Best Murder Mystery True Crime Podcasts
Best Murder Mystery True Crime Podcasts: In the Dark, Serial and Bear Brook lead our ranking of 24 shows, scored for binge factor and community ratings.
The best murder mystery podcasts right now are In the Dark, Serial and Bear Brook, based on our binge factor ranking of 24 shows. Each one follows a real killing and the question that survived it: who did it, was the right person convicted, or what really happened. Start at the top of the list if you want the most compulsive listens, or use the case details on each review to find a style that suits you. For a shorter, hand-picked set with episode details, see our editor's guide to the best murder mystery podcasts.
Related: Editor's guide: nine true murder mysteries with open questions
24 podcasts, ranked by binge factor
In the Dark
Listeners who want journalism-grade investigation into wrongful convictions, systemic racism, and institutional failures — more 60 Minutes than true crime thriller.
Serial
Anyone interested in journalism, legal procedure, and deep investigative dives into morally ambiguous cases with no easy answers.
Bear Brook
True crime fans fascinated by forensic science, DNA technology, and cold cases with a genuine scientific payoff.
Bone Valley
True crime fans who care deeply about wrongful conviction, prosecutorial failure, and the fight to free innocent people; fans of In the Dark will find this essential.
Murdaugh Murders Podcast
Journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell broke the Murdaugh family saga before it became a national story, and kept reporting it deeper than anyone else.
The Teacher's Pet
True crime fans who like journalism-driven investigations with massive real-world impact; anyone fascinated by domestic crime and institutional failure.
The Trial of Erin Patterson
The Crime Desk's courtroom coverage of the Erin Patterson 'mushroom murders' trial — one of the biggest cases of the decade.
West Cork
True crime fans who love atmospheric investigative journalism, Anglo-Irish tensions, and cases that remain unresolved and fiercely contested decades later.
You Didn't See Nothin
Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award-winning series in which Yohance Lacour revisits a violent Chicago incident from 25 years earlier that shaped his path into journalism.
Your Own Backyard
Listeners who want investigative true crime with real-world consequence and single-minded, passionate focus from a creator who refused to let a case die.
Black Hands
In 1994 five members of the Bain family were found shot dead in their Dunedin home — only their son survived. Was he guilty, or the sole innocent? The debate has never ended.
Blood Will Tell
Audible and Campside follow identical twins arrested for the same murder at a birthday party — and the nearly two years one brother spent in jail before the truth emerged.
Buried Bones
Journalist Kate Winkler Dawson and forensic investigator Paul Holes dissect historical true crime cases through modern forensic insight, with excellent on-air chemistry.
Crimetown
True crime fans who want novelistic, character-driven storytelling about organised crime and institutional corruption; listeners who want something that feels as much like great drama as documentary.
Death, Lies & Cyanide
A Spotify Original narrated by journalist Sashi Kumar, chronicling how Jolly Joseph allegedly poisoned six members of her own family over 14 years in Kerala.
Dirty John
True crime fans who love psychological manipulation, con artists, and domestic crime stories with high personal stakes.
Killing Richard Glossip
The case of Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip — and the growing evidence he may be innocent.
Someone Knows Something
True crime fans who value empathy, journalistic integrity, and collaborative investigations conducted alongside the victim's own family.
Suspect (NPR/Embedded)
True crime fans who want journalism-grade investigation into systemic racial injustice; listeners who followed In the Dark and want more journalism-led true crime.
The Binge: Watching You
Sony's annual Binge flagship — a husband's secret surveillance recordings become central evidence after his wife goes missing near Atlanta.
The Coldest Case in Laramie
NYT/Serial Productions investigate a 1985 campus murder closed for decades — and possibly wrongly solved.
True Crime South Africa
South Africa's flagship true crime podcast, hosted by award-winning journalist Nicole Engelbrecht — the country's most popular true crime show even against international competition.
White Lies (NPR)
True crime fans interested in civil rights history; listeners who want journalism with genuine historical consequence; anyone who believes true crime must engage with political violence and institutional cover-up.
48 Hours
CBS News's long-running true crime franchise, adapted for podcast — award-winning correspondents examine crime and justice cases with real depth.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best murder mystery podcasts?
The highest-ranked murder mystery podcasts on this page are In the Dark, Serial and Bear Brook, ordered by binge factor across 24 shows. Every show listed covers a real case, not fiction.
Are these murder mystery podcasts true or fictional?
They are true crime. Each show covers a real murder or a real investigation. Scripted whodunits are a different genre and are not included here.
How is the list ranked?
Shows are ordered by our binge factor score, which reflects how compulsively listenable a show is. Each podcast links to a full review with an editorial verdict and community ratings where they exist.
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