It’s still summer, so it’s not quite sweater weather — or the season to stay in from the cold and binge-watch crime shows.
But Watch With Us has never been patient, which is why we’ve gone ahead and curated a list of some of the best cozy murder mysteries to stream in August.
At the top of our list is Grantchester, which Netflix is streaming its first four and best seasons right now. James Norton might be killing it (literally!) in House of the Dragon right now, but he’ll always be famous for his role as a crime-solving priest.
We also recommend checking out the chic Agatha Christie adaptation, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?, on BritBox and the charming The Marlow Mystery Club on Prime Video.
‘Grantchester’ (2013–2026) — Netflix
After 11 seasons, the long-running PBS Masterpiece series Grantchester recently wrapped up its impressive run. To give some context, most English mystery shows don’t last more than a few seasons, so for Grantchester to have thrived over a decade and withstood not one but two stars leaving the series to pursue other opportunities is impressive. Now that it’s over, it’s a good time to go back to the beginning and watch the first four seasons on Netflix.
Why those four seasons? That’s when James Norton’s hunky priest, Sidney Chambers, solved all sorts of mysteries alongside gruff Detective Inspector Geordie Keating (Robson Green). When they’re not apprehending the guilty, they’re tending to their complicated personal life. Even though he’s a man of the cloth, Sidney is very much romantically active and secretly pines for married heiress Amanda Hopkins (Morven Christie), while Geordie has a loving if combative relationship with his opinionated wife, Cathy (Kacey Ainsworth). Setting them straight and keeping them honest is no-nonsense housekeeper Sylvia “Mrs. C’ Chapman (Tessa Peake-Jones), who is more law-abiding and devout than both men.
Grantchester’s mysteries-of-the-week aren’t all that complicated; a crime is committed, Sidney and Geordie investigate, a couple of red herrings lead them down the wrong path and the real killer is revealed. But the key to the show’s charm — and why it lasted as long as it did — is that its characters are so damn charming. Sidney and Geordie have a classic good cop/bad cop relationship, while supporting characters like Mrs. C and fellow priest Leonard (Al Weaver) give Grantchester the found-family dynamic that sets it apart from other crime shows. Netflix is only airing Grantchester’s first four seasons, but you can watch the entire series on PBS Masterpiece on Amazon Prime Video.
‘Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?’ (2022) – BritBox
‘Why didn’t they ask Evans?” Those are the last words said by Alex Pritchard (Leon Ockenden), who is found dying at a rocky beach by a shocked Bobby Jones (Will Poulter). Bobby doesn’t know the man, but he’s disturbed enough by his death to find out why someone pushed him off a cliff – and what his dying message meant. With the help of his friend and potential lover, sophisticated socialite Frankie Derwent (Lucy Boynton), Bobby interrogates Britain’s wealthy class to solve a mystery that someone is willing to kill to keep unsolved.
You can’t have a cozy murder mystery list without an Agatha Christie adaptation, and Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? checks all the genre’s essential boxes. The three-part miniseries is set when the novel was first released in 1934, so you’ll get to see some pretty snazzy Depression-era fashions. More importantly, you’ll be drawn into the limited series’ central mystery of why Alex was murdered and who — or what — Evans is. The British cast is superb, with Poulter and Boynton generating enough chemistry to ignite a thousand rom-coms. Oscar winners Emma Thompson and Jim Broadbent appear as Frankie’s rich and free-spirited parents, while House’s Hugh Laurie, who also directed the series, stars as a doctor who might be hiding a sinister secret.
‘The Marlow Murder Club’ (2024–Present) – PBS Masterpiece on Prime Video
The small English village of Marlow is quiet, quaint and too good to be real. When not one but two murders rock the community, several of its citizens decide to investigate the murders and keep the town’s reputation from falling even further into the gutter. While Judith (Samantha Bond), Suzie (Jo Martin) and Rebecca (Cara Horgan) don’t have any experience solving crimes, they make up for it by sheer gumption — and a successful track record of catching bad guys.
Adapted from Robert Thorogood’s mystery novels set in Marlow, The Marlow Murder Club does what every cozy murder mystery is supposed to do — set its stories in an idyllic location you’d kill to live in. The show also tells some decent head-scratching mysteries, like the case of a man murdered by a falling cabinet in a locked room and the unusual connection between a 1,500-year-old skeleton and the recent killing of a Marlow sailing club member. The three middle-aged leads have an easy rapport with each other — it feels like they’ve been friends for years, and you want to hang out with them even when their lives are in danger. Season 3 of The Marlow Murder Club starts streaming on September 6.
