Best crime dramas on Netflix: great detective series to watch

published 11 September 2024

Whether you're into true crime, the fictional detectives of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie or gangster tales, there's an enduring appeal to crime drama.

It's often about a mystery unfolding in front of your eyes. There's danger at every turn, but you can take it all in from the comfort of your sofa.

Netflix has had a big hand in making crime as popular as it is in recent years, especially in the field of true crime TV. However, today we're more interested in either purely fictional stories or the dramatised versions of real cases.

UPDATE: The latest Netflix crime drama is the biggest classic mystery hit since Fool Me Once. The Perfect Couple focuses on a rich family in Nantucket, one preparing for the wedding of their son. But when a body shows up on the nearby beach on the day of the wedding, the big question becomes not "will they or won't they" but "who did it?" This show is primed for a binge. And as it's based on a book, you know you're getting a complete story in those six episodes. But, if you haven't guessed already, this one is on the trashier end of the scale.

We've included plenty of high-class crime dramas, as well as the moreish binge watches that trade in twists rather than gritty realism.

The best bit: you don't have to wait for episodes to arrive. While we add new shows to the list below as they arrive, Netflix typically releases most seasons as a block, rather than drip-feeding those eps.

Few genres lend themselves so readily to binge-watching as crime, by virtue of the fact that there’s a mystery to be solved and therefore a reason that you have to get to the end right now.

Here are some crime shows that should be eating up all your weekends for the foreseeable future.

Note:the following best crime dramas on Netflix are available in the UK - please check your region for availability.

Best Netflix crime dramas

This one has gone under the radar a little but you really should seek it out. Clark is a ‘you won’t believe it’s true’ tale, the always-excellent Bill Skarsgård who is a career criminal with a penchant for bank robberies. If you have ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome, then it’s a term that comes from one of his big robberies. This six-part series is directed by music director supremo Jonas Åkerlund and it’s pretty shocking in places but it is a riveting watch.Image Credit: Netflix

Nicolas Winding Refn is one of the most divisive directors around but we love everything about his style, and reckon he’s made another mini masterpiece with Copenhagen Cowboy. Here he dabbles into the supernatural with his tale of a young woman who is seen as a lucky charm by various dodgy folk of the underworld. While the plot is sometimes difficult to follow, give your eyes to the treat they deserve and let them bathe in the, frankly, stunning imagery.Image Credit: Netflix

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As Content Director of Shortlist, Marc likes nothing more than to compile endless lists of an evening by candlelight. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.