Best Murder Mystery Podcasts: True Cases That Still Have Questions to Answer

A good murder mystery podcast is not about the murder. It is about the question that survived it: who did this, was the right person convicted, or why did a case that looked closed stay open?

These nine are true cases built around that kind of question. We have chosen shows where the reporting is the draw rather than the shock, and we have kept the focus on the investigation and the people who carried it. Each links through to its full review, with a binge score so you can judge how compulsively listenable it is.

Serial (Season 1)

The show that defined the modern genre. Season 1 re-investigates the 1999 murder of teenager Hae Min Lee and asks whether her convicted killer, Adnan Syed, actually committed the crime. Twelve episodes of around 45 minutes each, easily bingeable in a weekend. Still the right place to start if you have not heard it.

In the Dark

Award-winning investigative journalism that scrutinises not just crimes but the systemic failures of law enforcement and the justice system. Season 2 spent two years investigating Curtis Flowers, who was tried six times for the same murder by the same prosecutor. The mystery here is as much "how did this keep happening?" as "who did it?", and it is all the better for it.

West Cork

A 13-episode Audible Original documentary by Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde, investigating the 1996 murder of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier at her holiday home near Schull. Ian Bailey, a British journalist living locally, was the prime suspect, convicted in absentia in France in 2019 but never extradited from Ireland. It is a case with a suspect and no resolution, which is exactly what makes it a mystery.

Bear Brook

Four unidentified bodies found in barrels in a New Hampshire forest in 1985, and how, decades later, the case was cracked using pioneering DNA genealogy techniques. The mystery begins with not knowing who the victims even were. Two seasons, 30–60 minutes an episode.

Your Own Backyard

A 10-part documentary by Chris Lambert on the 1996 disappearance of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart, a cold case the podcast directly helped solve, leading to the arrest and conviction of her killer 25 years after she vanished. Listen to it in order: it is a rare case of a podcast changing the outcome it was documenting.

The Teacher's Pet

Hedley Thomas's 14-episode documentary on the 1982 disappearance of Sydney mother Lynette Dawson. Her husband, Chris Dawson, was convicted of her murder in 2022, partly due to the podcast's impact. A manageable binge of 30–60 minutes per episode.

The Coldest Case in Laramie

New York Times journalist Kim Barker and Serial Productions investigate the 1985 murder of Shelli Wiley on the University of Wyoming campus, a case closed for decades that may have been wrongly prosecuted. It is meticulous, patient and deeply reported, and it comes from Serial Productions.

White Lies (NPR)

A seven-episode NPR series by native Alabamians Chip Brantley and Andrew Beck Grace, investigating the 1965 murder of Reverend James Reeb, a white Unitarian minister and civil rights activist killed in Selma during the voting rights movement. Three men were tried and acquitted, and no one was held accountable for 55 years. The podcast uncovered a fourth suspect. Episodes run 30–40 minutes.

Someone Knows Something

CBC filmmaker David Ridgen partners with grieving families to actively re-investigate cold cases, uncovering new leads across ten seasons of different unsolved cases from across Canada. Because each season is a separate case, it is the easiest show here to sample: start with whichever season sounds most like your kind of question.

How to choose

• A single question, a weekend: Serial, White Lies, The Teacher's Pet.
• A case with no resolution: West Cork.
• A mystery solved decades later: Bear Brook, Your Own Backyard.
• A system under scrutiny: In the Dark, The Coldest Case in Laramie.
• Something you can dip into: Someone Knows Something.

For wider lists, browse our serial killer podcasts, cold case podcasts and investigative podcasts, or see the best true crime podcasts overall.