime. Finally, in the third season, we accompany Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff, two police officers who are trying to solve the murder of two children for 35 years.
Release year: 2014
Seasons: 3
Duration of each episode: 50 – 60 minutes
IMDb Score: 9/10
Filmaffinity Score: 8.5 / 10
Where to see: HBO
Mindhunter
If you like research series, you cannot miss Mindhunter. The plot of this show takes us back to the end of the 70s, a crucial moment for the criminal investigation in the United States. Back then, the FBI launched the Behavior Analysis Unit, a division tasked with starting to map psychological profiles of criminals to better understand their thinking and help officers catch the killers.
It was this unit that coined the term and the definition of a serial killer, and to document their work, members of the division interviewed the most prolific killers incarcerated in the country’s prisons, including Edmund Emil Kemper III or Charles Manson.
Aside from documentary work, officers are teaching courses across the United States for law enforcement officers to begin applying for advances in behavioral techniques to catch criminals. On these visits, many local police officers turn to them to solve mysterious murders.
Release year: 2017
Seasons: 2
Duration of each episode: 45 – 60 minutes
IMDb Score: 8.6 / 10
Filmaffinity Score: 7.8 / 10
Where to watch: Netflix
Broadchurch
Broadchurch allows us to travel to a small British coastal town, the typically quiet town where nothing ever happens. All these changes when one morning an 11-year-old boy appears dead on the beach in strange circumstances.
As this is a very small community, the police officer in charge of the investigation turns out to be the mother of the deceased boy’s best friend, accompanied by a seasoned and popular inspector who has been transferred from London to Broadchurch as punishment for making a mistake serious in one of his cases.
After solving this crime, the two agents continue to investigate new cases in the following seasons.
Release year: 2013
Seasons: 3
Duration of each episode: 40 – 50 minutes
IMDb Score: 8.4 / 10
Filmaffinity Score: 7.4 / 10
Where to watch: Netflix
Fargo
Still haven’t seen Fargo? Well, it is one of the best crime investigation series that you can see on streaming platforms, so do not miss the opportunity to enjoy it.
It is an anthological show in which each season tells a different story. All of them are set in snowy Minnesota, but at different times: the first in 2006, the second in 1979 and the third in 2010.
The first installment is based on the Coen brothers’ eponymous film and, although it shares many elements with the feature film, the plot is different. The second season focuses on a crime that was committed when the father of the first installment agent was the sheriff. The third, meanwhile, introduces us to two twin brothers whose rivalry will end badly.
Fargo has renewed for a fourth season that will premiere in 2020 and, unlike the previous ones, it will not have Minnesota as the stage, but Kansas City.
Release year: 2014
Seasons: 3
Duration of each episode: 50 – 60 minutes
IMDb Score: 9/10
Filmaffinity Score: 8.3 / 10
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video and HBO
The Sinner
If you are a fan of the police genre, another series that you cannot miss is The Sinner. It is an anthological show made up of two seasons with different plots. In both cases, history catches you and knowing what has happened becomes a necessity, so it will be quite difficult for you to stop watching it.
The first season could not have had a more exciting start: a woman is on the beach with her son and her husband and, suddenly, she murders another bather with the knife with which she is cutting the fruit from her little boy’s snack. In the second season, the murderer is an 11-year-old boy named Julian, who confesses to having killed his parents.
The common element of the two seasons is the investigator Harry Ambrose, who is in charge of solving the crimes, in which nothing is as it seems.
Release year: 2017
Seasons: 2
Duration of each episode: 40 – 50 minutes
IMDb Score: 8.0 / 10
Filmaffinity score: 7.1 / 10 (first season), 6.6 / 10 (second season)
Where to watch: Netflix
The night of
The Night Of is a highly recommended HBO miniseries that will catch you from the first minute.
We accompanied Nasir Khan, a young student son of Pakistani immigrants, one night took his father’s taxi and stopped him for a girl thinking he was on duty. He takes her through the city, they take drugs and end up at her house.
When she wakes up, Nasir does not remember what has happened and finds her brutally murdered. Without being clear on what has happened, he tries to flee the crime scene to avoid being related to the crime, although a little later he is stopped by the police in a routine control and they end up arresting him. From that moment on, Calvary begins for Nasir, who will try to prove his innocence and will try to survive in prison.
