10 shows to watch if you like ‘Only Murders in the Building’

Only Murders in the Building is a mystery-comedy that follows three strangers: Charles Haden-Savage, Oliver Putman, and Mabel Mora. They live in the same Upper West Side apartment building in New York City and share a passion for true crime podcasts. The trio are portrayed by Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez respectively, and their performances, as well as the series, have received much acclaim. 

The plot follows the trio of residents who decide to take it upon themselves to discover the truth behind the recent death of their neighbor while creating their own crime podcast to record their findings. Their investigation results in unexpected twists, unearthed secrets, and an unlikely friendship.

Season two of Only Murders just wrapped up on Aug. 23, and the series has already been renewed for a third season, and if you enjoyed the lighthearted crime story, here are 10 more shows to catch that are sure to keep you hooked until Martin, Short, and Gomez return sometime next year. 

The Afterparty

A high school reunion turns into a crime scene in this Apple TV Plus murder mystery. Tiffany Haddish stars as Detective Danner, a cop assigned to the case of the death of famous pop star Xavier, portrayed by the charismatic Dave Franco, at his high school reunion afterparty. The show is experimental and unorthodox, with each episode adopting a popular genre to suit the perspective of the character giving their statement to Danner. Fans of Only Murders will love the fun storytelling and whodunit mystery.

Dead to Me

Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini share amazing chemistry as Jen and Judy in Netflix’s hilarious black comedy. Jen is filled with rage and resentment after being recently widowed due to her husband’s death in a hit-and-run. She joins a grief support group where she meets Judy, a woman who lost her fiancé to a heart attack, and the two develop a close friendship. As Jen starts to uncover the web of lies Judy is tangled in, she realizes that there is more to the woman, and to her husband’s death, than meets the eye.

One of Us is Lying

When Simon,  the author of a malicious school-wide gossip blog dies, from an allergic reaction during detention, the other four students with him, Addy, Cooper, Bronwyn, and Nate find themselves as the prime suspects. With each having their own motivations for the murder, Netflix brings the suspense of murder mysteries to high school with this suspenseful-but-grounded show. Mark McKenna leads the pack as Simon, with Annalisa Cochrane, Chubuikem Uche, Marianly Tejada, and Cooper van Grootel rounding out the main cast as the fellow students. 

The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window

Kristin Bell stars in this thrilling Netflix black comedy that follows a woman named Anna. She is drowning in grief due to the death of her daughter and her failed marriage. She becomes a recluse in her suburban neighborhood, choosing to turn to alcohol and prescription medication to soothe her pain and fears. Her frequent concoctions result in several hallucinating episodes, but things take a weird turn when she believes she’s just witnessed a murder in the house across the street. When nobody believes her, she takes it upon herself to uncover the truth.

The Flight Attendant

Cassie is an alcoholic flight attendant who spends her days drinking on the job and having casual sex with strangers. After spending the night with Alex, a passenger on one of her flights, she wakes up the next morning to find him dead in the bed beside her. The HBO Max dark comedy follows Cassie, played by the talented Kaley Cuoco, as she tries to exonerate herself, all while falling deeper into the mystery of Alex’s life and death. The Flight Attendant balances its serious mystery plot with the dramatic life of its central character, which is doused in a great amount of humor.

Search Party

Alia Shawkat leads Search Party as Dory Sief, a young woman living in New York City who is unsatisfied with her job, relationship, and overall life. When one of her college acquaintances, Chantal, goes missing, Dory and her group of friends decide to launch an investigation to find her. The show, available on HBO Max, follows the group as they become obsessed with the investigation and find themselves neck-deep in the secrets they discover, all the while trying to manage their messy personal lives.

The Resort

Peacock’s The Resort features amateur detective work at its best. It stars William Jackson Harper and Cristin Milioti as Noah and Emma, a couple who take a trip to Mexico for their 10th wedding anniversary. When Emma finds an old phone at the resort, she and Noah get caught up in a missing person’s case from 15 years ago. The couple latches onto the case as a way to bring back a spark in their relationship and, as the story unfolds, they discover more about what happened 15 years ago.

Castle

Richard Castle is a bored and uninspired mystery author trying to figure out how to write his next book. When a serial killer in New York City commits copycat crimes based on Castle’s novels, he is called in by the police for questioning where he meets Kate Beckett, a homicide detective who inspires him again. Castle decides to shadow Beckett, and the two solve many quirky murder cases over the show’s eight-season run, all available on Hulu. Though the heart of Castle is a romance between Castle and Beckett, the unique mysteries of each episode are engaging in their own right, and a magnificent performance by Nathan Fillion makes it worth the binge.

Elementary

This well-loved Sherlock Holmes adaptation stars Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock, a genius and recovering drug addict who enlists the services of  Dr. Joan Watson as his sober companion. As Sherlock decides to reintegrate himself into society as a consultant for the NYPD, Watson, masterfully brought to life by Lucy Liu, makes him a more tolerable individual and the pair find that they make an unlikely detective duo. The show is similar to Only Murders as it follows an investigative team of big personalities solving compelling cases.

Veronica Mars

It’s impossible to have a list of amateur detective shows without the iconic sleuth herself, Veronica Mars. Kristen Bell plays the sarcastic, titular teenager, whose father is a private investigator. When Veronica’s best friend, Lilly, is murdered, she takes up a part-time job with her father and helps him solve crimes. The show slightly differs from Only Murders as Veronica solves a new case with each episode, but the complex mysteries and witty characters are guaranteed to keep the fans of Only Murders in the Building locked in.