The best murder mysteries to watch after The Perfect Couple

Liev Schreiber as Tag Winbury, Nicole Kidman as Greer Winbury in The Perfect Couple - what to watch after The Perfect Couple
(Image credit: Netflix)

You’ve streamed all six episodes of The Perfect Couple on Netflix and you’re looking for your next murder mystery to binge. Well, you’re in the right place. We’ve put together nine of the top recommendations for TV shows that are sure to thrill.

Whether you’re searching for more from Nicole Kidman, craving the answer to puzzling unsolved crimes, or fancy donning your detective hat once again to start surmising, here’s what we’d suggest watching next after The Perfect Couple.

What to watch after The Perfect Couple

Big Little Lies

The cast of Big Little Lies wearing coats and drinking coffee in the street

Big Little Lies is a TV adaptation from a best-selling novel by Liane Moriarty. (Image credit: HBO)

Wealthy families, a shocking murder, and whispering secrets in an unsuspecting part of America. While these three things could describe The Perfect Couple, we are in fact talking about 2017’s Big Little Lies. The first of three TV adaptations on our list from the best-selling novels of Liane Moriarty, and the first of two to star Nicole Kidman.

While all may seem idyllic with money and perfect families, it most certainly isn’t for the mothers starring in this intense drama as their lives unravel to the point of murder. There are a lot of serious issues to tackle as the show immerses itself in the lives of these maternal figures. And some great actors to boot with Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley, and Zoë Kravitz all starring.

Both seasons are available to stream now on Max in the US and Sky/NOW TV in the UK. 

Nine Perfect Strangers

Nine Perfect Strangers Nicole Kidman in white with long blonde hair

Nine Perfect Strangers stars Nicole Kidman. (Image credit: Sky)

Much like Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers stars Nicole Kidman, is also based on a Liane Moriarty book, and is created by David E. Kelley. Other than that, the story for this one is in a world of its own. 

Nine strangers descend upon a retreat owned by Masha (Nicole Kidman), an ethereal leader. In hopes of finding calm in her sanctuary, they gather with the promise of healing and transformation. Only to discover that all is not as it seems. A huge cast joins Kidman with Bobby Cannavale, Melissa McCarthy, Grace Van Patten, Luke Evans, Michael Shannon, and more. 

All eight episodes are available to stream now on Hulu in the US and Prime Video in the UK. Season two is on the way, although starring a whole new cast.

The White Lotus

Jon Gries as Greg & Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya McQuoid in The White Lotus Season 2

Jennifer Coolidge stars as a recurring role across The White Lotus' two very different seasons (Image credit: Fabio Lovino/HBO)

While there’s been comparisons made between The Perfect Couple and The White Lotus, their storylines are both completely thrilling in their own right. Much like the other entries on our list, The White Lotus follows the rich lives of vacationers at a luxury resort. Unfortunately, as dark secrets of the guests emerge throughout the holiday, it descends into a chaos you really won’t see coming.

There’s been two totally different seasons so far, aside from Jennifer Coolidge’s recurring role, and there’s a third expected sometime in 2025. And here’s everything we know about The White Lotus season 3, while you await its arrival. Both seasons are available to stream on Max in the US and Sky/NOW TV in the UK.

The Sinner

The Sinner season 1

The Sinner is a Netflix original.  (Image credit: Netflix)

If you’re looking to ascend a little deeper into the world of crime and disturbing murder cases, then Netflix Original, The Sinner, is the show for you. Over four seasons, Detective Ambros (Bill Pullman) investigates crimes with a determination to find out who committed them and why exactly they happened. 

While it was only meant to be an eight-part miniseries, the success of the first season starring Jessica Biel launched it into an anthology series that ran over four years. The dark drama can be streamed in its entirety on Netflix. And, if you don’t have four seasons of streaming in you, we at least recommend the famed first.

