Nowadays, whenever we hear the term criminal, police, or investigation, the first thought that pops up in our heads are either criminal series, criminal or crime shows, or criminal movies. In the past few months, the criminal shows have gained such a boost that it has now become the most viewed shows among the viewers. The possible reason behind this can be that the true crime genre is a very interesting one.
Crime movies or shows never fail to entertain the audience to its fullest. It always makes the theme so interesting and amusing that the viewers are left awestruck and are definitely not able to divert their minds from the crime shows. Crime shows keep the suspense till the end, due to which the viewers get bound to the series in order to find the truth behind the whole plot.
Every other day a new crime show is made, and therefore, there are various crime shows which are available to watch. Now among such a vast variety available, you must be confused about which mainstream crime shows are worth watching and what you should skip. But you need not to worry. In this article, we have got some best true crime shows which are available to watch. The movies are genuinely frightening and interesting enough to keep you hooked on the show till the end.
So for all the criminal show lovers out there, this article is going to be very helpful for you all as in this article, we are going to discuss about the best true crime shows which are available to watch. In order to find such movies, keep reading the article till the end.
30. The Assassination of Gianni Versace
- Season: 2
- Episode: 9
- Director: Matt Bomer
- Writer: Andrew Cunanan
- Cast: Édgar Ramírez, Darren Criss, Ricky Martin, Penélope Cruz
- IMDb Ratings: 7.7
So starting with the list of best true crime shows, the first show that we have is a very famous American crime story show known as The Assassination of Gianni Versace.
This show is basically the second season—the first season is an American crime story itself. The show started on January 17, 2018, and ran for around two months before concluding on March 21, 2018. In this course of time, the show completed nine episodes in total.
The show is based on a crime book named Vulgar Favors, which Maureen Orth writes about. Talking about the plot, the nine-episode-long series digs deep into the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace. The expected suspect for the same is a spree killer named Andrew Cunanan.
29. Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia
- Season: 1
- Episode: 3
- Director: Sam Hobkinson
- Writer: Sam Hobkinson
- Cast: John Alite, Jim Kossler, John Joyce
- IMDb Ratings: 7.1
The next one of the best true crime shows whose streaming service is available to watch on Netflix is “Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia.” The Netflix series show started on July 22, 2020, and is a not-so-long series as it consists of only three episodes in total.
The story of the series follows the lives of five families who are dangerous Mafia. Almost everyone in the city fears the mafia families. The story’s plot is set up in New York City between the 1970s and 80s. Taking into account the terror the families have spread, a group of federal agents is given the work of taking the mafia families down.
28. Unsolved Mysteries
- Season: 15
- Episode: 593
- Director: John Cosgrove
- Writer: Terry Dunn Meurer
- Cast: Dennis Farina, Matthew McConaughey, Raymond Burr
- IMDb Ratings: 7.3
The next crime series which we have is based on a true crime and is a true crime series, Unsolved Mysteries, which is quite a long-running series.
The series started in 1987 and gained a lot of recognition from viewers. As a result, the series is still going on and is available to watch. Till now, the series consists of 15 seasons and has completed a total of 593 episodes. This is why it is one of the best-known true crime documentaries till now.
Talking about the plot, the series consists of various unsolved mysteries. The theme of the unsolved mysteries differ from each other such as unexplained American history, paranormal activities, crime stories, lost children and lost love, etc.
27. Des
- Season: 1
- Episode: 3
- Director: Lewis Arnold
- Writer: Brian Masters
- Cast: David Tennant, Dennis Nilsen, Daniel Mays
- IMDb Ratings: 7.6
The next true crime series with the best crime scene till now we have is a show, Des. The series started recently on September 14, 2020, on the platform Amazon Prime Video.
This short series, which ended just two days after its release on September 16, 2020, having a total of 3 episodes only, left a huge impact on its viewers.
The series is about a serial killer named Dennis Nilsen who freely admits that he has committed not only one or two murders but he has killed around 15-16 people till now.
26. Evil Genius
- Season: 1
- Episode: 4
- Director: Robert King
- Writer: Michelle King
- Cast: Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, Aasif Mandvi, Kurt Fuller, Marti Matulis
- IMDb Ratings: 7.7
The next true crime show, Evil Genius, is based on a true story. As the name suggests, the show is an absolutely evil one. The show started on May 11, 2018, and ran for a total of 4 episodes.
