Top 250 Tv Shows Like The Detective

In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.

An elite team of FBI profilers analyze the country's most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they strike again. The Behavioral Analysis Unit's most experienced agent is David Rossi, a founding member of the BAU who returns to help the team solve new cases.

When they were boys, Sam and Dean Winchester lost their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force. Subsequently, their father raised them to be soldiers. He taught them about the paranormal evil that lives in the dark corners and on the back roads of America ... and he taught them how to kill it. Now, the Winchester brothers crisscross the country in their '67 Chevy Impala, battling every kind of supernatural threat they encounter along the way.

A first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat following Jake Adelstein, an American journalist who embeds himself into the Tokyo Vice police squad to reveal corruption. Based on Jake Adelstein’s non-fiction book of the same name.

In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

A close-knit anthology series dealing with stories involving malice, violence and murder based in and around Minnesota.

An American anthology police detective series utilizing multiple timelines in which investigations seem to unearth personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within or outside the law.

From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule Poirot pits his wits against a collection of first class deceptions.

Baywatch Nights is an American police and science fiction drama series that aired in syndication from 1995 to 1997. Created by Douglas Schwartz, David Hasselhoff, and Gregory J. Bonann, the series is a spin-off from the popular television series, Baywatch.

Private detective Cassie Dewell partners with ex-cop Jenny Hoyt on a search for two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana. When they discover that these are not the only girls who have disappeared in the area, they must race against the clock to stop the perpetrator before another woman is taken.

A formerly blacklisted spy uses his unique skills and training to help people in desperate situations.

Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26, 1971 to March 3, 1976. The primary protagonist is the title character, private detective Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad. He also appeared on two episodes of Barnaby Jones. Cannon is the first Quinn Martin-produced series to be aired on a network other than ABC. A "revival" television film, The Return of Frank Cannon, was aired on November 1, 1980. In total, there were 124 episodes.

The Philadelphia homicide squad's lone female detective finds her calling when she is assigned cases that have never been solved. Detective Lilly Rush combines her natural instincts with the updated technology available today to bring about justice for all the victims she can.

A Las Vegas team of forensic investigators are trained to solve criminal cases by scouring the crime scene, collecting irrefutable evidence and finding the missing pieces that solve the mystery.

Follow the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers identified as "Crime Scene Investigators".

Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police also leads a secret life as a serial killer, hunting down criminals who have slipped through the cracks of justice.

A Chicago-based wizard works as a private investigator.

Robert McCall is a former agent of a secret government agency who is now running his own private crime fighting operation where he fashions himself as "The Equalizer." It is a service for victims of the system who have exhausted all possible means of seeking justice and have nowhere to go. McCall promises to even out the odds for them.

A team of dedicated amateurs work on cases involving unidentified victims. After the police have given up, this group must first solve the puzzle of the victim's identity in order to then help catch the killer. They work to give the deceased back their names, lest they become—The Forgotten.

After a tragic ending to her short-lived super hero stint, Jessica Jones is rebuilding her personal life and career as a detective who gets pulled into cases involving people with extraordinary abilities in New York City.

The Killing is an American crime drama television series based upon the Danish television series Forbrydelsen. Set in Seattle, Washington, the series follows the various murder investigations by homicide detectives Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder.

A detective chief inspector from 2006 is investigating a serial killer when he is knocked over by a speeding car. Waking up, he finds himself mysteriously transported back in time to 1973. Initially struggling to come to terms with his situation, he has to come to terms with the old-fashioned technology and attitude of the day, while figuring out how he came to be trapped in the past.

A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.

Patrick Jane, a former celebrity psychic medium, uses his razor sharp skills of observation and expertise at "reading" people to solve serious crimes with the California Bureau of Investigation.

Adrian Monk was once a rising star with the San Francisco Police Department, legendary for using unconventional means to solve the department's most baffling cases. But after the tragic (and still unsolved) murder of his wife Trudy, he developed an extreme case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Now working as a private consultant, Monk continues to investigate cases in the most unconventional ways.

Peter Gunn is an American private eye television series. Filmed in a film noir atmosphere and featuring Henry Mancini music that could tell you the action with your eyes closed, Peter Gunn worked in style. Known as Pete to his friends and simply as Gunn to his enemies, he did his job in a calm cool way.