Apples Never Fall 

Conor Merrigan-Turner as Logan, Essie Randles as Brooke, Sam Neill as Stan, Annette Bening as Joy, Alison Brie as Amy and Jake Lacy as Troy huddled together in Apples Never Fall

Apples Never Fall is another Liane Moriarty TV adaptation. (Image credit: Vince Valitutti/Peacock)

Our final Liane Moriarty TV adaptation is Peacock’s Apples New Fall. Joy (Annette Bening) and Stan (Sam Neill) play a happily married couple retiring from their long-running West Palm Beach tennis academy. Instead of a retirement full of slower days, a scared and injured stranger turns up at their door. And then Joy goes missing. It’s left to the couple’s four adult children to get to the bottom of it and they quickly realize that their whole family history is not at all what it seems.

The miniseries is similar to The Perfect Couple’s family dynamics and power struggles with all seven episodes available to stream on Peacock in the US and from Saturday, September 21, 2024, on BBC iPlayer in the UK.

Fool Me Once

Fool Me Once on Netflix stars Michelle Keegan as a grieving wife with a puzzling mystery to solve.

Michelle Keegan stars in Fool Me Once.  (Image credit: Netflix)

For a more British twist on a murder mystery, Fool Me Once on Netflix adapts Harlan Coben’s novel to create this gripping drama. Michelle Keegan stars as Maya Stern, a woman struggling to deal with the brutal murder of her husband, Joe (Richard Armitage). Until she sees him on the nanny cam in her daughter’s room. It quickly becomes a twisty plot with family involved and more murders to investigate.

Starring Joanna Lumley, Adeel Akhtar, Emmett J Scanlan, Laurie Kynaston, and more, if you find yourself enjoying this show, there are the best shows to watch after Fool Me Once to take you further down the murder mystery rabbit hole. All eight episodes are available to stream now on Netflix.

Mare of Easttown

Kate Winslet stars in Mare of Easttown.

Kate Winslet stars as the eponymous Mare in Mare of Easttown. (Image credit: HBO Max)

If you’re interested in a TV show like The Perfect Couple but with a darker tone, then gripping crime drama Mare of Easttown takes mystery in a small town to a new level with the murder of a local teenage mother in Easttown, Philadelphia. 

Starring Kate Winslet as police detective Marianne “Mare” Sheehan, tackling her own family issues while trying to solve the crime that’s shaking the suburb. As a local hero, for her role in winning a high school basketball game, the residents turn to her for protection and answers.

All seven episodes can be streamed on Max in the US and Sky/NOW TV in the UK.

The Undoing

Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman star in The Undoing

Another Nicole Kidman murder mystery with 2020's The Undoing. (Image credit: HBO)

The Perfect Couple showrunner, Susanne Bier, is no stranger to murder mysteries, nor working with Nicole Kidman. In fact, in 2020 she brought psychological thriller The Undoing to our screens as a murder once again turns everything about the lives of its characters upside down.

Grace (Nicole Kidman), is a hugely successful therapist looking forward to celebrating the release of her first novel. That is until a woman is found murdered and her husband (Hugh Grant) suddenly disappears. While she tries to get to the bottom of the sordid lies and secrets she begins to uncover, The Undoing will keep you guessing until the end.

All six episodes are available to stream on Max in the US and Sky/NOW TV in the UK.

Pieces of Her

Toni Collette stars as Laura Oliver in Pieces of Her

Pieces of Her is another dark gripping drama from Netflix. (Image credit: Netflix)

What happens when everything you thought you knew about your mother is completely unravelled in one evening? Andy (Bella Heathcote) finds herself caught up in a deadly shooting at a local diner. And then, her mother, Laura (Toni Collette) shows her true colours in an act of violence that shocks her to her core. 

The family relationship is tested to the extreme as Andy continues to unravel her mother’s dark past and pieces it together to tell the tale. Starring Bella Heathcote, Omari Hardwick, David Wenham, and more, all eight episodes can be streamed on Netflix.

CATEGORIES
Grace Dean
Freelance Writer

Grace has been writing about TV and film for most of her journalism career. After graduating, she's been a YouTube presenter, tech showrunner, and head of short-form content, including podcasts for Audible, comedy shorts for the BBC, and entertainment shorts on ITV2 and Ch5. When she's not writing about entertainment, she's most certainly watching it. Her favorites shows include Succession, Bridgerton, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine and movies include Forrest Gump, Love in the Time of Cholera, and the OG Total Recall. In her spare time (of which she has little with two small kids), you'll also find her reading books or playing video games.