The incredible story shows that for the past many centuries, genius minds have contributed to the development of the world for the better.
But what if the genius minds work for the destruction of mankind? It results in the most twisted and outrageous crimes in the history of mankind. The series shows how America’s most diabolical bank heist used his genius mind for some evil work.
25. The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez
- Season: 1
- Episode: 6
- Director: Brian Knappenberger
- Writer: Brian Knappenberger
- Cast: William Guirola, Isauro Aguirre, Wyatt Hinz, Carson
- IMDb Ratings: 8.1
Coming onto the next show, this show is a Netflix documentary, The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez. It is one of the best true stories series made till now. The series started on February 26, 2020, and ran for a total of 6 episodes.
The documentary explores the suspicious death and murder of an eight-year-old boy leading to child abuse. The doubt goes on the boy’s guardian or the social workers; therefore, they are on the suspect list. This whole incident raises a big question about protecting small children.
24. The People vs. O.J Simpson
- Season: 1
- Episode: 10
- Director: Ryan Murphy
- Writer: Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski
- Cast: Sterling K. Brown, Kenneth Choi, Christian Clemenson, Cuba Gooding Jr.
- IMDb Ratings: 8.4
Many of you must already have heard about this spectacular crime series, The People vs. O.J. Simpson.
The show started on February 2, 2016, and ran for a total of 10 episodes. This 10-episode-long series made a great impact on its viewers.
The series is based on a book known as The Run of His Life: The People v which Jeffrey Toobin wrote. Talking about the plot, the series revolves around the murder case of O.J. Simpson and therefore leads to the Simpson trial.
23. Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel
- Season: 1
- Episode: 4
- Director: Joe Berlinger
- Writer: Joe Berlinger
- Cast: Pablo C. Vergara, Artemis Snow, Judy Ho, Tom Scorzone, Viveca Chow
- IMDb Ratings: 5.9
The next series that we have on the list is Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel. It is again a Netflix documentary that gained recognition among many of its viewers. The show started on February 10, 2021, and consisted of a total of 4 episodes with one season.
The series follows the mysterious disappearance of a guest named Elisa Lam from a very renowned hotel which is known as Cecil Hotel, based in the city of Los Angeles.
22. Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes
- Season: 1
- Episode: 4
- Director: Joe Berlinger
- Writer: Joe Berlinger
- Cast: Stephen Michaud, Bob Keppel, King County Washington
- IMDb Ratings: 7.5
The next true crime genre series with a true story that we have is Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. This series’s story is a bit disturbing as it follows a series of true crime docuseries and serial killers. The series started on January 24, 2019, and consists of a total of four episodes.
The story of the documentaries follows a number of murders, one after the other. Not only one or two murders but the suspect and criminal Ted Bundy committed a series of 30 gruesome murders one by one. All the murders that he committed were of different women. His crime came to light when some archival footage of his crimes came outside.
21. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness
- Season: 3
- Episode: 16
- Director: Eric Goode
- Writer: Rebecca Chaiklin
- Cast: Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin, Bhagavan Antle, John Finlay, Rick Kirkham
- IMDb Ratings: 7.5
The next true crime show that we have is Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness. This one of the renowned true crime shows started on March 20, 2020, and consists of a total of 3 seasons with 16 episodes.
The story of the series follows the breeding and increasing of big cats and their underworld, which is now getting populated by some eccentric characters, mainly Joseph Maldonado Passage, who is the zoo operator.
20. Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer
- Season: 1
- Episode: 4
- Director: Tiller Russell
- Writer: James Carroll
- Cast: Richard Ramirez, Gil Carrillo, Frank Salerno, Tony Valdez, Laurel Erickson
- IMDb Ratings: 7.5
The next very famous true crime series is Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer. As you can tell by the title itself, the story is about a serial killer. The series started on January 13, 2021, and had four episodes in total.
The story follows a number of murders in addition to the sexual assault of some people. The plot is set up during 1985 in Los Angeles. All of these murders do not have any common thing in them and are totally disconnected from each other.
A very talented detective, Gill Carrillo, with the help of a legendary homicide investigator Frank Salerno, is given the task of finding the murderer and stopping the heartless murder crimes that are going on.
