The Most Anticipated Crime Fiction TV Series of 2026
There isn’t really any downtime for TV anymore, so the major premieres of 2026 begin on the first day of the year and will continue to roll out for the next 12 months. While networks and streaming services typically don’t announce release dates more than a few months in advance, we’ve put together a look at the most anticipated mystery and thriller shows coming in early 2026, plus a few with yet-to-be-announced premieres later in the year.
Run Away
It’s become an annual New Year’s tradition for Netflix to debut a new limited series based on a Harlan Coben novel, and this one adapts Coben’s 2019 book about a man who’s plunged into a dangerous underworld while searching for his missing daughter. Longtime Coben collaborator Danny Brocklehurst is the showrunner for the U.K.-set series, with a cast that includes James Nesbitt, Ruth Jones and Minnie Driver.
Streaming January 1st on Netflix.
Girl Taken
Based on the novel Baby Doll by Hollie Overton, this psychological thriller explores the aftermath of an abduction, as a young woman escapes from eight years of captivity only to find that the world around her and everyone in it have been changed irrevocably. That includes her twin sister and her mother, who work with her to achieve justice while also adjusting to her unexpected return to their lives.
Streaming January 8th on Paramount+.
The steady stream of Agatha Christie adaptations shows no signs of slowing down, and now Netflix is jumping on the bandwagon with a new limited series based on Christie’s 1929 novel The Seven Dials Mystery. The 1920s-set mystery series about a murder connected to a secret society stars Helena Bonham Carter, Mia McKenna Bruce, and Martin Freeman as Christie’s recurring detective character Superintendent Battle.
Streaming January 15th on Netflix.
The Lincoln Lawyer, Season 4
The fourth season of the hugely popular series based on Michael Connelly’s novels brings back Los Angeles defense attorney Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) for a new case, this time drawn from Connelly’s 2020 novel The Law of Innocence. Haller now has to defend himself from a murder charge after one of his former clients is found dead, forcing him to confront secrets from his past.
Streaming February 5th on Netflix.
Dark Winds, Season 4
The acclaimed series based on Tony Hillerman’s novels about Navajo Tribal Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee returns for a new season of criminal investigations in the desert southwest of the 1970s. This season takes Leaphorn and Chee from the reservation to Los Angeles as they search for a missing Navajo girl. Star Zahn McClarnon makes his directorial debut, and new additions to the cast include Franka Potente and Bosch’s Titus Welliver.
Streaming February 15th on AMC+.
The Puzzle Lady
Fans of cozy mysteries will want to check out this British series about a cruciverbalist solving crimes in a small town, based on the novels by Parnell Hall. Downton Abbey’s Phyllis Logan plays the offbeat title character, who moves with her niece to the quiet hamlet of Bakerbury, only to be called upon by the local police to help investigate a crossword-based murder.
Streaming February 19th on PBS.
Scarpetta
There have been numerous attempts over the past few decades to bring novelist Patricia Cornwell’s medical examiner character Kay Scarpetta to the screen, and those efforts finally come to fruition in this series that follows Scarpetta in two different timelines. Nicole Kidman plays Scarpetta in the present, as she pursues a new case tied to one of her past investigations, with Rosy McEwen as the younger Scarpetta just beginning her career.
Streaming March 11 on Amazon Prime Video.
Only Murder in the Building, Season 6
The mystery comedy starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as a trio of true-crime podcasters who investigate murders in their upscale Manhattan apartment building already set up its sixth-season mystery in its fifth-season finale, when fellow true-crime podcaster Cinda Canning (Tina Fey) turned up dead on the protagonists’ doorstep. New seasons typically premiere in the summer, so expect the characters’ announced sojourn to London around that time.
Streaming on Hulu in 2026, date TBD.
Young Sherlock
The latest iteration of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective character Sherlock Holmes is set during the master sleuth’s 1870s youth, with Hero Fiennes Tiffin playing the 19-year-old Holmes as he gets involved in a murder case that expands into a global conspiracy. Based on the novels by Andrew Lane, Young Sherlock is produced and directed by Guy Ritchie, who previously brought an action-packed interpretation to the character in his films starring Robert Downey Jr.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video in 2026, date TBD.
Cape Fear
Both Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese are executive producers on this series that takes inspiration from two earlier Cape Fear films. Scorsese himself directed the 1991 version, following the 1962 original, both based on John D. MacDonald’s 1957 novel The Executioners. Javier Bardem takes over from previous stars Robert Mitchum and Robert De Niro as Max Cady, a violent criminal who seeks revenge on an attorney and his family after being released from prison.
Streaming on Apple TV+ in 2026, date TBD.
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Josh Bell is a freelance writer and movie/TV critic based in Las Vegas. He has written about movies, TV, and pop culture for the Boston Globe, Vulture, Tom’s Guide, Inverse, Crooked Marquee, and more. With comedian Jason Harris, he co-hosts the podcast Awesome Movie Year.