The best mystery series of 2025; From “Department Q” to “Black Rabbit”

Mystery series have always been popular, not only because of suspense and excitement, but mostly because they take us to the heart of the darkest layers of the human psyche and raise the most complex moral questions. These works often begin with a crime or shocking event, but it soon becomes clear that it’s not just about finding the culprit. But what are the best crime and mystery series of 2025?

The charm of these series is not limited to the cat and mouse game between two characters or sudden twists. These works use mystery to talk about society, power, corruption, class, and other complex themes. 2025 has been a good year for the genre, with some of the best mystery series in recent years, works that are likely to please fans.

The best mystery series of 2025 that you must see

10- Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue

• Developer: Anthony Horowitz
• Number of episodes: 6
• Actors: Eric McCormack, David Ayala, Lydia Wilson, Adam Long, Peter Gaudiot, Olavier Dari Olafsson
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 6.3 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 88 out of 100

“Nine Bodies in a Mexican Mortuary” was originally supposed to be released in the form of 5-10 minute episodes on the Quibi service, but it ended up being a 6-part mini-series. The story is about 10 strangers whose plane crashes in northern Mexico. As the survivors struggle to survive, they face a more terrifying crisis; A serial killer is among them. From the beginning, when the bodies are taken to the morgue, we know that nine people were killed, but why and how?

This series by Anthony Horowitz is actually a second rate slasher with a washed out look. The creators have tried to revive the mysterious feeling of “Lost” and although they do not succeed in this field, the series is highly addictive and entertaining. The clever narrative structure of the series should not be overlooked either, we see the ending first and then everything goes backwards to heighten our curiosity. So we are no longer just looking for “who will survive?”; We want to discover the how and why of these events.

In an era where TV dramas take themselves too seriously, “Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue” tries out different ideas; All these ideas have not worked, but the efforts of the creators should be admired. Despite its obvious weaknesses, Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue remains one of the best mystery series of 2025; It begins charmingly and ends shockingly.

9- I, Jack Wright

• Developer: Chris Lang
• Number of episodes: 6
• Actors: Nikki Amuka-Bird, Gemma Jones, Zoe Tepper, Ruby Ashburn Serkis, Harry Lloyd, Liz Kingsman, Rakhi Thackerar
• ARating of IMDb users to the movie: 7.1 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 100 out of 100

“I, Jack Wright” is actually the crime-mystery version of “Succession”. It all begins with the shocking suicide of Jack Wright (Torre Eve), a wealthy businessman. But the family’s grief quickly gives way to anger, as the will-reading session reveals that Jack has completely disinherited his third wife, Sally (Nikki Amuka-Bird), and his two sons, Gary and John. While Sally is legally challenging the will, a shocking discovery by Inspector Morgan (Harry Lloyd) upends the situation: Jack Wright didn’t commit suicide, he was murdered.

Here, Chris Lang once again shows off his ability to create enigmatic works. “I, Jack Wright” is an exciting and touching drama and draws us to the end to know the secrets of the Wright family. The trump card of the series is the acting team; Especially Nikki Amuka-Bird as Sally Wright, a woman who is emotionally vulnerable but whose next steps no one can predict.

“I, Jack Wright” also uses the “interview” technique; In fact, we see conversations with the characters and they add new details to the story and give us clues. But “I, Jack Wright” is not a simple murder mystery series, it tries to be deeper and is a study of how far people will go to protect their secrets. We’ve had many mystery works about troubled rich families, luckily Chris Lang’s doesn’t disappear among them and has something to say.

8- Everything is her fault (All Her Fault)

• Developer: Megan Gallagher
• Number of episodes: 8
• Actors: Sarah Snook, Jake Lacy, Dakota Fanning, Jay Ellis, Abby Elliott, Duke McCloud, Sophia Lillis, Michael Peña
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 7.6 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 78 out of 100

“It’s All His Fault” is one of those miniseries where the dramatic weight rests, more than anything else, on the shoulders of its lead actor, and Sarah Snoke rises to the challenge admirably. Rather than relying on dialogue or narrative twists, the series relies on the subtleties of his acting: subtle shifts in gaze, voice tremors, calculated pauses, and facial expressions that teeter on the edge of controlled collapse. In many moments, it’s Snoke’s face that drives the story, not the script.

