Entertainment

8 Mystery Shows From the 2010s That Are Perfect From Start to Finish

Nairavoice · Oct 29, 2026 · 11 min read

Mystery shows take you deep into compelling stories. They are often dark, though sometimes with a bit of comedy, too. A central plot poses a question: whodunit, what happened, or how can we manage through this crisis. With procedurals, these are delivered in episodic or season-long form, with a different case that has a beginning, middle, and end in every episode or season after season.

Some of the best mystery shows premiered in the 2010s, just when TV had solidified that intriguing stories with A-list actors and exciting narratives could be told on the small screen, too, not just in movies. Whether they aired for only a few seasons or more than half a dozen, these mystery shows were great from start to finish. And in fact, a few of them aren’t done yet.

‘Dark’ (2017–2020)

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    Image via Netflix</figure>

Delivered in German with subtitles or dubbing, the sci-fi mystery thriller Dark captured audience attention in North America, too. The series explores the lives of four families investigating the disappearance of a young boy. It dives into time travel and conspiracies that go back generations. Dark is one of the greatest Netflix shows worth watching over and over.

Relying heavily on the concept of the bootstrap paradox, a causal loop of past and future events, Dark is beautifully acted, directed, and written. It’s visually stunning, and the story is presented with a tight plot and little filler. The philosophical themes add a deeper dimension to the story, which is widely considered to be one of the best shows about time travel.

‘Big Little Lies’ (2017–Present)

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    Image via HBO</figure>

Soapy and salacious, Big Little Lies is a psychological dark comedy drama that begins with the mystery of a new woman in town and events that occur, leaving her and her son feeling ostracized. But there are serious undertones about domestic violence that bleed into the bigger mystery, culminating in the death of a main character. That story and the surrounding mystery frames the second season.

Aside from the star-studded cast that includes Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgård, Adam Scott, Zoë Kravitz, Laura Dern, and Meryl Streep in Season 2, Big Little Lies keeps you guessing. But it also uses the narrative to explore the pressures of wealth, motherhood, domestic abuse, and the importance of female friendship. Scheduled to return for a third season, we’re still at least a year out from seeing where the story will go next after having wrapped up in a way that reinforces its theme of female bonding while also leaving the door open for more.

‘How to Get Away with Murder’ (2014–2020)

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The role that put Viola Davis on the map in a big way, she’s brilliant in How to Get Away with Murder as criminal defense attorney and law professor Annalise Keating. Students fight to get into her class and be chosen to intern at her firm. But when this new group is selected, they are rocked by the sudden death of a young student and eventually also the death of Annalise’s husband Sam (Tom Verica).

The show is one of the most addictive legal thrillers of that decade, and arguably even since. Davis’ emotional, often heart-wrenching performance gives the otherwise predictable network show a more mature feel. It’s high stakes in every episode with plenty of plot twists that keep you wondering who to trust and what antics each person is up to in the background. The end is perfect and moving as Annalise does what she does best. She not only shows her incredible legal skills but also strips away the exhausting façade to embrace her true self.

‘Lucifer’ (2016–2021)

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Lucifer is devilishly good (pardon the pun), the story of the devil, Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis), who is tired of punishing and hopefully saving lost souls, bored by his job. So, he travels up to the most sinful city he can think of, Los Angeles, opens a nightclub, and indulges in human life, disguised as a charming and attractive man. When he crosses paths with the local police department, and they recognize his skills, he starts to work with them. They think he’s simply gifted and perceptive and don’t believe when he tells them he can literally tap into someone’s deepest, darkest desires to get them to confess.

The urban fantasy show follows a procedural format for much of its run, though it gets darker and edgier after moving from Fox to Netflix following what fans felt was a premature cancellation. Given this, there’s a new mystery every episode, or every few episodes. But the biggest overarching mystery is both Lucifer’s secret and why detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German) appears to be the only human immune to his skills. The show is sharp and funny, Ellis delightful in the role that feels like it was written just for him.

Four criminal masterminds. One of them was always going to be yours.
Here is who comes for you, why they picked you out of everyone available, and what they want from
the encounter.

Your nemesis does not want to beat you. He wants to know you
completely, and he is patient enough to wait for it. The frightening part is how good the
conversation is.

Lecter is the most dangerous kind of opponent: the one who finds you interesting. He
never raises his voice, because he has never needed to.
You keep a great deal to yourself and you are careful about what you show. That reserve
is exactly the door he would knock on.
The films understood something other thrillers missed. The horror is not the violence.
It is being perfectly understood by the wrong person.
He would be unfailingly polite about all of it. That is the worst part.

Your nemesis is not after money, territory or revenge. He is
after a demonstration, and you are the person he has chosen to prove his point on.