Ex-pro hockey player Matt Shade irrevocably changes his life when he teams up with fierce P.I. Angie Everett to form an unlikely investigative powerhouse.

Riptide is an American TV detective series that ran on NBC from December 3, 1983 to August 22, 1986, starring Perry King, Joe Penny, and Thom Bray. Riptide was created by Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell, and produced by Stephen J. Cannell Productions in the wake of Magnum PI's success. The main theme was composed by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter. A mid-season replacement, it debuted as a two-hour TV movie in early 1984.

Respected police officer John River, a gifted cop with a troubled mind, struggles to come to terms with the recent loss of a colleague, and chases a suspect across London - with tragic consequences. Now at odds with the authorities, River ends up in a precarious position as he seeks to bring closure to the mother of murdered teenager, who blames him for failing to keep his promise.

What starts as a YouTube video going viral, soon leads to problems for the teenagers of Lakewood and serves as the catalyst for a murder that opens up a window to the town's troubled past. Everyone has secrets. Everyone tells lies. Everyone is fair game.

Sexy New York detective and single mother Harlee Santos fell in with a tight-knit group of dirty cops, taking bribes and protection money that she uses to provide the best life for her honest, talented daughter. But when she's trapped by the FBI and forced to inform on her own "brothers," she'll have to walk the fine line between love, loyalty, honor and betrayal, and try to keep it together for her daughter's future.

Mystery and suspense series based on Robert Parker's "Spenser" novels. Spenser, a private investigator living in Boston, gets involved in a new murder mystery each episode.

Switch is an American action-adventure, tongue-in-cheek detective series starring Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner, who work as private eyes, for a deceptive sting operation. It was broadcast on the CBS network for three seasons between September 9, 1975 and August 20, 1978, bumping the Hawaii Five-O detective series to Friday nights.

In the fictional town of Neptune, California, student Veronica Mars progresses from high school to college while moonlighting as a private investigator under the tutelage of her detective father.

Clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill's uncanny ability to see into the minds of murderers means he finds it difficult to distance himself from disturbing cases.

The series follows the ventures of a Missing Persons Unit of the FBI in New York City.

The exploits of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who investigate X-Files: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder believes in the existence of aliens and the paranormal while Scully, a skeptic, is assigned to make scientific analyses of Mulder's discoveries that debunk Mulder's work and thus return him to mainstream cases.

Sledge Hammer! is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, a preposterous caricature of the standard "cop on the edge" character. Al Jean and Mike Reiss, best known for their work on The Simpsons, wrote for the show and worked as story editors.

Laura Holt, a licensed private detective, opens a detective agency but finds that potential clients refuse to hire a woman, however qualified. To solve the problem, Laura invents a fictitious male superior whom she names Remington Steele. Through a series of events that unfold in the first episode, "License to Steele," a former thief and con man, whose real name is never revealed, assumes the identity of Remington Steele. Behind the scenes, Laura remains firmly in charge.

After a serial killer imitates the plots of his novels, successful mystery novelist Richard "Rick" Castle receives permission from the Mayor of New York City to tag along with an NYPD homicide investigation team for research purposes.

The story of the Miami Police Department's vice squad and its efforts to end drug trafficking and prostitution, centered on the unlikely partnership of Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs - who first meet when Tubbs is undercover in a drug cartel.

L.A. Heat is an American action series starring Wolf Larson and Steven Williams as Los Angeles police detectives, in the tradition of films like Lethal Weapon. The series aired on TNT from March 15, 1999.

A mild-mannered IRS agent travels to a remote desert region in search of missing money and stumbles into a strange small town where mystery, danger, and peculiar characters lurk around every off-kilter corner. Everyone in Push has a secret, but no one is talking … unless they're telling our man to get out of town, fast.

Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer is the title used for two syndicated television series that followed the adventures of fictional private detective Mike Hammer. The gritty, crime fighting detective—created by American crime author Mickey Spillane—has also inspired several feature films and made-for-TV movies.

Haunted is an American television program first aired in September 2002 on UPN. The program, which was filmed in Vancouver, was canceled in November 2002 due to low ratings. As a result, only seven of the completed episodes were aired. However, all eleven filmed episodes have subsequently been shown in international airings of the show. In August 2007, the series aired on HDNet. The series then began airing on Sci Fi in September 2007 and January 2008. In 2009, Chiller began airing this program as part of their daily marathon line-up. It plays there sporadically. A marathon of the entire series ran all day on October 31, 2010 on Universal HD.