The story starts out simple, but it soon descends into the abyss of anxiety and mistrust. Marissa (Sarah Snook), a prosperous woman who seems to be in control of her life, goes to pick up her son Milo at the address provided by Jenny (Dakota Fanning); The address is supposed to be the house of one of his son’s friends. But this is where the nightmare begins: no family with that name lives in that house. Milo’s disappearance is not just a personal crisis; Gradually, like a deep crack, it splits the different layers of Merissa’s life; From his family relationships and social status to the image he had of control and security.

“It’s all his fault” has a good rhythm and manages to maintain suspense in most parts. The audience is constantly kept in a state of doubt: who is telling the truth? What is hidden? And whether there is a single truth or not. However, it cannot be denied that the series suffers from emotional repetition in parts; Some inflammatory situations are presented again with little changes, and this issue sometimes reduces their emotional impact. But this relative weakness is not so decisive against the overall strength of the work and Snook’s game.

7- Murdaugh: Death in the Family

• Developer: Michael D. Fuller
• Number of episodes: 8
• Actors: Jason Clarke, Patricia Arquette, Johnny Berchtold, Will Harrison, Gerald McRaney, Brittany Snow, Jane Smith-Cameron
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 7.2 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 69 out of 100

This series, which has not been seen much, follows the multi-year process of the Mordaf family’s collapse; A path that begins with a fatal boat accident in 2019 driven by the family’s son, Paul Mordoff (Johnny Berchtold). The father, Alex Mordoff (Jason Clarke), uses his immense legal clout to protect his son until a bigger disaster strikes.

Based on a true story, this series features a stunning performance by Jason Clarke. Clark, with a different make-up, has well displayed the duality of Alex Mordoff’s character; A man who does magic with his words one moment in the court and the next moment he is in the abyss of addiction and hangover. Opposite him, Patricia Arquette is strangely impressive as his wife Maggie. Arquette adds a human and tragic dimension to the story by playing the role of a woman who is “conditioned to accept a narcissistic, anti-social man.”

“Mardaf: A Death in the Family” is undoubtedly one of the best series of 2025; A portrait of greed, cruelty and corruption; The events that the members of the Mordaf family did are unbelievable, but they really happened, and after watching the series, you will probably think about how far people are willing to sink into darkness.

6- Black Rabbit

• Developer: Zach Beilein
• Number of episodes: 8
• Actors: Jude Law, Jason Bateman, Cleopatra Coleman, Troy Katser, Chris Coe, Dagmara Dominczyk, Abby Lee Kershaw
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 7.3 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 67 out of 100

Starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman, Black Rabbit is clearly inspired by 70s New York thrillers like The French Connection. The story is about Jake (Jude Law), the successful owner of the Black Rabbit Restaurant and Club. Jake, who is having a good time, is disturbed by the sudden return of his troublesome brother, Vince (Jason Bateman). Vince is a gambler who escaped after a botched robbery and now owes a dangerous man $140,000.

The thriller Black Rabbit moves forward, but at the same time it cares about its characters and is constantly trying to dissect them. The secret of the success of the series should be the chemistry between Jude Law and Jason Bateman. Jude Law, as always, impresses us with his charisma, and Jason Bateman, who is more famous for his comedy roles, has a shocking and completely different performance here.

If you are interested in neo-noir works, “Black Rabbit” is one of the best options among the series of 2025; A work that constantly keeps us in anxiety and deals with themes such as self-destruction and moral decline. “Black Rabbit” is well made and has an acceptable ending.

5- Task

• Developer: Brad Inglesby
• Number of episodes: 7
• Actors: Mark Ruffalo, Tom Pelfrey, Emilia Jones, Fabian Frankel, Toso Ambedo, Raul Castillo, Owen Teague, Martha Plimpton
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 8 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 96 out of 100

Brad Inglesby, who proved his ability to tell gritty, character-driven stories with The Easttowner, takes a similar realistic approach in Task Force. The story begins with Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo), an FBI agent whose past is as heavy as his cases. Brandeis is a man who has failed both in his personal life and in trying to maintain order in a cruel world. The murder of his wife by his stepson is a wound that not only has not healed, but also affects his every decision and reaction. That Tom used to be a priest is an important detail that the series cleverly uses: a man who once dealt with faith and morality is now in a position where he has to deal with violence, lies and moral compromises every day.