Release year: 2016
Seasons: 1
Duration of each episode: 55 – 80 minutes
IMDb Score: 8.5 / 10
Filmaffinity Score: 7.9 / 10
Where to watch: Netflix
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, also known as CSI Las Vegas, was on our list of crime investigation series. If you are old enough you will remember the impact of this series when it was released back in the year 2000, and how thanks to it we got to know more closely how the scientific police work.
The series introduces us to forensics and criminologists who work at the Las Vegas Science Police Department, which is initially commanded by Gil Grisson. The show has 16 seasons, and throughout this time the cast is changing.
What does not vary is the structure of each episode: it all starts with a crime, the scene of which is carefully analyzed by the forensic team. The scientific evidence sheds light, and after discarding suspects, they finally find the criminal who has committed the crime.
If you’ve never seen CSI Las Vegas or fancy watching it again, it’s available since season 9 on Amazon Prime Video.
Release year: 2000
Seasons: 16
Duration of each episode: 40 – 45 minutes
IMDb Score: 7.6 / 10
Filmaffinity Score: 6.7 / 10
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
American Crime Story
The next crime investigation series we recommend is American Crime Story. It is another anthological show in which each season focuses on a different story, although unlike the previous examples this time it is always based on real events.
The first season is subtitled El pueblo contra OJ Simpson and narrates the controversial case that took place in 1994, in which the popular American sportsman was suspected of having killed his ex-wife and a friend of hers. The second installment is called The Assassination of Gianni Versace and narrates the events that led to the murder of the popular fashion designer in 1997.
Release year: 2016
Seasons: 2
Duration of each episode: 50 – 60 minutes
IMDb Score: 8.4 / 10
Filmaffinity score: 7.7 / 10 (first season), 6.8 / 10 (second season)
Where to watch: Netflix
How to Get Away With Murder
How to Get Away With Murder is another highly recommended criminal investigation series that you can watch right now on Netflix.
The show introduces us to Annalize Keating (Viola Davis), a renowned defense attorney and professor of law at a university in Philadelphia. Keating, along with a group of five of his students, are involved in a complex murder case that will change the course of their lives.
It is a series that stands out for its fast pace and for offering a good dose of fun, so if you have not seen it yet, do not hesitate to do it on Netflix.
Release year: 2014
Seasons: 6
Duration of each episode: 43 minutes
IMDb Score: 8.1 / 10
Filmaffinity Score: 6.9 / 10
Where to watch: Netflix
Sherlock
The modern reinterpretation of the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes is another highly recommended crime investigation series.
On the show, we accompany Sherlock, who this time is brought to life by the extraordinary Benedict Cumberbatch, and his partner Dr. John H. Watson, played by Martin Freeman. Both are solving various crimes thanks to the incredible deductive abilities of the distinguished detective, who finds the support he needs in Watson.
Sherlock is a great research series and you will really enjoy it if you are a fan of the genre, so if you have not seen it yet do not miss the opportunity to do so.
Release year: 2010
Seasons: 4
Duration of each episode: 85 – 90 minutes
IMDb Score: 9.1 / 10
Filmaffinity Score: 8/10
Where to watch: Netflix
NAVY, criminal investigation (NCIS)
NAVY: Criminal Investigation (NCIS) is one of the oldest veteran crime investigation series still ongoing. It premiered in 2003 and so far there are 17 seasons.
The show introduces us to a group of special agents from the United States Navy Criminal Investigation Service, whose headquarters is at the Washington Naval Arsenal. The team investigates crimes committed in the Marine Corps or Navy environment.
On Amazon Prime Video you can watch from season 9 to 17.
Release year: 2003
Seasons: 17
Duration of each episode: 45 minutes
IMDb Score: 7.8 / 10
Filmaffinity Score: 5.3 / 10
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
Luther
London can be a very hostile city and hide the biggest criminals you can imagine, but to stop them there is Detective Luther.
With his own vision of crime and the way to approach investigations, this detective confronts cases from minute detail, but also toughness. With a very nihilistic profile, we are facing a series of several seasons in which we will find an addictive plot.
Without a doubt, this is the most suitable role for Idris Elba and a series that you cannot miss.
Release year: 2010
Seasons: 6
Duration of each episode: 50 minutes
IMDb Score: 8.5 / 10
Filmaffinity Score: 7.4 / 10
Where to watch: Netflix
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