1. Grantchester
In the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester in the 1950s, gruff, down-to-earth police inspector Geordie Keating’s methodical approach to police work complements the intuitive techniques of the local vicar Sidney Chambers, and later Reverend Will Davenport. Geordie forms an unlikely partnership with both men of the cloth, and as partners they bring different insights into the crimes they start to unravel, forming true friendships as they work together. Village life in Grantchester proves to be much livelier than its sleepy appearance might suggest, with intrigue and gossip swirling in the background of Geordie’s investigations.
When her father dies, Eliza Scarlet finds herself facing a difficult choice. As an unmarried woman, she faces poverty without a husband to provide for her — unless she takes on the challenge of running her late father’s detective agency, which would be unthinkable for a respectable Victorian lady. Fortunately, she finds an unlikely partner in the unconventional Detective Inspector William Wellington of Scotland Yard, known as “The Duke,” and the pair begin to tackle the crimes and mysteries of Victorian London together.
This drama series, set in stylish 1920s Toronto, follows the female-only agency Drake Private Detectives, led by the eponymous Frankie Drake and her partner Trudy Clarke. Incorporating a brand of justice that doesn’t always follow the law, Frankie and Trudy investigate mysteries and crimes that either the police refuse to take on, or that their clients cannot take to the police at all. Against a backdrop of social change, radical politics and jazz music, the series is immersed in both the real Toronto of the 1920s and the world of mystery and suspense.
4. Broadchurch
When a young boy is murdered, this small town of Broadchurch in Dorset suddenly becomes the focus of a major event in the full glare of the media spotlight. DI Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and DS Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) lead the investigation, as, one-by-one, the community of Broadchurch are drawn into the police inquiry, starting with the immediate family, and then radiating outward.
5. Baptiste
Tchéky Karyo reprises his role from `The Missing’ as never-quite-retired detective Julien Baptiste. Following surgery for a brain tumour, and having lost some confidence, Julien is in Amsterdam with his wife, daughter, and son-in-law. An old contact persuades him to help the Dutch police in their search for a missing sex worker, and he quickly comes up against the criminal underworld.
6. Vienna Blood
1900s Vienna is a hotbed of philosophy, science and art. Dr. Max Liebermann’s extraordinary skills of perception and Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt’s determination lead them to some of the city’s most mysterious and deadly cases.
7. Unforgotten
This crime-drama stars Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar as the lead characters DCI Cassie Stuart and DS Sunil “Sunny” Khan. The detectives are on a mission to uncover the mystery behind an unsolved murder that occurred 39 years ago. Beneath the ground of a demolished house, the bones of the victim are found. With this evidence, the modern police team open a case to unearth the history that has remained buried for decades. Four main suspects emerge, and as their dark pasts are unraveled, the truth behind the events of the crime are finally revealed.
8. Van Der Valk
Amsterdam—city of bikes, boats, and bodies. Marc Warren (Beecham House, The Good Wife) stars as steely-eyed cop Piet van der Valk, in Van der Valk an all-new series based on Nicolas Freeling’s legendary crime thrillers. Co-starring are Maimie McCoy (Wallander) as Van der Valk’s right-hand woman, Lucienne Hassell; Luke Allen-Gale (Dominion) as the scruffy sergeant, Brad de Vries; and more!
9. Guilt
In Edinburgh, two brothers accidentally kill a man while driving home from a wedding. After deciding to cover it up, they must dodge encroaching suspicions from the man’s family and friends who suspect that his death was not a mistake.
10. Annika
Annika stars Nicola Walker (also seen on this list in Unforgotten) as DI Annika Strandhed, the dry-witted, speedboat-driving head of Glasgow’s newly formed Marine Homicide Unit, who juggles baffling cases and a rebellious teenage daughter.
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