So I love crime dramas. It must be the solving of mysteries and all of that… IT IS the solving of mysteries and all that. I love a good puzzle and figuring out who the culprit is.

It’s not surprise that Scooby Doo was one of my favourite shows growing up as child.

So without further ado let’s get into my list!

First is…

Diagnosis Murder

I love this show. It was my first favourite crime drama. It stars Dick Van Dyke and his son Barry Van Dyke and is really good.

Dr Mark Sloan is a consultant for the police and so helps out on cases from time to time. His son, Steve, is a homicide detective so they often work together.

So because Dr Sloan is a doctor, most of the murders are medical. So he solves the cases using his medical knowledge and his good people skills.

Plus he gains help from Amanda, a pathologist, Jack a fellow doctor who leaves the show and is replaced by Jesse. I used to love Jack’s character and I was so sad when he left but the actor Scott Baio, who played him, he’s… not what I expected. It’s disappointing. It’s a shame really. He kind of ruined the character for me.

My mom loved Jesse though so she was glad when he showed up. We used to watch the show together and she was the one who got me into it actually.

She also got me into…

Murder She Wrote

I love this show! It’s so good and old fashioned, a classic who dun it type of story.

Jessica Fletcher is a writer and she writes murder mysteries. She became a writer after her husband died and she stopped teaching and she is very successful. She’s actually had a very full and colourful life that continues into her retirement. It’s inspiring honestly.

She lives in this little town called Cabot Cove and it seems like a lot of death happens in this town and everywhere Jessica goes! Seriously, does no one find that weird? I didn’t think about it much when I was kid but as an adult it’s freaking weird!

As her friend I would be apprehensive if she decided to come and visit me as her friends either end up dying, being murderers or being framed for murder, the latter happens the most.

I was talking to my mom about this and she joked that if she was from back home people would have thought she was a witch.

Also, it’s a wonder she never gets killed. She puts herself in many dangerous situations. I’m glad she has cop friends who actually do their jobs (sort of) and are actually helpful (most of the time) because girl would have been dead otherwise.

Next is…

Monk

I love the intricacies of this show. The attention to detail and also the development of the characters.

Monk is the detective in this show. He has obsessive compulsive disorder and it started when his wife Trudy died due to a car bomb. No, this show is not like the mentalist so the plot does not revolve around them finding Trudy’s killer.

It more revolves around Monk building his life back up, going back to his work as a detective and helping people. His journey as a character is one of the most delightful to watch. He goes through so much and comes out on top, again it’s inspiring.

Also the detective work is top notch. Unlike the first two on my list this show actually features an actual detective as the main character working with his precinct.

It’s not all serious and it has it’s funny moments and it’s romantic moments. You  really grow with the characters.

CSI: Miami and CSI: NY

I love both of them equally.

Strangely I can’t stand the original. I just found it so dark… too dark. It left me more disturbed than anything so I could never watch it.

So I was surprised when I found myself enjoying the Miami and NY versions.

I fell in love with the Miami version first. I love all the characters and it has a great theme song. It can get gory which I don’t enjoy but I’m able to watch 98% of the show which is good.

Also I love the story lines given to the other characters. They get developed and have their own arcs so it’s not all about Horatio.

The same can be said about CSI: NY.

I love Flack the most… I would marry him. *Gets lost in a daydream*

But yeah Danny is cool too and I love the romance that develops between him and Lindsay. Also Mac is a good boss.

What I love the most about the shows is that they focus on the CSI’s, the crime scene investigators. They investigate the evidence and they do it with science! I love the scientific element. Like there’s an episode where triplets commit a murder and they have to figure out who did the actual killing. How they figured it out was absolutely fascinating.

Honourable Mentions:

NCIS (the earlier seasons), Bones, Criminal Minds and Columbo! I had to stop watching Criminal Minds though, it got too scary. Also I have no idea how Columbo managed to evade death, he played with fire too much annoying the murderers. He knew no fear! Bones is great, enough said and NCIS was really good in the first seasons. I also enjoy NCIS: LA and New Orleans. I also enjoyed The Mysteries of Laura and Body of Proof. Oh and Castle!

Last but not least is…

Law and Order

I had no idea how the American justice system worked and I have to say, it is messed up. Watching how stupid rules can get in the way of actually persecuting someone and how other stupid rules harm those who can’t afford a good lawyer… wow, the show really opened my eyes.

I love the part where the detectives are investigating the crime the most. I like seeing the process and how they gather evidence and piece it all together. I like that the show shows that detectives are people and they can be flawed and they can be racist and they can be screwed over.

They also show what proper police work should look like with the detectives who follow the rules.

On the lawyer side it is the same thing. Jack is set up to be this moral man who is striving to do what is right and is on the side of justice. However, he isn’t perfect and he definitely makes mistakes, something he acknowledges as he grows older and learns from them.

The show raises issues that I didn’t know existed or topics that need to be talked about. They really get me thinking and honestly I wish I could watch the show with someone who also likes to discuss the topics raised on the show because my mom doesn’t.

I like the original Law and Order the most, Law and Order SVU actually disturbed me. Perhaps because they deal with sex crimes but I kept getting upset and I couldn’t carry on watching it.

The original does have disturbing episodes too, especially when they talk about race, that really makes me sad, but on a whole the show tackles many issues and so I tend to focus on the other topics.

That’s it for my favourite crime shows. What are yours?