7 Shows With Mysteries To Solve After Bingeing ‘The Residence’
Netflix’s newest binge-worthy series, The Residence, gives us a flavor of Shondaland with a side of murder mystery.
Anyone who loves a feminist hero coupled with a dark and seemingly unsolvable crime has met their match with The Residence. The show stars Uzo Aduba as Cordelia Cupp, whose wry sense of humor leads her through a whodunnit set in the White House.
As we try to block out the reality of 2025’s White House, The Residence gives us a fun twist on the political backdrop with an ensemble cast of quirky characters. Between its Shondaland touch and Charade-inspired screwball romance, however, it’s nearly incomparable to anything else on the air. So we’ve compiled the best seven series to watch after bingeing The Residence.
The Afterparty (2022–2023)
At the height of murder mysteries in the mainstream with films like Knives Out and shows like Only Murders in the Building, Apple TV+ answered the hype with its own murder mystery series. The Afterparty stars Tiffany Haddish as Detective Danner, whose unorthodox strategies lead to hilarious antics, alongside Sam Richardson and Zoë Chao, who find themselves embroiled in not one, but two, murders. Each season has a different ensemble cast of potential suspects, who each share their points of view of the murders through different genres. A master class in genre-bending and unreliable narrators, The Afterparty shares similar DNA to The Residence with its star-studded comedic cast, high-stakes murder mystery, and a badass Black female detective at the center of it all.
How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020)
Although How to Get Away with Murder is a long-running serial drama, its shared DNA with The Residence makes it a must-watch for any fan of the Netflix series. Produced by Shondaland, the show stars Viola Davis in the role of a lifetime as Annalise Keating, a lawyer who finds herself involved in a complicated murder. While darker and more dramatic than The Residence, Viola’s award-winning performance rivals Uzo Aduba’s, both giving emotional depth and complexity to their respective series. With a bit of murder and another feminist icon at its center, How to Get Away with Murder is the perfect show to watch after bingeing The Residence.
Death and Other Details (2024)
Starring Mandy Patinkin and Violett Beane, Death and Other Details has a murder mystery plot similar to The Residence. While it received mixed reviews, it was also lauded for its gender-balanced hiring with the ReFrame Stamp and received a Leo Award nomination for its production design. The interweaving plotlines are mildly convoluted, but the murder mystery at its heart, along with the starring investigative duo provide emotional arcs of grief, revenge, and long-awaited epiphanies.
Poker Face (2023–Present)
Peacock’s answer to the murder mystery fad, Poker Face stars Natasha Lyonne as a casino cocktail waitress who can always read a poker face. Her ability to discern when someone is lying or hiding something puts her at the center of several murder mystery plots in a “murder of the week” format. Between its wide array of guest stars, including Adrien Brody, Lil Rel Howry, Chloë Sevigny, Judith Light, Tim Meadows, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and more, Poker Face is a murder mystery gem for any fan of The Residence. With a similar comedy-drama tone and a rough-around-the-edges leading lady, Poker Face is an apt next watch.
Search Party (2016–2022)
A dark comedy cult classic, Search Party begins as a murder mystery and ends as a literal cult series. Each season gets darker and more ridiculous as Alia Shawkat’s Dory Sief finds herself in more and more absurd situations. At first, she’s just looking for meaning while looking for a missing college acquaintance. But Season 1 search sets off a series of events that lead her and her friends into a downward spiral of murder, cover-ups, media influence, abduction, and cult dynamics, amidst a group of friends just trying to survive their journeys into true adulthood. While Search Party is admittedly much more absurd than The Residence, Alia’s gripping performance is grounded in the reality of emotion with mystery and death hanging over her friend group like an unmissable dark cloud.
Veronica Mars (2004–2007, 2019)
The Rob Thomas-created series starring Kristen Bell as the titular character is an easy transition to binge after watching The Residence. With three initial seasons and a fourth in 2019, it shares investigative DNA with The Residence by following Veronica, a plucky high school student who moonlights as a private investigator. Each episode follows a different case, but Veronica’s arc throughout the series incorporates an emotional heart much like that of Uzo’s Cordelia Cupp.
Murder, She Wrote (1984–1996)
Arguably the most historic murder mystery series, Murder, She Wrote starred Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. Although it was a serial crime drama, its moments of lightness paired with Angela’s spot-on comedic timing made it one of the most iconic murder mysteries to date. A female-led series like The Residence, Jessica’s gumption and perceptiveness made her a better detective than many of the male police officers officially investigating the cases around her. This made Murder, She Wrote an early example of mystery-laden feminism and a clear influence of later shows like Veronica Mars, Poker Face, The Afterparty, and of course, The Residence.