Shaft is a series of TV movies that aired along with Hawkins during 1973-74 television season on The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies. The series was based on three films beginning with Shaft, and starring Richard Roundtree as private detective John Shaft. Because it was aired on over-the-air television, CBS felt that the character needed to be toned down. Now instead of working against the police, he worked with them. The series rotated with Hawkins starring James Stewart as a country lawyer who investigates his cases, similarly to his earlier film Anatomy of a Murder. Contemporary analysts suggested that since the two shows appealed to vastly different audience bases, alternating them only served to confuse fans of both series, giving neither one the time to build up a large viewership.

Missing Persons is a short-lived American crime drama television series, set in Chicago. It followed a fictitious missing persons unit; each episode usually following the investigation into three or more cases. It ran on ABC from August 30, 1993 to February 17, 1994. It was produced by Gary Sherman Productions in association with Stephen J. Cannell Productions, and often used local Chicago-based actors, as well as occasional big-name guest stars such as Nina Foch, Eddie Bracken and Lois Smith. Semi-regulars included Ian Gomez, Irma P. Hall, Laura Cerón and Valerie Harper. Unlike most series from Cannell's company, he did not create or co-create this series.

Crime drama series following the investigations of DCI Red Metcalfe.

Ex-cop and recovering alcoholic Hank Dolworth partners with his best friend, former criminal Britt Pollack, in an unlicensed private investigation business. The series is set in Ocean Beach, San Diego, California, although it is portrayed as a distinct town, with Dolworth having once been a member of the fictional Ocean Beach Police Department.

Case Histories is a British drama television series based on the Jackson Brodie detective novels by Kate Atkinson. It stars Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie.

The extraordinary story of Gloucester housewife Janet Leach who played a key role in the uncovering of the crimes of Fred and Rosemary West.

When the Police Service of Northern Ireland are unable to close a case after 28 days, Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson of the Metropolitan Police Service is called in to review the case. Under her new leadership, the local detectives must track down and stop a serial killer who is terrorising the city of Belfast.

Based on Michael Connelly's best-selling novels, these are the stories of relentless LAPD homicide Detective Harry Bosch who pursues justice at all costs. But behind his tireless momentum is a man who is haunted by his past and struggles to remain loyal to his personal code: “Everybody counts or nobody counts.”

In the late 1960s, a Los Angeles police sergeant with a complicated personal life starts tracking a small-time criminal and budding cult leader seeking out vulnerable women to join his “cause.” The name of that man is Charles Manson.

Happy Valley is a dark, funny, multi-layered thriller revolving around the personal and professional life of Catherine, a dedicated, experienced, hard-working copper. She is also a bereaved mother who looks after her orphaned grandchild.

Genius detective Nero Wolfe and his right-hand man, Archie Goodwin, solve seemingly impossible crimes.

Lights Out was an extremely popular American old-time radio program, an early example of a network series devoted mostly to horror and the supernatural, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum. Versions of Lights Out aired on different networks, at various times, from January 1934 to the summer of 1947 and the series eventually made the transition to television. In 1946, NBC Television brought Lights Out to TV in a series of four specials, broadcast live and produced by Fred Coe, who also contributed three of the scripts. NBC asked Cooper to write the script for the premiere, "First Person Singular", which is told entirely from the point of view of an unseen murderer who kills his obnoxious wife and winds up being executed. Variety gave this first episode a rave review ("undoubtedly one of the best dramatic shows yet seen on a television screen"), but Lights Out did not become a regular NBC-TV series until 1949.

Hard-boiled private dick Hamilton Nash is hired to investigate a case of stolen diamonds, which leads him to a lovely and odd young woman named Gabrielle, who believes she has been stricken with the ancient curse of the Dain family. The curse has historically caused its victims to die prematurely.

The day-to-day life of two unwilling partners of the Montreal Police Department, Officers Nick Barron and Ben Chartier. These two beat cops patrol the urban sprawl of downtown's 19th district, in cruiser No. 2. 19-2 is about the tensions and bonds that develop between two incompatible men of very different temperaments and life experiences. Over time, Nick and Ben's mistrust and antagonism for each other give way to moments of mutual respect and a wavering chance at a true partnership.

