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Death in Paradise (2011)
7.8/10on IMDb
First aired
The fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie supplies the sunshine, a run of fish-out-of-water British detectives supplies the comedy, and nearly every case ends with the classic gather-the-suspects reveal. Each episode is a tidy, self-contained puzzle, so you can dip in anywhere without homework. Don Gilet's DI Mervin Wilson leads the current era, and with fifteen series behind it, the back catalog is deep enough to last a whole winter. If you only try one show here, make it this one.
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Father Brown (2013)
7.8/10on IMDb
First aired
Mark Williams plays G. K. Chesterton's Catholic priest as a kindly busybody in the fictional 1950s Cotswold village of Kembleford, cycling between tea, gossip and murder scenes. What sets it apart is that Father Brown cares as much about the culprit's soul as about the arrest, which gives the endings a gentle, forgiving warmth. Daytime-friendly by design, it airs in the afternoon on BBC One and has run for thirteen series, with Sorcha Cusack's Mrs McCarthy back in the most recent one.
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Murder, She Wrote (1984)
7.3/10on IMDb
First aired
Angela Lansbury's Jessica Fletcher is the patron saint of the genre: a widowed mystery novelist from the Maine town of Cabot Cove who keeps tripping over bodies and quietly outthinking the police. The formula never varies much, which is exactly its appeal, with sunny locations, a parade of guest stars and a final scene where Jessica spots the one detail that does not fit. With twelve seasons to choose from, it is the ideal show to put on when you want a puzzle without any risk of a bleak turn.
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Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989)
8.6/10on IMDb
First aired
David Suchet's fussy, vain, brilliant Belgian is the most complete screen version of Christie's detective: across 70 episodes and nearly 25 years, the series filmed nearly every Poirot novel and story. The early hour-long episodes, with Hugh Fraser's Hastings and Philip Jackson's Inspector Japp, are the coziest stretch, full of Art Deco flats, country houses and wry banter. The later feature-length films grow grander and occasionally darker, so start in the first few series if a light mood matters most.
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Miss Marple (1984)
8.5/10on IMDb
First aired
Joan Hickson's Jane Marple looks like a harmless lady with her knitting, which is exactly why suspects talk in front of her. This BBC series adapts all twelve Marple novels, and its unhurried pace, real English villages and memorable theme tune make it feel like a well-thumbed paperback. Christie herself once wrote to Hickson that she hoped she would play Miss Marple one day. Pick this over the glossier 2004 Agatha Christie's Marple when you want fidelity to the books and an evening that never raises its voice.
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Midsomer Murders (1997)
7.9/10on IMDb
First aired
The county of Midsomer has the prettiest villages and the highest murder rate in England, and the show knows exactly how funny that is. Fêtes, garden competitions, bell-ringing societies and village feuds supply the motives, while a steady Barnaby (John Nettles, then Neil Dudgeon as his cousin) and a younger sergeant sort the eccentrics from the killers. The body count per episode can be high and the methods inventive, but the tone stays wry rather than grim. Feature-length episodes make it a proper Sunday-night ritual.
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Columbo (1971)
8.3/10on IMDb
First aired
You watch the murder in the opening minutes, so the fun is never who but how: how Peter Falk's rumpled lieutenant, with his raincoat, cigar and "just one more thing," will needle a smug rich killer into the mistake that convicts them. The crimes are tidy, bloodless affairs among Los Angeles mansions and studios, and the cat-and-mouse conversations are as satisfying as any drawing-room reveal. Choose it when you want the gentlest suspense on this list, since the outcome is certain and only the method is in doubt.
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Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (2012)
8.2/10on IMDb
First aired
Essie Davis's Phryne Fisher solves murders in late-1920s Melbourne in beaded gowns, with a pearl-handled pistol, a sharp wit and a long line of admirers. The costumes, jazz clubs and flirtatious sparring with Nathan Page's Detective Inspector Jack Robinson make this the most glamorous show here, and Phryne's household of loyal oddballs gives it a found-family warmth. The cases sometimes touch on real 1920s injustices, but the spirit is pure escapist fun.
