Shows to try

It's 1953, and Sidney Chambers is vicar of Grantchester, a village just outside Cambridge. Sidney's life is a quiet life - right up until the moment that murder comes his way. Pushed into the dangerous world of lies, betrayal and murder, Sidney quickly finds that his insight into the human condition, and the natural trust that he engenders in people, means that he excels in his new position as 'detective'. Joining Sidney as he journeys into this dark world is the affable but world-weary Detective Inspector Geordie Keating, the naive, but well-meaning curate Leonard Finch, and his austere and constantly disapproving housekeeper Mrs Maguire. But crime isn't the only matter that occupies Sidney. He's smitten with the witty, beautiful, Amanda, but could high society Amanda ever be allowed to marry a lowly country vicar? Can you still see the best in people when the world of murder asks you to see the worst?

About Jane Timoney, an iconoclastic female detective who has to make her bones in a tough New York precinct that is dominated by men.

Christopher Foyle is a Detective Chief Superintendent in the Hastings Police. It is 1940 and England has its back to the wall in the war against Germany. With this constant threat as a backdrop, plus having to deal with political interference and prioritisation of the military, Foyle quietly goes about doing what he does best: solving murders.

Series 1 follows the early police career of young Endeavour Morse, who upon leaving his Oxford College without a degree, spending time in the Royal Signal Corps., and eventually joining the Oxfordshire Police, is transferred to CID, attaining the rank of Detective Constable. Originally starting out his career at Carshall-Newtown Police, Morse transfers to the Oxford City Police in 1965 following a murder investigation during the pilot episode. While with the Oxford City Police, Morse is taken under the wing of veteran Detective Inspector Fred Thursday. Inspector Thursday names Morse his designated "bag man" and shows him the ropes as Morse begins to solve a string of complex murders, much to the envy and annoyance of some of his superiors, particularly Detective Sergeant Jakes and Chief Superintendent Bright. Thursday and Morse's fellow officer, Police Constable Strange, try to steer the young Endeavour into taking his Sergeant's exam, so that he may be relieved of "General Duties" and become Thursday's official "bag man" with the appropriate rank and title.

During WWII, men and women working at Bletchley Park played a vital role, breaking the codes used by the German military. Nine years later, former codebreaker Susan is a housewife and mother, but she continues to recognize patterns that surround her in everyday life. When a series of women are brutally murdered around London, Susan sees a pattern emerging. However, when a police-search for what Susan believes to be an overlooked victim turns up nothing, she realizes she cannot solve this puzzle alone. Enlisting three former Bletchley Park colleagues: Millie, Lucy, and Jean; Susan knows they have little time to break this code before the killer strikes again.

The British detective drama revolves around Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby's efforts to solve numerous murders that take place in the fictional English county of Midsomer. The current lead character is Detective Chief Inspector John Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon), who is the younger cousin of former lead character Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles). The Barnabys have worked with several different Sergeants throughout the run of the show, including Sergeant Gavin Troy (Daniel Casey), Sergeant Dan Scott (John Hopkins), Detective Sergeant Ben Jones (Jason Hughes), Detective Sergeant Charlie Nelson (Gwilym Lee), and Sergeant Jamie Winter (Nick Hendrix).

A doctor is a war veteran who was at the fall of Singapore, suffering trauma from war memories. He begins solving crimes.

Phryne Fisher is a glamorous and thoroughly modern woman of the 1920s. She sashays through the back lanes and jazz clubs of Melbourne, fighting injustice with her pearl handled pistol and her dagger-sharp wit. Leaving a trail of admirers in her wake, Phryne makes sure she enjoys every moment of her lucky life. But behind the façade of elegance and charm are the scars of the past which drive Phryne to find justice for those who can't help themselves and to pursue the truth of her own dark history. Based on the novels of Australian author Kerry Greenwood.

Scotland Yard DI Richard Poole is sent to the Caribbean island of Sainte Marie to solve a fellow policeman's murder. Having done so, he finds himself seconded to the local police force as the dead man's replacement. Poole proves to be a brilliant detective, solving several complex murders. He's not quite suited to either the pace of life on the island or the heat and sand, neither of which he likes very much. He also doesn't like seafood. That aside, the place is just great. In later series, other English and Irish police officers head the investigative team, namely Humphrey Goodman, Jack Mooney, and Neville Parker.

British crime investigation series based around aristocratic, Oxford-educated Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley (

Two female detectives, one motherly, the other emotionally immature, have varying levels of success applying their eccentric outlooks on life to their police cases and private lives.

Dr. Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes), a London-based surgeon, relocates to the picturesque seaside village of Port Wenn, where he establishes himself as the area's general practitioner. He grew up in the area, having been raised by his now-widowed Aunt Joan Norton (Stephanie Cole). His reasons for leaving London and the high-paid life of a surgeon are not clear initially but related to a phobia he has. He soon meets several of the locals and eccentricity abounds. Martin's situation is made more difficult by what can only be referred as an almost complete lack of an acceptable bedside manner. He is gruff, abrupt, and intolerant, not only in issues related to medicine, but to life in general. He and the headmistress of the local school, Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz), are clearly attracted to each other and, despite their awkwardness, slowly develop a relationship.

Former soldier and policeman Jackson Brodie becomes a private investigator.

After her father's death, sensible and cheerful Mma Precious Ramotswe sells her inherited cattle and opens the country's only female-owned detective agency. She hires Botswana Secretarial College graduate (97% in the final exams!) Grace Makutsi as her assistant. Together they solve problems big and small with their wisdom, big hearts, and endless cups of red-bush tea. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe's best friend, mechanic Mr. JLB Matekoni, hopes for a chance to win her heart... Based on Alexander McCall Smith's best-selling book series.

Series inspired by the stories of GK Chesterton; a Catholic priest has a knack for solving mysteries in his English village.

The tenacious and stubborn DCI Banks unravels disturbing murder mysteries aided by his young assistants, DS Annie Cabbot and DI Helen Morton.

Inspector Robert Lewis steps out of the shadow of his mentor, the inimitable Inspector Morse, in this highly-acclaimed series of intricate mysteries. Together with his brooding, inscrutable partner, Detective Sergeant James Hathaway, they take on the elite criminal underworld of Oxford, England, relying on Lewis' instinct and Hathaway's intellect to see past appearances and into the hearts of their upper-crust foes.

The show throws Chief Inspector George Gently into a maelstrom of murders and mayhem, whilst lovingly recreating the swinging sixties as it finally hits the North-East, in perfect and nostalgic detail. With his sidekick, the ambitious and undisciplined Detective Sergeant John Bacchus, they make the perfect police partnership, full of warmth and humour.