The mission of Brandis and his small team seems simple on the surface: to stop a group of armed robbers who attack the houses of drug dealers wearing masks. But the series soon shows that this case is not just a police chase. “Task Force” consciously stays away from flashy action and focuses on drama and characters. The violence in this series is not quick and shocking; It’s often slow, tedious, and draining. This approach causes the feeling of suffocation to gradually form; The series does not let you breathe easy.

“Task Force” has certain things to say about structural violence, the failure of supportive institutions, and the psychological cost of law enforcement, but its great point is that it doesn’t impose these messages in a rhetorical or direct way. The series prefers to create situations and let the audience come to their own conclusions. Moral judgment comes not from the language of dialogues, but from the heart of choices and their consequences.

“Workgroup” is a bitter, character-oriented and human mini-series. If you like dramas that keep you engaged while entertaining, Task Force is one of the best mystery series of 2025. And if you haven’t seen “Mirr of Easttown” yet, watching it can be a good supplement to better understand Brad Inglesby’s intellectual path and worldview.

4- The Better Sister

• Developer: Olivia Milch
• Number of episodes: 8
• Actors: Jessica Biel, Elizabeth Banks, Corey Stoll, Kim Dickens, Matthew Modine, Lorraine Toussaint
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 7 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 71 out of 100

This series, which was developed based on the best-selling novel of the same name written by Alafir Burke, is actually the product of the collaboration of two famous actors, Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks, who are both executive producers behind the project. The story is about Chloe (Jessica Biel), a successful magazine editor in Manhattan who seems to have it all: a successful career, a luxurious life and a faithful husband. This perfect showcase is shattered when his wife is brutally murdered.

“Better Sister”, which may remind you of works such as “Big Little Lies”, is an engaging drama that wants to explore concepts such as sisterhood – and volatile family relationships – through a complex mystery. As expected, the series is based on the harmonious play of Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks; If it wasn’t for friendship and enmity under the skin and chemistry between these two, almost a large part of the charm of the series would be lost.

“Better Sister” lives up to all our expectations of a family thriller series and doesn’t leave much to be desired as to what will happen next. There are also criticisms of the series, it is a bit clichéd, but its entertaining elements do not allow the weaknesses to be seen.

3- The Beast in Me

• Developer: Gabe Rutter
• Number of episodes: 8
• Actors: Claire Danes, Matthew Rhys, Brittany Snow, Natalie Morales, Jonathan Banks, David Lyons, Tim Gooney, Deirdre O’Connell
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 7.5 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 83 out of 100

After its release, the mini-series “The Monster Inside Me” was quickly dubbed one of the best mystery series of 2025; These positive feedbacks are more rooted in the intelligent design of the drama and the serious reliance of the series on acting than the results of advertisements or the usual busyness of the platform. From the beginning, “The Monster Inside Me” invests in a classic game of cat and mouse, and the presence of Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys at the center of this conflict is the main trump card of the series.

The story revolves around Aggie (Claire Danes); A writer who has sunk into self-imposed isolation after the bitter and sudden death of his son. For him, grief is not just an emotional wound, but a paralyzing force that took away the ability to write. Aggie spends most of his time at home, a closed space that is both his refuge and a prison that does not allow him to distance himself from the past. The arrival of new neighbors, Niall (Matthew Rhys) and his wife Nina (Brittany Snow), disrupts this morbid stillness; A change that seems insignificant at first, but soon becomes the turning point of the story.

Niall has a murky past: he was the prime suspect in the case of his first wife’s death, and that’s enough to trigger Aggie’s obsessive mind. For a woman who is both mourning her child and looking for a spark to return to writing, this mystery is a dangerous temptation. What at first seems like a simple search for inspiration for a new story, gradually turns into a full-fledged obsession. Aggie is no longer just looking for the truth; Unconsciously, he ties his life and psyche to this case, and the line between professional curiosity and pathological involvement quickly disappears.