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Rosemary & Thyme (2003)
7.6/10on IMDb
First aired
A plant pathologist and a former police constable go into business as gardeners, and somehow every stately lawn or hotel border they take on comes with a corpse. Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris make a lovely double act, trading dry remarks over pruning shears, and the gardens themselves, in England and abroad, are half the pleasure. This is about as gentle as murder gets on television, which makes it perfect for a lazy afternoon.
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Agatha Raisin (2016)
7.3/10on IMDb
First aired
Ashley Jensen plays M. C. Beaton's brash London PR executive who retires to a Cotswold village, enters a shop-bought quiche in a baking contest and becomes a suspect when the judge dies. Agatha is vain, impatient and often wrong before she is right, which makes her far funnier than the usual unflappable sleuth. The village crowd and an on-and-off romance with James Lacey keep it as much comedy as mystery. Ideal if you want a heroine with flaws and a laugh in every scene.
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Hamish Macbeth (1995)
7.8/10on IMDb
First aired
A young Robert Carlyle plays the laid-back constable of Lochdubh, a Highland village where Hamish would rather turn a blind eye to a bit of poaching than see a neighbor carted off to the city. Loosely based on M. C. Beaton's novels, it is more whimsical comedy-drama than whodunit, full of local eccentrics, a scruffy terrier called Wee Jock and gorgeous Scottish scenery. Three short series make it an easy, rewarding binge for anyone who likes a mystery with a strong sense of place.
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Jonathan Creek (1997)
8.1/10on IMDb
First aired
If you love a locked room, start here. Alan Davies plays a backroom designer of stage illusions who lives in a converted windmill and uses a magician's logic to crack crimes that look physically impossible. David Renwick's scripts are fiendishly fair, so you really can work out the trick, and the bickering with Caroline Quentin's crime writer Maddy in the early series adds plenty of laughs. A few later specials wander, but the first four series are a puzzle lover's treat.
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Murdoch Mysteries (2008)
8.2/10on IMDb
First aired
Yannick Bisson's William Murdoch is a Toronto detective at the turn of the 20th century who keeps inventing forensic gadgets decades early, and the show delights in that cheeky anachronism, with cameos from historical celebrities and the occasional episode played purely for laughs. His slow-burn romance with Dr. Julia Ogden and the comic relief of Constable Crabtree give it a soap-like warmth. Its twentieth season began in October 2026, so there is almost no end to it; just accept a somewhat stiff first season.
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The Brokenwood Mysteries (2014)
7.9/10on IMDb
First aired
New Zealand's answer to Midsomer: a small rural town with far too many murders and a detective, Neill Rea's Mike Shepherd, who arrives with a classic Holden, a country music collection and several ex-wives. The deadpan humor is very Kiwi, the vineyards and farmland look wonderful, and his partnership with Fern Sutherland's sharp Detective Kristin Sims is the heart of it. Each feature-length case stands alone, and twelve seasons mean plenty to work through.
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Shakespeare & Hathaway - Private Investigators (2018)
7.6/10on IMDb
First aired
A rumpled ex-cop and a former hairdresser with a romantic disaster behind her team up as private eyes in Stratford-upon-Avon, and Mark Benton and Jo Joyner have the kind of chemistry that makes even a weak case enjoyable. Episode titles borrow lines from Shakespeare, the Warwickshire setting is pure chocolate box, and their theatrical assistant Sebastian steals scenes, especially when he goes undercover. It is broad, sunny daytime fare, best when you want silliness first and puzzle second.
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The Madame Blanc Mysteries (2021)
7.1/10on IMDb
First aired
After her husband dies and leaves her almost broke, antiques dealer Jean White moves to a cottage in the French village of Saint Victoire and finds that her eye for a fake makes her a natural detective. Sally Lindsay created, co-writes and stars, and the clues often hide in a piece of furniture or a painting, which gives the puzzles a fresh angle. Steve Edge as her local ally Dom brings the laughs, and the Mediterranean sunshine does the rest. A fifth series began on Channel 5 in October 2026.
