Sifting through the mystery movies and TV shows on Amazon Prime gives you all the clues you need to determine that the platform is one of the best streaming services to subscribe to if you love a good whodunnit. I have presented the most pertinent evidence as to why an Amazon Prime subscription is essential for fans of detective stories and brain-teasing crime dramas in the following collection of great movies on Amazon Prime (and TV shows, too) associated with the genre.
Knives Out (2019)
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans
What it’s about: An esteemed Southern private investigator discovers that nothing is quite what it seems when investigating the seemingly open-and-shut case of the death of a wealthy patriarch to a dysfunctional family.
Why it’s a good option on Amazon Prime if you love a good whodunnit: Rian Johnson turns the whodunnit genre on its head with the dazzling Knives Out, which spawned a sequel called Glass Onion (available with a Netflix subscription) and has another Benoit Blanc mystery in the works called Wake Up Dead Man.
The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries (1990-1994)
Starring: Patrick Malahide, William Simons
What it’s about: The adventures of an astute chief police inspector and his trusted partner in 1940s England.
Why it’s a good option on Amazon Prime if you love a good whodunnit: Fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories will surely love The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries – a series based on the novels by Dame Ngaio Marsh.
Deadloch (2023-Present)
Starring: Kate Box, Madeleine Sami
What it’s about: A police detective-turned-sergeant is reluctantly partnered with a transplanted, unconventional sleuth to solve a murdered local.
Why it’s a good option on Amazon Prime if you love a good whodunnit: A series perfect for any detective show fan in need of a good laugh is the Amazon Prime original series, Deadloch – an Australian import from creators Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan.
Columbo (1971-1978)
Starring: Peter Falk
What it’s about: A humble homicide lieutenant investigates some of Los Angeles’ toughest cases.
Why it’s a good option on Amazon Prime if you love a good whodunnit: Similar to the best episodes of Poker Face, every episode of Columbo revealed the answer to each mystery right off the bat and the fun was seeing how the beloved detective figured it all out.
Reacher (2022-Present)
Starring: Alan Ritchson, Maria Sten
What it’s about: Aimlessly drifting from place to place, former military police officer Jack Reacher becomes embroiled in criminal investigations that benefit greatly from his skill set.
Why it’s a good option on Amazon Prime if you love a good whodunnit: With both brains and brawn, seeing author Lee Child’s title hero from the Amazon Prime original series, Reacher (which has a third season in the works) get to the bottom of complex mysteries and punish the culprits himself is wicked fun.
Marlowe (2023)
Director: Niel Jordan
Starring: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger
What it’s about: Veteran private investigator Philip Marlowe takes the case of an heiress’ missing lover in 1930s Los Angeles.
Why it’s a good option on Amazon Prime if you love a good whodunnit: Neeson fills the shoes of Raymond Chandler’s most famous mystery character in Marlowe, which is adapted from Benjamin Black’s 2014 novel, The Black-Eyed Blonde.
Dark Crimes (2018)
Director: Alexandros Avranas
Starring: Jim Carrey, Charlotte Gainsbourg
What it’s about: A Polish police detective suspects that a successful author is a murderer when details in his latest novel mirror that of his new investigation.
Why it’s a good option on Amazon Prime if you love a good whodunnit: The only thing about Dark Crimes more shocking than comedy legend Carrey’s unusually somber performance is its bleak twists and turns.
Bosch (2014-2021)
tarring: Titus Welliver, Jamie Hector
What it’s about: Los Angeles police detective Harry Bosch struggles with his own personal reputation while using old-fashioned methods to solve his cases.
Why it’s a good option on Amazon Prime if you love a good whodunnit: Welliver gives one of his best performances portraying author Michael Connelly’s famous literary detective on Bosch, which was canceled on Amazon Prime, but continued as, Bosch: Legacy, which is also available on Prime for free.
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave
What it’s about: On a train ride through Germany, a young woman tries to find a mysteriously absent elderly woman whom the other passengers claim was never on board.
Why it’s a good option on Amazon Prime if you love a good whodunnit: One of the best movies taking place on a train (let alone one of the best whodunnits set on said mode of transportation) is The Lady Vanishes, which is one of the earliest adaptations of Ethel Lina White’s short story.
Psych (2006-2014)
Starring: James Roday Rodriguez, Dulé Hill
What it’s about: The slacker son of a retired cop convinces the Santa Barbara Police Department that his photographic memory is ESP and ropes his lifelong best friend into solving crimes with him through their own private consulting business.
Why it’s a good option on Amazon Prime if you love a good whodunnit: This long-running, cleverly titled dramedy from USA is not without its intriguing mysteries but what most effectively keeps viewers in suspense is the question of how long the main crime-chasing duo from the Psych cast can maintain their clairvoyant façade.
House (2004-2012)
Starring: Hugh Laurie, Omar Epps, Lisa Edelstein
What it’s about: Arrogant medical diagnostics specialist Gregory House works to identify the rare afflictions of his patients, without letting his rocky relationship with his colleagues and personal demons get in the way.
Why it’s a good option on Amazon Prime if you love a good whodunnit: Of course, David Shore’s acclaimed medical drama is not a crime procedural but the title character of House is inspired by beloved literary detective Sherlock Holmes and his work to diagnose patients is as absorbing as any murder mystery.
What do you think, Prime members? Are these mysterious movies and suspenseful series just what a whodunnit loving Amazon subscriber’s heart desires, or do you think my selections are the real crime here?