19. When They See Us
- Season: 1
- Episode: 4
- Director: Ava DuVernay
- Writer: Ava DuVernay
- Cast: Jharrel Jerome, Asante Blackk, Jovan Adepo, Michael K. Williams, Logan Marshall-Green
- IMDb Ratings: 8.9
Coming onto the next series, we have another amazing true crime show, When They See Us. The American crime story saw its release on May 31, 2019, and had a total of 4 episodes.
The series follows the incident of 1989 in which a young man who was a jogger was assaulted sexually and wrongfully convicted by a group of people. Five young people were given the accusation for the case. The incident took place in the central park of New York.
The series shows how the case started in 1989 when the teens were questioned about the case, then how the boys went through their exoneration in 2002, and finally, when the case reached its settlement in 2014, with central park gaining its recognition back.
18. Unbelievable
- Season: 1
- Episode: 8
- Director: Susannah Grant
- Writer: Susannah Grant
- Cast: Kaitlyn Dever, Marie Adler, Toni Collette, Detective Grace Rasmussen, Merritt Wever
- IMDb Ratings: 8.4
Talking about the next series in the genre of true crime that we have is Unbelievable. The series started on September 13, 2019, and was an eight-episode long series.
The story tells us about the story of a teen who some people are raping. The teen reports the case to two police officers who are also detectives to find out the criminals and reveal the truth. As the series is based on a true event, it is being said that the accused in this case was again charged with murder shortly just after his release.
17. Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich
- Season: 1
- Episode: 4
- Director: Lisa Bryant
- Writer: Lisa Bryant
- Cast: Michael Reiter, Annie Farmer, Shawna Rivera, Alan Dershowitz, Virginia Roberts Giuffre
- IMDb Ratings: 7.1
Going on in the list, we have this series, Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich. The series started on May 27, 2020, and consisted of 4 episodes in total. The series is based on a book of the same name, which James Patterson wrote.
The plot revolves around some real-life survivors of serious sexual assault and sex offenses. The accused was known to be Jeffrey Epstein, who used his immense wealth and power to carry out these sexual offenses.
16. Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story
- Season: 2
- Episode: 16
- Director: Alexandra Cunningham
- Writer: Alexandra Cunningham
- Cast: Connie Britton, Debra Newell, Christian Slater, Dan Broderick, Eric Bana
- IMDb Ratings: 7.2
The next series that we have on our list is “Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story.” The title of the series is given from a book that had the same name. The starting date of the series is November 25, 2018, and ended on July 14, 2020, after completing two seasons and 16 episodes.
The series is set up in Southern California and follows the theme of love gone wrong. The two seasoned series tells how a happy and happening relationship can go to a devastating end. The main question that the series raises is if it’s really possible to know all of someone, even the person you love the most.
The series tells that just like a coin, every story has two sides, and things are sometimes not exactly what they seem to be. So, one should not judge anyone by listening and getting to know just one side of the story.
15. An Unexpected Killer
- Season: 3
- Episode: 28
- Director: Rob Wilson
- Writer: Rob Wilson
- Cast: Glenn Edward Gyorffy, Duncan McLellan, Karen Scora
- IMDb Ratings: 6.8
Coming onto the next series, we have a true crime series, An Unexpected Killer. The series started on December 5, 2019, and has been going on till now. The series has till now run for three seasons, and the streaming platform is Amazon Prime Video.
Just as the name suggests, the series ends up having an unexpected killer. In the series, the killer ends up going some heinous acts of killing. When an investigation of the crimes is held, the true identity of the killer who did the murder-for-hire plot comes out, and everyone is left surprised.
14. Don’t F*** With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer
- Season: 1
- Episode: 3
- Director: Mark Lewis
- Writer: Mark Lewis
- Cast: Deanna Thompson, John Green, Claudette Hamlin, Montreal Police, Antonio Paradiso
- IMDb Ratings: 8
Our next series has a little strange and different name compared to the other serial killer series. The series is named Don’t F*** With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer. The documentary started on December 18, 2019, and ran for three episodes in total.
The series takes place when some mysterious and haunting confession tapes come into the hands of a group of some online amateurs. These confession tapes launch a very risky manhunt, due to which humankind is brought into a dark underworld.