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Sister Boniface Mysteries (2022)
7.2/10on IMDb
First aired
This Father Brown spin-off hands the magnifying glass to Lorna Watson's Sister Boniface, a scooter-riding nun with a forensic science training who helps the police in the 1960s Cotswold village of Great Slaughter. The tone is even sillier than its parent show, with Swinging Sixties fashions, bright colors and a cheerful sense of the absurd, but the forensic angle gives the solutions a nice twist. Four series so far make it a breezy follow-up once you have finished Kembleford.
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Beyond Paradise (2023)
7.4/10on IMDb
First aired
Kris Marshall brings clumsy, kind DI Humphrey Goodman home from Death in Paradise to the fictional Devon town of Shipton Abbott, his partner Martha's hometown, where the cases are as likely to be strange puzzles as murders. That gentler mix, with moments of real heart about family and starting over, makes it one of the softest shows on this list. Four series have aired, and you need no knowledge of the parent show to enjoy it, although fans will relish Humphrey's slapstick.
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The Marlow Murder Club (2024)
7.2/10on IMDb
First aired
Samantha Bond plays Judith Potts, a retired archaeologist and crossword setter who swims in the Thames and is certain she has witnessed a murder that the police dismiss. She recruits a dog walker and the vicar's wife, and the three outsiders make a wonderfully mismatched club. Based on Robert Thorogood's novels, it feels like Agatha Christie by way of a crossword puzzle, and the riverside town of Marlow looks lovely. The first series tells one story; the second offers three.
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Bookish (2025)
6.9/10on IMDb
First aired
Mark Gatiss created and stars as Gabriel Book, an erudite antiquarian bookseller in 1946 London who solves cases with the clutter of his shop and is married to Trottie, who runs the wallpaper shop next door. Postwar rationing and secrets give it texture, but the pleasure is Gatiss's droll performance and a found family of misfits behind the counter. It is the best new pick for book lovers, and a third series and a Christmas special are already ordered.
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Ludwig (2024)
8.1/10on IMDb
First aired
David Mitchell plays a reclusive puzzle setter who poses as his missing identical twin, a Cambridge detective, and solves murders by treating them like crosswords. The joke of an awkward civilian bluffing his way through a police station never wears thin, and Anna Maxwell Martin as his sister-in-law Lucy keeps the family mystery underneath warm and funny. Cambridge colleges make a handsome backdrop. Series two arrived in 2026 and a third is already ordered, so it is a fine moment to start.
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Only Murders in the Building (2021)
8.0/10on IMDb
First aired
Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez play three lonely neighbors in a grand Upper West Side apartment building who start a true-crime podcast about a death down the hall. It is the most comic show on this list, a cozy mystery for people who like their sleuths neurotic and their suspects played by famous guest stars, and each season is one twisty, bingeable case. Season six moves the trio to London, with a premiere set for December 8, 2026.
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Elsbeth (2024)
7.5/10on IMDb
First aired
Carrie Preston's Elsbeth Tascioni, the scatterbrained-seeming lawyer from The Good Wife, arrives at the NYPD in loud outfits and quietly takes apart wealthy, overconfident murderers. Like Columbo, you usually see the killer early, so the joy is her chirpy, oblique questioning and Wendell Pierce's dry captain trying to keep up. It is a network procedural on paper but a whimsical comedy in spirit, and its fourth season began on CBS in October 2026.
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Psych (2006)
8.4/10on IMDb
First aired
James Roday Rodriguez plays Shawn Spencer, a slacker with a police-trained eye who pretends to be psychic so the Santa Barbara police will pay him, and Dulé Hill is his long-suffering best friend Gus. The mysteries are light, the pop-culture jokes come thick and fast, and the friendship is the real draw. Silly rather than clever, it suits anyone who finds traditional whodunits a little starchy. Eight seasons and a few follow-up movies give plenty to binge.
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