If you’re looking for something escapist to watch and have already binged the likes of Death in Paradise, Midsomer Murders and Grantchester, we’re here to provide you with a bit of inspiration. We’ve done our fair share of searching (and watching!) to find the best-kept-secret cosy crime dramas that have probably passed you by – and our shortlist is rather brilliant, if we do say so ourselves.
From the new Death in Paradise (thank you, Darby and Joan) to Emilia’s Fox’s Italy-set series, Signore Volpe, and Ashley Jensen’s wondrous performance as an amateur sleuth, we’ve got a cosy crime drama to please just about everyone. So, armchair detectives at the ready, as these are the 8 best-kept-secret cosy crime dramas to watch now on ITV, Netflix, the BBC and more.
The Brokenwood Mysteries
Midsomer Murders fans will enjoy this New Zealand-set series, which introduces us to unlikely crime-solving duo, Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd (Neill Rea) and Detective Kristin Sims (Fern Sutherland). Mike has moved to Brokenwood for a quieter life, but that’s not exactly what he gets. The pair team up to investigate everything from vineyard deaths to local scandals, stag party disappearances and more. Everything you want from a cosy crime series. Available to watch now on U.
Darby and Joan
Enter the new Death in Paradise… sort of. We’re swapping the Caribbean island of Saint Marie for the Australian Outback where widowed nurse Joan Kirkhope (Greta Scacchi) and ex-detective Jack Darby (Bryan Brown) are drawn into a series of mysteries – by total chance, Joan is on a mission to learn the truth about her late husband’s mysterious death while retired policeman Jack is hitting the open road to escape his sedentary life. But it's not long before their worlds collide and they realise two crime-solving minds are better than one. Available to watch now on U.
Signora Volpe
You’ll likely know Emilia Fox from her hit BBC crime drama, Silent Witness, but you’re probably less familiar with her role as disillusioned spy-turned-detective Sylvia Fox. When Sylvia visits Italy to attend her niece’s wedding, she finds herself caught up in a puzzling murder case involving the groom - and her passion for solving crime in the Italian countryside is awakened. Two brilliantly absorbing series are available to watch now, with a third on the way. Available to watch now on U.
Agatha Raisin
Ashley Jensen as an amateur sleuth? TV gold. This quirky crime series is based on author M.C. Beaton novels and stars Jensen as the London PR executive who starts a new life in the Cotswolds. Her fresh start is interrupted somewhat by the fact that she becomes a suspect in a murder case and, in order to clear her name, takes it upon herself to solve the mystery herself. The setting is gorgeous, the crimes are original and Jensen’s performance is an easy 10/10. Available to watch now on Acorn TV via Prime Video.
Shakespeare & Hathaway – Private Investigators
This underrated crime drama first aired on the BBC in 2018 and it’s now five series deep, with another on the way. At the centre of it are hardboiled ex-cop Frank Hathaway (Mark Benton) and warm-hearted ex-hairdresser Lu Shakespeare (Jo Joyner), the delightfully mismatched private investigators whose adventures keep us well as truly hooked. Along with their assistant Sebastian Brudenell (Patrick Walshe McBride), the pair work the cobbled streets of Stratford-upon-Avon, solving baffling cases and murders most foul. Available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
McDonald & Dodds
Lauren McDonald (Tala Gouveia) is wildly ambitious while DS Dodds (Jason Watkins) is the shy and retiring type, and yet they’re equally good at solving crimes. We meet the pair in the historic city of Bath where it seems there’s an awful lot of crime – and not your average kind. Think a hot air balloon death, the murder of an absconder from a local rehab clinic and a girls’ weekend gone very wrong. It’s worth investing some time in this one as there’s four series to work your way through. Available to watch now on ITVX.
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
What do you do if you wake up on your 60th birthday with a desire to become a private investigator? Become one, of course. That’s what Henrietta “Hetty” Wainthropp does, anyway, and with the assistant of a teenager called Geoffrey (Dominic Monaghan) and her husband Robert (Derek Benfield), it turns out she’s pretty good at it. The drama ran for four series on the BBC from 1996 to 1998 and proves that, even with all the new shows on offer, the classics are still the best. Available to watch now on BBC iPlayer
7 Women and a Murder
The title of this Netflix drama gives the game away – seven women are trapped in a mansion and must solve a murder. The victim is Marcello (Luca Pastorelli) and the women, including his wife, Margherita (Margherita Buy), daughter Caterina (Benedetta Porcaroli) and mother-in-law Rachele (Ornella Vanoni), are all closely connected to him in some way. The question is – can they find the murderer without putting themselves in more danger, and what exactly was the killer’s motive? Available to watch now on Netflix.
