New Bookish Mystery Crime Shows To Watch

the beast inside me (Netflix)

This show’s metaphors are the most bookish. Aggie Wiggs is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has become withdrawn and angry since losing her son four years ago. She is divorced and is two years behind the deadline for a biography she is writing about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Then Nile Jarvis moves in next door and disrupts Aggie’s life in two ways. He tries to force her to sign a permit to build a running trail in the woods around the property in a human douche canoe. He was the prime suspect in his ex-wife’s disappearance. Aggie is now caught up in a cat-and-mouse game where she wants a book written about her…

The series stars Claire Danes, Matthew Rhys, Brittany Snow, and Natalie Morales.
All 8 episodes are now available on Netflix. You can check out the trailer here.

Get Millie Black (HBO Max)

And Still I Rise: A Book of Poetry by Maya Angelou

For fans of procedurals, we get the returning detective trope. Millie-Jean Black was a detective at Scotland Yard in London, but returned to her native Jamaica after her mother’s death. Now, Millie is trying to convince her sister to get off the streets and move into her childhood home. Meanwhile, they are also investigating the disappearance of a 16-year-old girl, which puts her in grave danger.

A tie-up like a book? The series is written by Marlon James, the acclaimed author of A Brief History of the Seven Murders and trilogy starters Black Panther and Red Wolf.

Also, literary dialogue:
“Still, I will stand up.”
“Cardi B?”
“Maya Angelou, girl.”

The five-episode first season was streamed on HBO Max in the US in late 2024 and aired on Channel 4 in the UK in 2025.

Browse books Check out the 2025 and 2026 releases as recommended in previous Unusual Suspects newsletters on this shelf. Until next timeJoin me to talk about books on , Bluesky, Goodreads, Litsy, and Multitudes Contained.

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