13. Mindhunter
- Season: 2
- Episode: 19
- Director: John E. Douglas
- Writer: Joe Penhall
- Cast: Jonathan Groff, Holden Ford, Holt McCallany, Bill Tench, Anna Torv, Dr. Wendy Carr
- IMDb Ratings: 8.6
The next murder show that we have is a show named Mindhunter. The series started on Netflix on October 13, 2017, and concluded on August 16, 2019, after completing two seasons and 19 episodes.
The series revolves around Holden Ford and Bill Tench. Both of them are very talented FBI agents. Their way of solving a case is a bit different as both of them dig deep into the minds of the criminals and try to solve the case by understanding the psyches of the criminals. By following this theory, they are able to think the same as the criminal, and therefore, it helps them in solving the case and gaining victory.
12. Love Fraud
- Season: 1
- Episode: 4
- Director: Heidi Ewing
- Writer: Heidi Ewing
- Cast: Jason Herrell, Steven Williams
- IMDb Ratings: 6.4
Next up, we have a murder show, Love Fraud. The highlight of this series is as it is a true crime series that is based on true events. Therefore, it was shot during an ongoing case. The show started on August 30, 2020, and ran till September 20, 2020, having one season and four episodes in total.
The series follows the search for a man named Richard Scott. The reason behind his going on a search is because he made some innocent woman fall in love with him on the internet. But after making them fall, he used and looted them for their money and dignity and disappeared.
11. The Innocence Files
- Season: 1
- Episode: 9
- Director: Barry Scheck
- Writer: Barry Scheck
- Cast: Peter Neufeld, Barry Scheck, Michael West, Gary Wells, Levon Brooks.
- IMDb Ratings: 7.9
The next series we have is “The Innocence Files.” The documentary was released on the platform of Netflix and started on April 15, 2020, with nine episodes and one season in total.
The series tells us the untold stories of eight cases that had a wrongful convictions behind them. The wrongful conviction was how the Innocence Project and the organizations related to the innocence project had covered themselves and worked to overturn it.
10. Killer Affair
- Season: 1
- Episode: 12
- Director: Sidney Lumet
- Writer: Paul Dehn
- Cast: Melissa Archer, Maxine Payton, Brandon Beemer, Nick Curtis, Marlon Aquino, Detective Sanchez, Lauralee Bell
- IMDb Ratings: 3.7
Another series that you can binge-watch without a second thought is Killer Affair. This Amazon Prime Video series started on July 11, 2019, and had a total of 12 episodes.
Talking about the plot, with the release of each episode, a new story came into play. Every episode follows a true crime and murder story and the investigation which took place to solve it. Every new episode featured different interviews with the victim’s loved ones. The series goes through various twists and turns to find the original suspect finally.
9. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark
- Season: 1
- Episode: 7
- Director: Liz Garbus
- Writer: Liz Garbus
- Cast: Patton Oswalt, Paul Haynes, Amy Ryan
- IMDb Ratings: 7.4
Our next series is “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark.” The series is an American creation with true crime and documentary as its genres. The show started on June 28, 2020, and ran for 1 season consisting of 7 episodes.
The series digs deep into the ten murders and 50 sexually assaulted cases that were committed by a person who is famous by the name of golden state killer. He terrorized and haunted the whole of California in the time between the 1970s and 1980s.
8. How to Fix a Drug Scandal
- Season: 1
- Episode: 4
- Director: Erin Lee Carr
- Writer: Erin Lee Carr
- Cast: Shannon O’Neill, Paul Solotaroff, Karl Kenzler.
- IMDb Ratings: 7
This Netflix series gained a lot of recognition from viewers and received immense love. The series is titled How to Fix a Drug Scandal. It got released on April 1, 2020, and consists of 4 episodes.
The series shows how two drug scandals and a drug lab chemist cause damage to the whole judicial system of a state and how the lines of justice get blurred for all the lawyers, state officials, and tens of thousands of persons who were imprisoned.
7. The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey
- Season: 1
- Episode: 2
- Director: Eddie Schmidt
- Writer: Eddie Schmidt
- Cast: Jim Clemente, Danny Bohnen, Ena O’Rourke.
