When it comes to watching crime TV shows, Netflix is one of the best streaming services to subscribe to today to find some of the most clever, engrossing, and chilling series around. There is plenty of evidence on the platform to show for it.
Not only does the streamer have your common police procedural and acclaimed true crime TV shows available, but also some great sci-fi TV shows and a few of the best comedy TV shows on Netflix fall under that category. Let’s sift through all of the best criminally entertaining (or unsettling) series that a Netflix subscription grants you, below.
The Blacklist (2013-2023)
Starring: James Spader, Megan Boone
What it’s about: An elusive criminal mastermind turns himself in and offers his expertise to a new FBI profiler.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Created by Jon Bokenkamp, the Emmy-winning The Blacklist was one of NBC’s most unique crime procedurals, making a villainous character into a surprisingly likable hero.
Peaky Blinders (2013-2022)
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Paul Anderson
What it’s about: The rise of a fierce, notorious crime family in early 1900s England.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Creator Stephen Knight’s addictive period drama, Peaky Blinders, has a movie spin-off in the works, which is coming to Netflix at some point.
The Sinner (2017-2021)
Starring: Bill Pullman, Jessica Biel
What it’s about: Detective Harry Ambrose uses his pristine investigative skills and unique empathy to get into the heads of people accused of unusual crimes.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Originally developed by Derek Simonds as a miniseries adaptation of Peter Hammesfahr’s novel, The Sinner evolved into an absorbing quasi-seasonal anthology TV show centered around Bill Pullman’s character.
American Vandal (2017-2018)
Starring: Tyler Alvarez, Griffin Gluck
What it’s about: A teenager records his investigations into two different crude high school pranks
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Creators Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda’s hilarious mockumentary satire, American Vandal, is a must-watch for fans of the true crime docuseries it pokes fun at, as it is, surprisingly, about as engrossing as they are.
Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story (2024)
Starring: Cooper Koch, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Javier Bardem, Chloë Sevigny
What it’s about: Two adult brothers conspire to kill their parents.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Serving as a follow-up to Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story offers an intriguing inside look at the titular siblings’ trial and reasons for their horrific crime.
Unbelievable (2019)
Starring: Toni Collette, Merritt Wever, Kaitlyn Dever
What it’s about: Two FBI agents search for the truth when a teenage girl is accused of falsifying her sexual assault allegation.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Based on the maddening true story of Marie Adler, the eight-episode limited series, Unbelievable, is one of the best Kaitlyn Dever TV shows and boasts one of her strongest performances yet.
Kaleidoscope (2023)
Starring: Giancarlo Esposito, Rufus Sewell
What it’s about: Six criminals team up to pull off a historical heist that becomes plagued by betrayal.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: In addition to being inspired by a true crime, Kaleidoscope is an interesting watch for its non-linear structure, allowing the viewer to consume all nine episodes in whatever order they choose.
Breaking Bad (2008–2013)
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul
What it’s about: 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)
Featuring: Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin
What it’s about: 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)
Starring: Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer
What it’s about: An MI5 security officer is assigned to tail a dangerous assassin, 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)
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Wagner Moura
What it’s about: 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)
Starring: Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell
What it’s about: Michael Scofield gets himself sent to prison in order to rescue his older brother, Lincoln, 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)
Featuring: Various
What it’s about: 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.
Ozark (2017-2022)
Starring: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Julia Garner
What it’s about: 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, creators Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams’ Ozark is a show often compared to Breaking Bad for its captivatingly twisted story about ordinary people in way over their heads in the criminal lifestyle.
Good Girls (2018-2022)
Starring: Christina Hendricks, Retta, Mae Whitman
What it’s about: A group of suburban moms 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)
Starring: Evan Peters, Richard Jenkins
What it’s about: Jeffrey Dahmer indulges in a horrifying crime spree, murdering 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 is Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which received multiple Emmy nominations and earned Peters a Golden Globe for his unnerving performance.
Altered Carbon (2018-2020)
Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Anthony Mackie
What it’s about: In a futuristic society where consciousness can be digitized, a prisoner wakes up in a new body a new task to solve the murder of a recently resurrected businessman.
Why it is one of the best crime shows on Netflix: Altered Carbon is also considered one of the best sci-fi TV shows on Netflix for its fascinating cyberpunk themes, astonishing production design, and bold choice of recasting its lead character with a new actor between seasons to honor its concept.
Criminal (2019-2020)
Starring: Various
What it’s about: 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: Criminal, a group of four series that each take place in a different interrogation room in a different country (United Kingdom, Spain, France, and Germany), is guaranteed to present you with some of the most pulse-pounding conversations you have ever seen.
Dexter (2006-2013)
Starring: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter
What it’s about: Police forensics expert Dexter Morgan 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)
Starring: Robert Taylor, Katee Sackhoff
What it’s about: A widowed Wyoming sheriff 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)
Starring: Tom Ellis, Lauren German
What it’s about: Lucifer Morningstar (a.k.a. Satan) decides to take human form and work as an LAPD consultant and help 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)
Starring: Holt McCallany, Jonathan Groff, Anna Torv
What it’s about: Two FBI agents 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 of Mindhunter – a bold exploration into the once unprecedented concept of thinking like a bad guy to catch them, and essential viewing for true crime junkies.
Making A Murderer (2015-2018)
Featuring: Steven Avery
What it’s about: 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?