“The Monster Inside Me” is more of a detailed and compact psychological drama than a crime mystery; A series that focuses on the mind games of the characters instead of relying on shocking revelations. The narrative has a leisurely rhythm and often prefers to move slowly, putting the characters under the microscope and letting the tensions build gradually. At the same time, the series knows very well that it should not keep the audience in this state too much. So the plot twists come in at the right time and every time, they slightly distort our previous impression of the characters. No one is completely innocent or completely guilty, and this moral ambiguity distinguishes “The Monster Inside Me” from similar works.

2- The Residence

• Developer: Paul William Davis
• Number of episodes: 8
• Actors: Uzo Aduba, Ken Marino, Randall Park, Susan Kelchi Watson, Isaiah Whitlake Jr., Jason Lee
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 7.7 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 84 out of 100

“Residence” was met with positive reactions, but due to high production costs, it was not renewed for a second season to see it as a mini-series. The series has an extremely attractive premise: a dead body is found during an official party at the White House, and this is enough to lead Cordelia Copp (Uzo Aduba), an unorthodox but intelligent detective, to the story. In an atmosphere where politics, power, rituals and lies are intertwined, he must identify the killer from among the crew, high-ranking politicians and even members of the president’s family; A group that almost all have a motive to hide.

“The Residence” clearly draws inspiration from the classic murder mystery tradition; Something between the works of Agatha Christie and more modern political narratives, but the important thing is that the series chooses from the beginning not to take itself too seriously. Here we are not dealing with a work that wants to present a complex worldview or criticize the power structure; The main goal is entertainment, and the series does not hide this intention. The humorous tone of “Residence” allows the heavy atmosphere of the White House to become a platform for comic situations and hilarious dialogues, without completely leaving the framework of a crime story.

The biggest strength of the series is Uzo Aduba’s performance. Cordelia Cupp is not one of those detectives who are defined by familiar stereotypes; He is neither a sullen and isolated genius nor a cold and emotionless detective. Aduba creates a character that is strange, but that strangeness never reaches the point of exaggeration or theatricality. Relying on behavioral details, special tone of speech and the way he confronts suspects, he creates a character that is not easily forgotten. In fact, even when the puzzle doesn’t have enough traction or the jokes don’t work as well as they should, his presence makes you want to keep going.

“Residence” does not complicate the mystery either. The series avoids narrative clutter and extreme multi-layering of the story so that the audience does not engage in endless speculations and does not lose focus. The narrative is linear and relatively straightforward and spends most of its energy on the interaction of the characters and the overall atmosphere. Of course, this approach also has costs; The main mystery could have had more depth and some jokes or comic situations are not as effective as expected. But this series achieves what it wants: a fun experience. Even its cancellation does not make you feel like you are dealing with an unfinished work.

1- Department Q (Dept. Q)

• Developer: Scott Frank
• Number of episodes: 9
• Actors: Matthew Goode, Kelly MacDonald, Chloe Perry, Jamie Seuss, Shirley Henderson, Kate Dickey
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 8.2 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 88 out of 100

Scott Frank has the acclaimed series “Minister Gumby” to his credit, but “Department Q” is a completely different phenomenon; One of the best British mystery series of 2025 – and recent years – that you will fall in love with from the first minutes and at the end, you will be counting down the seconds for the second season to arrive as soon as possible. The story revolves around Carl Mork (Matthew Goode), a famous detective who is sidelined after a tragic shooting that leaves one colleague dead and another paralyzed. To remove him from the scene, the police department transfers him to the Q department; A new and low-budget department in the basement of the office whose task is to archive and categorize old and unsolved cases.

Although Carl is ordered to “file and forget” the cases, his curiosity is piqued by one particular case: the mysterious disappearance of a prominent politician who disappeared without a trace from a passenger ship a decade ago. “Department Q” has a unique atmosphere, and Scott Frank’s direction has given it a cinematic feel.

But the reason the show shines is because it doesn’t stray from the dark themes of the source material (we won’t spoil them). However, some may find the pacing of the early episodes a bit slow, as the series spends a lot of time establishing characters and building atmosphere. “Department Q” is perfect in almost every aspect; A series that respects the intelligence of the audience and manages to look familiar and new at the same time.

Source: collider