- IMDb Ratings: 7.3
Proceeding further in the list, our next show is The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey. Though the series is just a two-episode series which got released on September 18, 2016, it deals with a very serious and mysterious case. This series lead everyone to form their own conclusions and ideas for the series.
The show follows the case where a six-year-old girl named JonBenet was found dead in the basement of her own house. Patsy Ramsey, a very innocent man and the father of Jon, found a letter in the kitchen of his house demanding a ransom of $118,000 for his daughter’s freedom. But before he could pay the ransom, his daughter was murdered by the kidnappers.
This case sought nationwide attention and was not able to get solved even after 20 years after the crime. Now, some investigators reopened the case and started their investigation with some whole new terms and theories.
6. The Keepers
- Season: 1
- Episode: 7
- Director: Ryan White
- Writer: Al Campbell
- Cast: Gemma Hoskins, Investigatoras Self, Abbie Schaub, Virginia Anzengruber
- IMDb Ratings: 8.1
Going onto the next crime show based on a true event that we have is The Keepers. The show consists of 7 episodes, and the series release date was May 19, 2017.
The plot of the show tells us about how a young 26-year-old lady nun was abducted and murdered by foul play. The murder case of Sister Catherine Cesnik remains unsolved to date, but her story is somewhat related to the horrific incident of sexual abuse of Father Joseph Maskell.
5. Accident, Suicide, Or Murder
- Season: 3
- Episode: 20
- Director: Dominik Rausch
- Writer: Dennis Zanatta
- Cast: Amanda Duarte
- IMDb Ratings: 6.5
This series, Accident, Suicide Or Murder, was one of the best releases of Amazon Prime Video and received very much love from the viewers. This 3 season series consists of 20 episodes in total.
The series revolves around firsthand accounts of crimes and murders that were a little bit too mysterious to explore. The series takes the viewers along to solve such cases and unfolds the mysteries behind them. The investigators go through each twist and turn that comes along their way to solve the mystery.
4. Wild Wild Country
- Season: 3
- Episode: 6
- Director: Maclain Way
- Writer: Chapman Way
- Cast: Ma Anand Sheela, Philip Toelkes, Jane Stork, George Meredith, Ma Prem Sunshine
- IMDb Ratings: 8.1
“Wild Wild Country” is an American documentary series based on real and true attempted murder cases. The series’ release date was March 16, 2018, and consists of 6 episodes in total.
The series is set up in a small Oregon town where a guru builds a utopian city. The construction of the city causes an outbreak of massive conflict among the people, which results in the first-ever bioterror attack taking place in the United States.
3. Making a Murderer
- Season: 1
- Episode: 20
- Director: Laura Ricciardi
- Writer: Moira Demos
- Cast: Steven Avery, Allan Avery, Dolores Avery
- IMDb Ratings: 8.6
Another superhit series released by Netflix is Making a Murderer. The 20-episode-long series’ release date was December 18, 2015.
The show tells us about the life of Steven Avery, who was imprisoned for 18 long years for an offense that he didn’t even commit. He was sent to prison on the wrong charges of sexual abuse and attempted murder case. When he got released in 2003, he murdered Teresa Halbach, due to which he was sent to prison again in 2007.
2. The Pharmacist
- Season: 1
- Episode: 4
- Director: Jenner Furst
- Writer: Julia Willoughby Nason
- Cast: Chester Sit, Chris Craddock, Indy Randhawa, Corey Loranger, Anna-Maria
- IMDb Ratings: 7.7
Talking about the next documentary, we have a series named The Pharmacist. The series’ release date was February 5, 2020, on Netflix with four episodes.
The series is set up in 1999 and follows how Dan Schneider, a pharmacist beats all the odds and sets on a mission to find his son’s killer, who got murdered in a drug-related shooting after getting no help from the police.
1. Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children
- Season: 1
- Episode: 5
- Director: Joshua Bennett
- Writer: Jeff Dupre
- Cast: Sheila Baltazar, Jim Procopio, Tony Axam, Danny Agan
- IMDb Ratings: 7.7
Last but not least, the ending series that we have on the list is this Amazon Prime Video series named Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children. The series’ release date was April 5, 2020, with five episodes.
Talking about the plot, the series deals with the abduction and murder case of 30 African and American children, which took place in just a span of 2 years—the series is set in the 1970s and the late 1980s.