New York, USA. Stockholm, Sweden. Over the past twelve months young, blonde, blue-eyed women have been found dead in a meadow where Asphodel flowers grow. New York Detective Tommy Conley gets a special dispensation from the NYPD to go observe and act as an adviser to the Stockholm Police Department in order to help solve these crimes.

A gritty chronicle of the war against Colombia's infamously violent and powerful drug cartels.

A series of killings of bank managers has London in a turmoil, all the way up to Parliament. And the killer regularly calls about his handiwork, but only to a street-wise, and usually rather tipsy, radio reporter, about to be sacked for his habitual irreverence toward his station and the BBC. And while everything seems to point to a lead singer of a rock group famous for the "In The Red" music which has been connected to the killings, in typical British mystery fashion, there are also other sub-plots to be considered.

London police detectives Cassie Stuart and Sunny Khan investigate historic cold cases involving missing persons, murder and long-hidden secrets.

A war veteran turned private detective operates out of a tiny office in London’s Denmark Street. Although wounded both physically and psychologically, his unique insight and background as a military police investigator prove crucial in solving complex crimes that have baffled the police. Based on the bestselling novels written by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

Detective John Cardinal attempts to uncover the mystery of what happened to the missing 13-year-old girl whose body is discovered in the shaft-head of an abandoned mine. At the same time, he comes under investigation by his new partner, Lise Delorme, a tough investigator in her own right.

New York, 1896. Police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt brings together criminal psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, newspaper illustrator John Moore and secretary Sara Howard to investigate several murders of male prostitutes.

A missing FBI agent reappears six years after being declared dead.

Toronto’s only female private detective in the 1920s takes on the cases the police don’t want or can’t handle. From airplanes and booze running to American G-men, Communists and union busters, Frankie’s fearless sense of adventure gets her into all kinds of trouble, but she always manages to find her way out.

A look at the hunt for California's Zodiac Killer, who murdered at least five people in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s and early '70s.

An anthology series featuring updated tales of horror and haunting for the digital age, inspired by the viral fan fiction of two sentence horror stories.

DI Cadi John and DC Owen Vaughan try to solve a case involving Mali Pryce, a young woman whose body was discovered in a stream in the woods.

After his daughter goes missing, a widower begins uncovering the dark secrets of the people closest to him.

Plum Kettle, ghost-writer for the editor of one of New York’s hottest fashion magazines, struggles with self-image and sets out on a wildly complicated road to self-acceptance. At the same time, everyone is buzzing over news reports about men, accused of sexual abuse and assault, who are disappearing and meeting untimely, violent deaths.

When there is a mysterious disappearance on an outback cattle station, Detective Jay Swan is assigned to investigate. Working with local cop Emma James, Jay’s investigation uncovers a past injustice that threatens the fabric of the whole community.

With a documentary style delivery, this drama tells the story of a team of top murder detectives with each episode featuring a different murder while also following a serialized story involving the lead detective’s missing wife.

Fauna Hodel, who was given away by her teenage birth mother, begins to investigate the secrets to her past, following a sinister trail that swirls ever closer to an infamous Hollywood gynecologist connected to the legendary Black Dahlia murder.

U.S. Navy veteran turned private investigator Jennifer Marshall investigates some of America's greatest unsolved mysteries.

Soulful thriller set in Tokyo and London, exploring the butterfly effect of a single murder across two cities. A dark, witty and daring examination of morality and redemption.

A detective in a small Pennsylvania town investigates a local murder while trying to keep her life from falling apart.

A family's lives are irreparably disrupted when the 14-year-old son is accused of murdering a fellow classmate.

When an insidious supernatural force edges its way into a seemingly straightforward investigation into the gruesome murder of a young boy, it leads a seasoned cop and an unorthodox investigator to question everything they believe in.

When Eliza Scarlet’s father dies, he leaves her penniless, but she resolves to continue his detective agency. To operate in a male-dominated world, though, she needs a partner... step forward a detective known as the Duke. Eliza and The Duke strike up a mismatched, fiery relationship as they team up to solve crime in the murkiest depths of 1880’s London.

