Television series

Death and Other Details

A locked-room murder mystery aboard a luxury ocean liner that pairs a brilliant amateur sleuth with the world's greatest detective—who happens to despise her. Stylish, puzzle-box plotting with genuine chemistry between mismatched partners. For anyone who loves Agatha Christie mechanics wrapped in contemporary sensibility and glamorous settings.

TVMaze rating2.8

If you liked this

Only Murders in the Building2021

Three unlikely friends solve murders in their apartment building with the same locked-room puzzle logic and witty banter between characters who'd rather not work together. Sharp writing, great chemistry, genuinely clever mystery construction.

But The humor sometimes undercuts tension, and later seasons lose focus on the central mystery in favor of character tangents that don't always land.

Only Murders in the Building poster

See How They Run2022

A 1950s Hollywood locked-room murder mystery with the same DNA: two detectives (one world-weary, one earnest) solving a crime among glamorous suspects. Clever, funny, gorgeously shot, and genuinely puzzling.

But It wraps up in two hours, so if you're hungry for episodic mystery unspooling, the brevity might feel abrupt.

See How They Run poster

Knives Out2019

A masterclass in mystery plotting where an eccentric detective (Daniel Craig, having visible fun) unpicks a family murder among the wealthy and suspicious. Layered, genuinely funny, and the mechanics of the puzzle are immaculate.

But If you know the twist, rewatching loses some magic. And it's a one-off film, not an ongoing series.

Knives Out poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Death and Other Details

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Riverdale2017

Both use a central mystery to force characters who despise each other into partnership, and both understand that the puzzle matters less than what it reveals about who people are.

A locked-town mystery where the murder of a teenager fractures a friend group across seasons, forcing them into unwilling partnerships. Suspects pile up, loyalties shift, and the mystery deepens beyond the initial crime. It's melodrama as mystery engine.

But Lurid, over-the-top, and revels in darkness rather than cleverness. The show gets increasingly baroque and uninterested in rational explanations.

Riverdale poster
More like this (8)

The Owl House2020

An animated series with mystery-box plotting across seasons, mismatched-partner dynamics, and the same blend of humor and genuine stakes. The character work is exceptional and the world-building rewards close attention.

But It's animated and teen-skewing, so if you need live-action sophistication and adult casts, this won't scratch that itch.

The Owl House poster

Poker Face2023

Rian Johnson's anthology series where each episode is a locked-room mystery with a clever protagonist outwitting suspects. Stylish, inventive, and every single episode delivers a satisfying puzzle solved with character insight.

But Episodic mysteries mean no ongoing narrative or character arcs—each story ends, and you move on. If you need continuity, this is deliberately stand-alone.

Poker Face poster

The Miniaturist2017

A period mystery series set in 17th-century Amsterdam where clues arrive in miniature form and secrets nest within secrets. Atmospheric, gorgeously designed, and genuinely unsettling.

But The pacing is glacial and the payoff divides viewers—some find it haunting, others frustratingly vague.

The Miniaturist poster

And Then There Were None2015

Agatha Christie's masterpiece adapted with restraint and style. Ten strangers on an island, a hidden killer, and no escape. The purest locked-room mystery in television form.

But It's a miniseries with a fixed endpoint and no franchise potential. If you need ongoing storytelling, this satisfies completely but then ends.

And Then There Were None poster

Murder on the Orient Express2017

Kenneth Branagh's lush remake of Christie's train mystery—essentially a locked-room with suspects, secrets, and an obsessive detective. Gorgeous cinematography and a puzzle that genuinely works.

But At two-and-a-half hours, it's bloated for what it is. Some love the visual excess; others find it indulgent.

Murder on the Orient Express poster

Scream Queens2015

A mystery-driven slasher where suspects accumulate and secrets matter. The identity of the killer is genuinely mysterious, and character relationships drive the tension as much as the plot.

But Heavy on gore and graphic violence, which is the entire point but won't appeal if you want mystery without brutality.

Scream Queens poster

Memories of Murder2003

Like Death and Other Details, it's built on the tension between two detectives with incompatible approaches forced into collaboration—but here the collaboration is tragic rather than witty, and the mystery deliberately resists solution.

Bong Joon-ho's masterpiece is a murder mystery set in 1980s Korea where two detectives of clashing methods hunt a serial killer. Procedural and character study intertwined, with genuine dread underneath dark comedy.

But It's a slow-burn Korean crime film in subtitles that ends ambiguously and refuses catharsis. Not a puzzle to be solved cleanly.

Memories of Murder poster

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery2022

Both are mysteries that celebrate the mechanism itself—the pleasure of a puzzle fairly constructed where the reader could theoretically solve it first. Glass Onion proves a second-time mystery about deception, much like Death and Other Details' ocean liner.

A new mystery ensemble on a private island where a billionaire gathers suspects and the locked-room logic multiplies across perspectives. Funnier and more ambitious than the first, with layered reveals and genuine surprise.

But If you haven't seen the original Knives Out, this won't land as intended. It requires prior knowledge and actively rewards recognition of callbacks.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery poster

People

Cast

Writing

Production

Recommended by