If you’re a mystery-lover, you’ll be hard-pressed to find better shows on any other platform. From every angle of the genre, from shadowy social situations to supernaturally infused investigations to criminal procedurals, the streaming platform has us covered. Here are some of the best mystery series on HBO Max.
What are the best mystery series on HBO Max?
You could throw a rock and hit a great series on HBO Max. Of course, it seems that thrillers and mysteries are their speciality. You’ll know because all of our picks for this list aren’t just streaming on HBO Max, but were produced by HBO (or in collaboration with HBO partners) and originally aired on HBO. We’ve got a fully HBO lineup here, which just shows that they’re good at what they do.
The Undoing (2020)
Based on the 2014 novel You Should Have Known, this limited series stars Nicole Kidman as Grace Fraser, a well-to-do Manhattan therapist, and Hugh Grant as her husband Jonathan, a respected oncologist. Grace keeps running into a beautiful young woman named Elena, and things start to get strange when Elena’s body is discovered, and Jonathan becomes the primary suspect. This is a classic, twisty whodunnit that’s perfect for a binge. The series pieces together truth from fiction at a pace that sometimes sacrifices plot, but it was still the most-watched show on HBO in 2020, a testament to its ability to hook viewers.
Big Little Lies (2017-)
This psychological thriller follows the intertwined lives of a group of women — Madeline Mackenzie (Reese Witherspoon), Celeste Wright (Nicole Kidman), Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley), Renata Klein (Laura Dern), and Bonnie Carlson (Zoë Kravitz) — living in Monterey, California. From the outside, the town looks idyllic in every way, but secrets begin to unravel, culminating in a murder at the local elementary school. The series jumps back and forth in time, piecing together the story bit by bit until we uncover exactly what happened. There are currently two seasons available for streaming, but there’s been recent big news about the third season.
The Outsider (2020)
Supernatural elements meet investigative procedure in this miniseries adapted by Richard Price from Stephen King’s novel. The story begins with the gruesome murder of a young boy, which initially seems like a straightforward case. Things get stranger when DNA evidence points to an everyman and Little League coach Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman) with a solid alibi — in fact, he wasn’t even in the same town at the time of the murder. Detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) and private investigator Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo) are forced to question everything they know about who — or what — might be behind not just this death, but others as well.
Sharp Objects (2018)
If you were a fan of Gone Girl and immediately rushed to read all of Gillian Flynn’s books, the wait for a Sharp Objects adaptation felt excruciating. Dark Places sadly received an abysmal adaptation, which this writer is still grieving. Fortunately, Sharp Objects makes up for that loss. The series stars Amy Adams as Camille Preaker, an intelligent but troubled reporter who returns to her quiet hometown to cover the brutal murders of two young girls.
Mare of Easttown (2021)
From writer and creator Brad Ingelsby comes this gripping American crime drama starring Kate Winslet in one of the best performances of her career. Set in a fictional suburb of Pennsylvania, the series follows police detective Marianne “Mare” Sheehan as she investigates the murder of a teenage mother. As the case unfolds, Mare also struggles to keep her own life from collapsing around her.
The Night Of (2016)
After a night spent partying with a woman he picked up, Nasir Khan (Riz Ahmed) becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation when she’s found brutally murdered in her apartment the next morning. With no clear recollection of what happened the night before, Nasir panics, runs from the police, and ultimately ends up in custody. As mounting evidence points to his guilt, a determined lawyer (John Turturro) steps in to defend Naz.
True Detective (2014– )
We’re not sure there’s been a better mystery series than True Detective season one. While the other seasons of this anthology series are well worth watching, the first is hard to beat and keeps us just behind a killer on a spree in the Louisiana bayou. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are in peak form as a pair of detectives hunting a murderer who has haunted them for nearly two decades.
How we picked the best mystery series on HBO Max
The streaming platform is a great place to find just about any crime or thriller series you’re looking for, and that includes mystery. We narrowed our selections to shows that are especially fun to unravel as viewers, whether told from the perspective of the accused, the investigators, the reporters, or the families caught in the fallout. Aside from a bit of personal bias (we loved these shows when they first aired), we also considered which series earned the strongest responses from both fans and critics alike.