A former DEA agent forced into early retirement runs a gift shop in in the Philippines. Despite his best efforts to begin a tranquil new life, he’s pulled back into a world of dangerous people and deadly situations, either through his friends in the local police department or running into people from his old life. And the problem is: he likes it.

A web of secrets sends family man Adam Price on a desperate quest to uncover the truth about the people closest to him.

Explore the intoxication of sexual attraction, the dangerous power of emotional manipulation, and how finding a volatile form of solace in another can have dire consequences as two conflicted coppers track down a pair of deadly killers.

A complex thriller revolving around three characters, each with troubling pasts clouding their intersecting motives: Emma is a young woman who once loved a dangerous killer, John is a former serial predator desperate for redemption, and a grieving mother Mary who is obsessed with finding her missing daughter.

Barbara Carey flies to Italy to visit her blind sister Mary Ann, who is studying in a music academy. Once in Rome Barbara discovers her sister has disappeared and, according to the Italian police, she may have been murdered by a maniac who is obsessed with young sightless women. With the help of Martin Foster, from the British Embassy, Barbara starts trying to find out what happened to Mary Ann. She even pretends to be blind herself in an attempt to attract the killer, and finally the clues lead her to Seagull Island, privately owned by a mysterious British citizen named David Malcolm. Barbara must then find the answers to several questions: was Mary Ann really kidnapped? What happened to David's wife and son in the island? And why is David's relative Carol so unhappy to see a woman with him?

For five years, from 1975 to 1980, the Yorkshire Ripper murders cast a dark shadow over the lives of women in the North of England. 13 women were dead and the police seemed incapable of catching the killer. No one felt safe – and every man was a suspect.

With her son grown up, single mom Pearl Nolan decides to pursue her lifelong dream and launches a private detective agency, which she runs from her family's restaurant in the coastal town of Whitstable. Drawn by her caring nature, locals soon flock to her with all manner of cases. But when an old friend dies suspiciously, Pearl finds herself in conflict with gruff new cop in town, DCI Mike McGuire.

Bjørn investigates the killing of his daughter. People around him believe she might have committed suicide, but he doesn't accept that. Both the stakes and the suspense rise relentlessly as Bjørn inches closer to the truth.

10 years after Dexter went missing in the eye of Hurricane Laura, we find him living under an assumed name in the small town of Iron Lake, New York. Dexter may be embracing his new life, but in the wake of unexpected events in this close-knit community, his Dark Passenger beckons.

An editor gets drawn into a web of intrigue and murder when she receives an unfinished manuscript.

When Carlton Flynn vanishes 17 years to the night after Stewart Green did, it sets off a chain reaction in the lives of people connected to both men.

Charles Rowland and Edwin Payne — who decided not to enter the afterlife in order to stay on earth — investigate crimes involving the supernatural.

Cruising Santa Cruz's ocean highways, Edmund Kemper appears to be a 6'9" gentle giant who offers hundreds of young female hitchhikers a ride. But behind his charming smile and signature gold-rimmed glasses lurks a brutal and perverted monster. In 1973, while awaiting trial, Kemper was interviewed by psychiatrist Dr. Donald Lunde. Lunde records Kemper's detailed confession on audiotape. For 50 years these tapes were locked away and forgotten, but now they are public for the first time and reveal a tormented childhood, dark sexual fantasies, and a thirst for revenge on the person he despises most, his own mother.

In 1970s NYC, the “Torso Killer” preys on women to fulfill his grotesque fantasies while eluding police. A docuseries dive into crime’s darkest places.

An enigmatic private detective struggles with personal demons as he investigates the disappearance of a Hollywood producer's beloved granddaughter.

An ex-cop turned private eye, Marissa Wong, ends up being forced to work with Sarah Winchester, an inexperienced young woman fresh out of university. Each episode, the unlikely duo to solve their client’s cases, which often end up being far more dangerous than they first appear.

Former police officer Darby Spencer and her mystery novelist mother Victoria Spencer have opposite personalities but still embark on the unlikeliest of ventures: becoming partners in a private detective agency. They are mistaken as sisters as they tackle puzzling cases in Alder Bluffs.

After her father's death, Honey West takes over his high-tech private-detective firm, assisted by rugged Sam Bolt--and her pet ocelot Bruce.