If you have an undying love for crime shows, Netflix is one of the best streaming services to subscribe to today to satisfy your craving.
From beloved police procedurals to some of the best true crime TV shows around, and even some acclaimed sci-fi TV shows with all the mystery of a detective drama, a Netflix subscription offers a vast array of different series about theft, drug-pushing, murder, and other unspeakable acts, either from the criminal’s perspective or that of the hero trailing them. We sentence you to spend as much time as you would like binging through our picks for the best crime shows on Netflix at the moment.
Breaking Bad (2008–2013)
Bryan Cranston gives a four-time Emmy-winning performance as Walter White – a terminally ill high school chemistry teacher who turns to crime to provide for his family.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: After rewatching (or discovering) the best episodes of Breaking Bad, be sure to also check out Better Call Saul, the prequel series to Vince Gilligan’s groundbreaking, hauntingly bleak hit, which is also available on Netflix, as well as the feature-length spin-off, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.
- Stream Breaking Bad on Netflix
- Stream Better Call Saul on Netflix
- Stream El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie on Netflix
Tiger King (2020-2021)
The story of controversial animal park owner Joe Exotic and his involvement in a bizarre assassination case.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: The insane story of Tiger King made the Netflix docuseries a wild phenomenon in 2020, spawning a second season.
Killing Eve (2018-2022)
An MI5 security officer (played by Sandra Oh) is assigned to tail a dangerous assassin (played by Jodie Comer), but things turn dicey when they both start to fall for each other.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: From creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Killing Eve is a deliciously unique, romantic, and darkly comic Emmy-winning thriller.
Narcos (2015-2017)
A stylized inside look at the criminal enterprises of history’s most notorious drug lords and those who investigated their exploits.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: One of the best Pedro Pascal TV shows is Narcos – a captivating true crime drama that spawned the spin-off, Narcos: Mexico, in 2018.
Prison Break (2005-2017)
Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) gets himself into prison in order to rescue his older brother, Lincoln (Dominic Purcell), who has been wrongfully charged with murdering the Vice President’s brother.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: From creator Paul T. Scheuring, Prison Break is an arresting, edge-of-your-seat thriller anchored by the riveting performances of its main leads.
Unsolved Mysteries (2020-Present)
Firsthand accounts of bizarre, unexplainable cases, ranging from horrifying disappearances to enduring urban legends.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Netflix’s reboot of the long-running hit docuseries, Unsolved Mysteries, deals with some of the scariest and most perplexing stories in its history.
Monk (2002-2009)
Widowed former detective Adrian Monk (Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub) continues to use his brilliant investigation skills as a police consultant while struggling to not let his obsessive-compulsive tendencies get in the way.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Shalhoub leads the Monk cast with a maddeningly unique performance in the title role of the cleverly crafted and often hilarious crime procedural.
Ozark (2017-2022)
A financial advisor from Chicago (played by Jason Bateman) moves his wife (played by Laura Linney) and children to the Ozarks of Missouri as part of an elaborate money laundering scheme for a ruthless drug lord.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Winner of four Emmy Awards (three of which went to Julia Garner as Ruth Langmore), creators Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams’ Ozark is a show often compared to Breaking Bad for the captivatingly twisted ways it tells a story about ordinary people who find themselves in way over their heads in the criminal lifestyle.
Good Girls (2018-2022)
Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman play a group of suburban moms who decide to take huge risks to cure their financial woes.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: NBC’s Good Girls is a show similar to Netflix’s The Gentlemen, in the sense that it tells a humorous story about average people who fall into a life of crime.
Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022)
Jeffrey Dahmer (Emmy nominee Evan Peters) indulges in a horrifying crime spree, murdering and eating many young men.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Co-creator Ryan Murphy’s most unsettling foray into true crime yet, Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, would spawn another season that focuses on the Menendez Brothers that premiered on Netflix in September 2024.
Altered Carbon (2018-2020)
In a futuristic society where consciousness can be digitized, a prisoner wakes up in a new body (played by Joel Kinnaman) and with a new task to solve the murder of a recently resurrected businessman (played by James Purefoy).
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: In its second season, Anthony Mackie played the new body of the lead hero from Altered Carbon, which is also considered one of the best sci-fi TV shows on Netflix for its fascinating cyberpunk concept and astonishing production design.
Criminal (2019-2020)
An intense game of cat-and-mouse between the hunter and the hunted (the cop and con), all taking place within the confines of a police interrogation room.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Technically an anthology TV show but, more accurately, a group of four series that each take place in a different interrogation room in a different country (United Kingdom, Spain, France, and Germany), Criminal is guaranteed to present you with some of the most pulse-pounding conversations you have ever seen.
Dexter (2006-2013)
Police forensics expert Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) lives a double life as a serial killer who specializes in ridding Miami of worse criminals than himself.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Usually the object of crime shows is to get the viewer to root against murderers but Hall’s Emmy-nominated lead performance in the Dexter cast has you fully invested in the homicidal hero’s bloody exploits.
Longmire (2012-2017)
A widowed Wyoming sheriff (played by Robert Taylor) channels his grief into his battle against crime in his county.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Fans of the best Western movies on Netflix will surely also get a kick out of Longmire – a modern-day tale of an old-school lawman based on a series of novels by Craig Johnson.
Lucifer (2016-2021)
Tom Ellis plays Lucifer Morningstar (a.k.a. Satan), who decides to take human form and take a job as a consultant for the LAPD, where he helps punish the world’s sinners in a new kind of way.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: One of the most entertaining combinations of the crime fiction genre with supernatural elements is Lucifer, which is on fire with its charismatic portrayal of the Prince of Darkness that only heightens the appeal of its procedural format.
Mindhunter (2017-2019)
Two FBI agents (played by Holt McCallany and Jonathan Groff) develop a then-controversial method of psychological and criminal profiling by interviewing the most infamous killers of the 1970s.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Producer David Fincher, the legendary director of thrillers such as Seven and Zodiac, takes the helm of several episodes Mindhunter – a bold exploration into the once unprecedented concept of thinking like a bad guy to and essential viewing for true crime junkies.
Making A Murderer (2015-2018)
This docuseries follows the criminal record of Steven Avery, a man who spent years in prison for a sexual assault crime he did not commit, only to be accused of murder two years after his release.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: The Emmy-winning Making a Murderer sets out not only to inform viewers of Avery’s trial but make a case for his innocence and expose corruption within the United States criminal justice system.
Do you love our list of the best crime shows on Netflix, or do you think it is grounds for arrest?
