# Recommend a streaming “whodunit” show to me **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 13, 2023, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006 "2023-07-13T21:47:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/1 "2023-07-13T21:47:18Z")
I’ve been watching Perry Mason and Murdoch Mysteries. I like more lighthearted fare instead of “heavier” or gory crime. Right now I have Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix and Acorn. What’s fun and engaging? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/2 "2023-07-13T22:11:27Z")
This may be too obvious, but have you watched ‘Only Murders in the Building’ on Hulu? It’s about as lighthearted as murder mysteries get. It was definitely fun and engaging. 2 seasons so far, with another one to come. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/3 "2023-07-13T22:28:04Z")
I thought **American Vandal** (Netflix) was pretty funny as a satire of true crime podcasts, especially Serial (season 1). Maybe too juvenile for some people’s tastes, though. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/4 "2023-07-13T22:35:18Z")
Make friends with someone who has AppleTV or sign up for a free 30-day trial. Watch **Bad Sisters**. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/5 "2023-07-13T22:54:35Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Watch **Bad Sisters**. I second this. It kept me guessing all the way to the end. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/6 "2023-07-14T00:28:44Z")
I’ve watched this three times… in a row. So many layers and also hilarious though in a black humor sort of way, ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/7 "2023-07-14T00:37:11Z")
_Midsomer Murders._ Nice British cozy mystery about crimes in a fictional UK county. It’s streaming everywhere (Tubi, Roku, Pluto, et al), often for free. _Death in Paradise_. Old-fashioned British cozy (several locked room mysteries) about a British detective on a Caribbean island. Usually ends with the detective gathering all the suspects in one room and laying out the case. The lead has changed several times, but the formula remains the same. _Agatha Raisin_. Agatha is a retired PR rep who keeps stumbling onto crimes. It’s on Acorn TV, and, if you library offers it, Hoopla. _My Life is Murder_. Lucy Lawless plays Alexa Crowe, a retired police detective who consults with the police on murder investigations. Hoopla has it, too. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/8 "2023-07-14T06:30:28Z")
I don’t know what’s available on those platforms but other productions that might fit the bill are (from the UK): _Shakespeare and Hathaway_, about a couple of PIs in Stratford-upon-Avon, whose cases have frequent - if distant - nods to the Bard. The lightheartedness comes both from the interplay of the principals and spotting the odd quotation you might recognise. Also, if there’s an archive channel running it, _Hetty Wainthropp Investigates_ - a role Patricia Routledge moved on to after Hyacinth Bucket (and a no-nonsense contrast): a grandmother in a small Lancashire town is drawn into a mystery and finds she has a taste and aptitude for it, so sets up as a PI. (from New Zealand) _Brokenwood Mysteries_, a police procedural set in a small town with some distinctly quirky recurring characters. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/9 "2023-07-14T08:31:16Z")
I’ve watched all of these but Paradise. Will check it out. > [@PatrickLondon](#): > > (from New Zealand) _Brokenwood Mysteries_, a police procedural set in a small town with some distinctly quirky recurring characters. Such a good show! I’m sorry that it seems to be done. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/10 "2023-07-14T08:33:25Z")
Father Brown Midsomer Murders Murder They Hope Miss Scarlet and the Duke McDonald and Dodds Grantchester Sister Boniface Mysteries The Chelsea Detective Madame Blanc Mysteries Dalgliesh Whitstable Pearl Unforgotten No idea where they stream for you. I gather them from across the wide Internet landscape. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/11 "2023-07-14T11:07:13Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Such a good show! I’m sorry that it seems to be done. Its UK home is starting a new (to us) series in a couple of weeks. But it did seem to lose a bit of its quirkiness when the junior sidekick was replaced, so perhaps it’s run its course. (I now see we’re about to get series 9, but apparently there’s a series 10 due to go into production later this year) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/12 "2023-07-14T11:11:04Z")
If they continue the show, I hope they don’t try to shoehorn any romance between the two junior detectives. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/13 "2023-07-14T11:52:17Z")
We’re just about to start _Poker Face_ with Natasha Lyonne, we’ve heard very good things about it. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/14 "2023-07-14T13:39:04Z")
Yeah _Poker Face_ would have been my recommendation but it’s on Peacock. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/15 "2023-07-14T13:50:37Z")
The David Suchet _Poirot_ series were all mostly light-hearted until some of the later series, when they took a distinctly darker (and more overtly religious) tone. I think that at about the same time they started running 90 minutes instead of 60. IIRC, the last few series returned to a lighter feel. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/16 "2023-07-14T15:20:09Z")
Another couple of mystery series, if available: _Rosemary and Thyme_ - two women of a certain age run a garden design and maintenance business, but on every job, Jessica Fletcher style, they find themselves sleuthing _Pie in the Sky_ (not the US programme with the same title) - a police detective who unjustly falls under a cloud and wants only to be allowed early retirement so he can run a small restaurant, finds his scheming boss wants to keep him on hand for special jobs (usually to suit some PR-political interest of said boss). ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/17 "2023-07-14T15:52:14Z")
One I have seen and enjoyed was [Queens of Mystery](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt8974594/), whose premise was a young detective who is helped in her cases by three crime-novelist aunts. I felt like there was a hard time juggling all of them, but it was fun and breezy. There was also [My Life Is Murder](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Life_Is_Murder) starring Lucy Lawless. Beautiful photography of Australia and New Zealand, good-looking cast and fun title sequences. Looking at all of these excellent suggestions, I’m struck by how many of them I’ve watched in the past and forgotten until now. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/18 "2023-07-14T16:39:17Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I’m struck by how many of them I’ve watched in the past and forgotten until now. I’ve reached the stage of retirement life where I catch them coming round again (and again) on assorted archive channels and on-demand streaming services. Gets me away from all those scripted reality relationship/bitching shows and craft competition shows (we’ve now got one of those for dog groomers called Pooch Perfect, for heaven’s sake). ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/19 "2023-07-14T16:50:06Z")
We started a new original to Acorn series called _Harry Wild._ There’s some blood, but it’s _very_ light. Too light for me, but it’s o.k. Too many of the rockin’ old lady cliches (Jane Seymour stars). Interestingly, her young sidekick was last seen on _Whitstable Pearl_, leaving to spend a year with his dad in Toronto. We wondered at the time if he had another show lined up, and he had! Another aside–the actress who played his girlfriend in WP looks a lot like the actress that plays his girlfriend in HW. I much prefer the other series we’re watching on Acorn – _Balthazar_ a French police thriller. Balthazar is a forensic pathologist with a tragedy in his past. The stories are more interesting; the French settings are fresher than the typical UK villages (no offense! I like them, too, but a change of scenery is nice). But. It’s bloody enough to merit a warning to the squeamish. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006/20 "2023-07-14T17:04:49Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > _Midsomer Murders._ Nice British cozy mystery about crimes in a fictional UK county. It’s streaming everywhere (Tubi, Roku, Pluto, et al), often for free. This has come up here before, and I’ll say it again, it’s not cozy, and it’s sometimes quite gory. Beheadings, a man dangling over a thresher and falling into it, a homeless man beaten to death (you get to see that one three times), throats visibly cut with blood everywhere on multiple occasions, hacked to death by a machete (visible blood spurting), etc. And we’re only in season 13! The Brokenwood Mysteries on the other hand does have bits of gore here and there, but it’s much more light and charming. ETA though I can think of one fairly rough throat-cutting on this show, a Christmas episode of all things. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-streaming-whodunit-show-to-me/987006.md?page=2)