The Joker only picks opponents who believe in something. Your decency is not a defence
against him. It is the entire reason he showed up.
He has no plan you can predict and nothing you can take away, which removes every tool
you would normally reach for.
His whole argument is that you are one bad day away from being him, and you would spend
the rest of your life proving him wrong.
He would call it a magic trick. You would call it the worst night of your life.

Your nemesis respects you, which sounds flattering until you work
out what it means. He chose you because nobody else was worth his time.

Moriarty is the original criminal mastermind, the template every later one borrows from:
a mind the equal of the hero’s, pointed the wrong way.
You enjoy being the cleverest person in the room. He is counting on exactly that, and he
has already built the room.
This is the rare nemesis who would be genuinely disappointed if you lost badly. He needs
the game to be worth playing.
It ends the way these things always end. Two people, one problem, and only one way down.

Your nemesis has no personal interest in you whatsoever, and that
is precisely what makes him unsurvivable. You are not a rival. You are a stop on the way.

Chigurh does not negotiate, gloat or explain. He arrives, he asks one question, and the
answer was decided long before you opened your mouth.
You trust yourself to handle things. He is the one problem in the world that has no
interest in how capable you are.
No Country for Old Men rewrote the screen villain by removing the thing audiences
quietly rely on: the sense that talking might work.
Call it. He will wait.

‘The Leftovers’ (2014–2017)

Image via HBO
Image via HBO
Image via HBO
Image via HBO
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Image via HBO

Image via HBO
Image via HBO
Image via HBO
Image via HBO
Image via HBO

Image via HBO

Justin Theroux stars in this supernatural drama about a global event that results in the disappearance of 2% of the population. Those who have managed to survive, including police chief Kevin Garvey (Theroux) and his family, now try to rebuild society in the wake of the disaster.

The Leftovers is so good because it uses the semi-apocalyptic event as a precursor to the examination of human nature, grief, and faith. It’s a much deeper story than you might initially think, told wonderfully through three seasons, a flawless HBO show with no weak episodes. The fact that The Leftovers has drawn comparisons to Lost is a testament to how well received and underrated the show is.

‘Manifest’ (2018–2023)

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    Image via Netflix</figure>

Another show that was saved by Netflix, Manifest is a corny supernatural drama with an interesting premise. A commercial flight goes missing, and five years later, everyone on it suddenly reappears, no recollection of where they were, no one having aged a day. As each one starts to have strange visions and experiences, they realize they’re all connected somehow and have been sent back to serve a higher purpose. But society doesn’t take too kindly to their return, convinced there’s something sinister behind it.

Manifest takes you on a wild journey about faith and religion and asks philosophical questions about not only what it means to be human, but also to be a good person. It’s no surprise that three years after the show finished with an absolutely perfect finale that wrapped up the story, Manifest is coming back. Netflix has ordered a spin-off series called Arrivals: A New Manifest Mystery. The original is a guilty pleasure that won’t be winning any awards, but it’s a masterclass in addictive storytelling.

‘Elementary’ (2012–2019)

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Airing for seven seasons, Elementary is the representation of a perfect procedural. It has two compelling leads with great chemistry. It combines both drama and comedy with interesting cases. And it ran for a decent amount of time without overstaying its welcome. As an updated version of the characters from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle‘s books, Jonny Lee Miller stars as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson. He is a recovering addict helping the New York City police solve crimes, and she is a former surgeon and his sober companion who eventually becomes his partner.

The grounded storytelling and great performances from the two leads helped Elementary remain at the top of the watch list for primetime viewing during its long run. Viewers especially loved that there was no forced romantic connection between Holmes and Watson. Rather, she was depicted as a strong female character and their dynamic a true partnership rather than lead and sidekick. It was refreshing to see, and the ending wraps up the story nicely, confirming that the bond the two formed had become unbreakable.

‘True Detective’ (2014–Present)

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As an anthology series, every season of True Detective is a compartmentalized story with a different cast. And it seems that while Season 1 would be tough to beat, a few of the subsequent seasons have come close, some believing that Season 4: Night Country is the best to date. The stories are all deep and compelling in this crime show that breaks every formula, and the cast in each season bring them to life.

While admittedly, Season 2 is not necessarily perfect, Seasons 1, 3, and 4 more than make up for it and have their own amazing stories from start to finish. From two detectives recalling the case of a serial killer they couldn’t catch 17 years prior in Season 1, to a former detective suffering from dementia and still haunted by a case from his past involving two missing children, each plot draws you in to the dark and emotional themes. Night Country received accolades; Jodie Foster and Kali Reis were praised for their performances as two women looking into the mysterious disappearance of eight men from a research station in Alaska. With a fifth season on the way starring Nicolas Cage and Antonio Banderas, True Detective is poised to keep its successful run going.

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