16 Awesome British Mysteries You Can Stream Right Now
By Lacy Baugher
Death in Paradise
In case the seemingly endless grim darkness of this list has started to get you down, here’s a little respite. Yeah, Death in Paradise is a murder mystery series – the title kind of gives that away up front. But it takes place in the sunny Caribbean, the scenery is gorgeous and almost everyone besides our series lead is really laid back. As much as shows like this ever do, this is fluff.
Scotland Yard detective Richard Poole journeys to the island of Sainte Marie to solve a fellow policeman’s murder. After he successfully solves the case, he must stay on in this tropical paradise as new detective inspector of the island. He is charged with solving new cases as they appear. Which really seems to be at a rather high rate, given how small this island is.
It’s basically a classic fish-out-of-water series. It’s generally funny and light-hearted, with the added benefit of the fact that we can all basically mock Poole for not liking his beautiful new professional setting. (I mean, honestly, who wouldn’t want to work there!)
Due to various offscreen reasons, the largest of which being that star Ben Miller wanted to leave the show, Death in Paradise switched out its lead in 2014. Love Actually’s Kris Marshall took over as new detective Humphrey Goodman and remains in the role today.
Number of Seasons: 5
Where to Watch: Netflix