Poker Face
If you love the puzzle-box structure of "Only Murders," you'll adore "Poker Face." Natasha Lyonne stars as Charlie Cale, a woman with an uncanny ability to tell when someone is lying. This talent forces her on the road, where she stumbles into a new murder
to solve in every town. It flips the whodunnit on its head, often showing you the crime first and then letting you watch Charlie piece it together. It shares that same satisfying feeling of a smart, charismatic amateur detective connecting the dots that others miss, all with a distinctly sharp and funny script.
The Afterparty
One of the joys of "Only Murders" is its playfulness with the genre. "The Afterparty" takes that idea and runs with it. Set at a high school reunion afterparty where the host is murdered, the series retells the events of the night from a different character's perspective in each episode. Each retelling is also shot in a different film genre—action movie, musical, romantic comedy, psychological thriller—to match the personality of the storyteller. It’s a wildly creative and hilarious approach to a murder mystery that will appeal to anyone who appreciates a show that doesn't just solve a crime, but has fun doing it.
Bored to Death
This HBO gem is perhaps the most direct spiritual predecessor to "Only Murders." It stars Jason Schwartzman as a struggling writer in Brooklyn named Jonathan Ames who, on a whim, posts an ad on Craigslist advertising himself as an unlicensed private detective. What follows is a noir-parody that blends dry humor with surprisingly compelling cases. Aided by his eccentric magazine-editor boss (Ted Danson) and his cartoonist best friend (Zach Galifianakis), Jonathan stumbles his way through mysteries with a charming ineptitude. The New York setting and the trio of unlikely, funny friends create a vibe that feels like a slightly more shambolic, slacker version of the Arconia crew.
Search Party
If the part of "Only Murders" that grabbed you was the dark satire of self-obsessed people getting in way too deep, then "Search Party" is your next binge. The show starts with a group of aimless Brooklyn millennials who decide to investigate the disappearance of a college acquaintance. What begins as a misguided quest for meaning quickly spirals into a dark, thrilling, and wickedly funny saga of crime and consequence. The show masterfully escalates its stakes season after season, transforming from a simple mystery into a high-stakes crime thriller and beyond, all while skewering modern culture with surgical precision.
Deadloch
For a brilliant twist on the genre, head to this Australian series. When a local man turns up dead on the beach in the sleepy Tasmanian town of Deadloch, two wildly mismatched female detectives are thrown together to solve the case. One is a meticulous local sergeant, the other a brash, foul-mouthed investigator from out of town. The show is a sharp, funny, and fiercely feminist take on the crime procedural, blending a compelling mystery with scathing social commentary. Like "Only Murders," it finds humor in the quirks of a small community forced to confront a dark event, delivering a perfect balance of laughs and suspense.
