7 Best Mystery Series On Prime Video
Zach Moser has been writing for ScreenRant since 2022, covering movies, classic TV, and streaming TV. His areas of expertise cover a wide range of genres with a particular interest in horror and drama, and the conversations around the TV and film industry. When he's not covering the latest film releases or chronicling the latest season of a new show, he's writing humor pieces for McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Slackjaw, and Points In Case or working on short stories and his second novel.
Thanks to the wide range of networks Amazon Prime Video can access, it has a big library of mystery TV shows, both original series and licensed content. The mystery genre has been a popular one since the 19th century, when mystery novels started to get popular thanks to Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, and Arthur Conan Doyle.
Since then, mystery fiction has continued to delight, with television being an easy way for people to access puzzling, thrilling, and revelatory stories. Prime Video has a lot of detective mysteries in its library but also utilizes the mystery genre in a few other ways. Here are seven of the best on the service.
Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989-2013)
Agatha Christie's Poirot is a series that first premiered on ITV in 1989, based on Agatha Christie's beloved mystery series centered on private investigator Hercule Poirot, played by David Suchet in the show. The series ran for 13 seasons, finally coming to an end in 2013, with some lengthy pauses in between seasons.
Every one of the 70 episodes is based on one of Christie's short stories or novels, and the series effectively adapted every one of Christie's Poirot-focused stories. Suchet's performance as Poirot is generally considered one of the best versions of the character ever put on screen.
The series focuses hard on the intricacies of the crimes of each episode. There aren't the probing, psychological examinations that you find in modern detective shows, which can, when done incorrectly, feel overwrought. It's the definition of a definitive adaptation and a must-watch for any fan of Christie.
Luther (2010-2019)
Idris Elba stars as the titular detective in Luther, DCI John Luther. Luther is a detective in the Serious Crime Unit and is seriously committed to his job. Willing to use any tool at his disposal to solve a case, he epitomizes the saying, "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster."
Luther ran for five seasons, with a long hiatus between seasons 4 and 5, and the show was capped off with a film, Luther: The Fallen Sun in 2023, though there may be another Luther film coming. The series goes in some surprising directions over the years, with Luther entering a relationship with crime in inadvisable ways.
It's one of Elba's best roles, and he holds the center of the series with control. Everything revolves around the actor, and he's more than capable of using the opportunity to make something magical. It's a grim and gritty series, but the writing and storytelling are strong enough that the tone never grates.
Hidden is a 2018 Welsh series that debuted on S4C, a Welsh-language channel to match the Welsh language used frequently in the series. It was originally titled Craith, which means "scar" in Welsh. The three-season series aired on both S4C and BBC Four until its finale in 2021.
Sian Reese-Williams stars as DI Cadi John, a former soldier who leads an investigation into the murder of a missing woman found in the woods in the first season. With her partner, DS Owen Vaughan (Siôn Alun Davies), the pair solve several grisly crimes that occur near their hometown.
Hidden is a dark, bilingual thriller, more in common with Nordic-noir than the British detective shows it's no doubt pulling from. It's a confident series that understands its limitations and its strengths and works to take advantage of the things it can do well, resulting in an unusual and highly compelling mystery series.
Three Pines (2022)
Alfred Molina stars in Three Pines, a one-season mystery series that premiered in 2022 and was sadly canceled shortly after. It's still very much worth watching, however. Based upon the novels by Louise Penny, Three Pines follows Chief Inspector Armand Gamache (Molina) of the Québécois police force, the Sûreté du Québec.
Gamache is a talented detective who investigates three murders in the idyllic Canadian village of Three Pines. Along with these murders, which unearth some unpleasant realities of the town, Gamache also investigates an old cold case regarding the disappearance of an indigenous woman who haunts him in his dreams.
A classic mystery story with a dark fairy-tale setting, Three Pines takes its time and develops a macabre and sad atmosphere that permeates every conversation and every revelation. It's a bit more sinister of a mystery than the genre usually produces, helping it stand out in the crowded field.
Outer Range (2022-2024)
Outer Range is Prime Video's mashup of science fiction and mystery storytelling, and it works very well. The two-season series stars Josh Brolin as Royal Abbott, the owner of the Abbott ranch in Wyoming, who is fighting a hostile takeover of his land that is threatening to overcome him.
One day, while walking his land, Royal finds what appears to be a mysterious black void in the middle of his land. Out of the hole comes Autumn (Imogen Poots), a mysterious woman who appears to know more about the void than she's letting on and brings Royal into a dizzying conspiracy.
The series is filled with subplots and secrets to gnaw on as the main mysteries begin to unfurl. It's an utterly unique mashup of science fiction, Western, and mystery storytelling. There's little else like it on television, and though it was canceled after two seasons, they still make for a satisfying watch.
The Devil's Hour (2022-Present)
The Devil's Hour is an ongoing British mystery drama starring Peter Capaldi as Gideon Shepherd and Jessica Raine as Lucy Chambers. Lucy is a social worker who has been waking up every night at 3:33 AM after experiencing repeated, terrifying visions. She begins to suspect something is seriously wrong.
Gideon is a serial killer who is approached by Lucy after her name becomes associated with several murders. Though Lucy believes she's never met Gideon, Gideon reveals he's met Lucy many times over, and he needs her help in order to avoid an even greater catastrophe.
Capaldi and Raine are well-matched, and their distrust of one another transforms into a fascinating chemistry. The Devil's Hour is a supernatural series with all the confusion and strangeness that comes from that, but it never loses sight of the compelling mystery story at the center.
Young Sherlock (2026-Present)
Prime's Young Sherlock is a recent hit for the streamer. Developed by Peter Harness and Guy Ritchie, Young Sherlock is inspired by Andrew Lane's book series Young Sherlock Holmes and stars Hero Fiennes Tiffin as an unruly, 19-year-old Sherlock Holmes, just beginning an amateur career as an investigator.
Set at Oxford University, where Holmes has recently begun attending, Young Sherlock explores the early life of the popular detective, including his budding friendship with future arch-enemy James Moriarty (Dónal Finn). A murder at his college ropes Sherlock into a world-spanning crisis.
As an adaptation of an adaptation, Young Sherlock doesn't try too hard to adhere to Arthur Conan Doyle's story, and in that freedom the Prime Video mystery can get as creative as it wants. It has the mystery of Doyle's works combined with the sleek style and clever writing of Ritchie, and the chemistry between Harness and Finn is top-notch.
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