5 TV Shows To Watch If You Like Detective Hole

"Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole," based on the Scandinavian author's series of novels, hit Netflix on March 26, 2026 and became an instant hit for the streamer — because, honestly, detective procedurals never go out of style. As you might have guessed, the series focuses on Detective Harry Hole, played by Tobias Santelmann, who lives and works in Oslo as he tries to solve crimes while battling his own personal demons. With an international cast that includes Joel Kinnaman, Peter Stormare, Pia Tjelta, and Kelly Gale, the first season of the series specifically adapts Nesbø's novel "The Devil's Star," the fifth book in her "Harry Hole" series that centers around Hole's search for a serial killer loose in Oslo as well as professional friction with another policeman, Tom Waaler (Kinnaman).

So what should you watch next if you really like this buzzy new Netflix series? We've compiled a list of, obviously, detective dramas — but because this series focuses on one specific detective and his personal and professional issues, we tried to center shows that also give us some insight into the protagonist's inner struggles. Here are five shows you should check out if you love "Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole."

If you love how dark "Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole" can get, definitely check out "Broadchurch," a British TV drama that ran for three seasons from 2013 to 2017 on ITV. The first season introduces us to detective inspector Alec Hardy ("Doctor Who" veteran David Tennant) and detective sergeant Ellie Miller (future Oscar winner Olivia Colman) as they investigate the death of a young boy, Danny Latimer (Oskar McNamara), in the fictional seaside town of Broadchurch. Even though the two initially find themselves at odds — largely because Alec got a promotion as an outside hire that Ellie hoped to earn herself — they become close as they investigate Danny's murder, and the show delves into their backstories as they pursue any leads about who killed Danny.

"Broadchurch" continued after that inaugural season, but if we're getting super specific, that's the one we recommend; it's got the strongest mystery, and Tennant, Colman, and supporting players Jodie Whittaker (incredibly, before she played The Doctor on "Doctor Who" and followed in Tennant's footsteps), Andrew Buchan, David Bradley, Jacob Anderson, and Arthur Darville (another veteran of "Doctor Who") all turn in outstanding performances. Just avoid "Gracepoint," the American remake that pairs Tennant with "Breaking Bad" star Anna Gunn and makes him do an American accent — it's terrible.

A newer entry to the "tormented detective" canon, Amazon Prime Video's original series "Scarpetta" centers around — you guessed it — Nicole Kidman's Kay Scarpetta, the heroine of a novel series written by Patricia Cornwell. (Kay is also played, in flashbacks, by British actress Rosy McEwen, who does an excellent job mirroring many of Kidman's distinctive mannerisms.) Let's be clear, though — Kay might perform some of the duties you might expect from a detective, but she's actually a brilliant forensic pathologist and medical examiner, and as the series begins, she's asked to work as the chief medical examiner of the commonwealth of Virginia when a truly horrific murder occurs.

Looper didn't totally love "Scarpetta" when we reviewed the series, but Kidman is, as usual, excellent — and her fellow cast members include all-stars like Bobby Cannavale, Kidman's fellow Oscar winners Jamie Lee Curtis and Ariana DeBose, and "The Mentalist" star Simon Baker all deliver pretty excellent performances across the board. "Scarpetta" presents a slightly different approach to a procedural, and despite its pitfalls, you'll definitely like it if you just made your way through "Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole."

"The Fall" is a particularly fascinating procedural detective show because it splits its time between the story's central intrepid detective, Gillian Anderson's detective superintendent Stella Gibson, and a dangerous serial killer named Paul Spector (played, pre-"Fifty Shades of Grey," by a stunningly good Jamie Dornan). After the London-based Stella is sent out to Northern Ireland to try to track a serial killer that's been eluding the police for weeks. While there, Stella finds herself challenged by the hunt for the killer — Paul, who leads a totally normal and unsuspicious life as a husband and father and targets young women in Belfast in the dead of night.

"The Fall" ran for three seasons from 2013 to 2016 on BBC Two in the United Kingdom and RTÉ One in Ireland — as well as Tubi and, eventually, Netflix in the United States — and kept this intriguing cat-and-mouse game between Stella and Paul going across 17 episodes. With Anderson and Dornan at the helm, "The Fall" will keep you captivated from beginning to end, and it pairs perfectly with "Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole."

Love "Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole," but wish Idris Elba was in it? Try "Luther," a joint collaboration between Netflix and the BBC. The series, obviously, stars Elba as detective chief inspector John Luther, who constantly battles personal demons at work — and often breaks a lot of rules in the process — as he works at the Metropolitan Police Service. Among other things, Luther is haunted by the death of his wife Zoe (Indira Varma) at the hands of his supposed friend and colleague, fellow detective chief inspector Ian Reed (Steven Mackintosh), and as he works alongside research scientist Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson) to solve horrific crimes in London, he does his best to keep a cool head in fraught situations. (Speaking of Alice, she's got some truly depraved skeletons in her closet, something else Luther struggles with throughout the series.)

If 5 seasons of "Luther" aren't enough for you to binge after you finish consuming "Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole," the 2023 movie "Luther: The Fallen Sun" should keep you entertained. Plus, if you're doing a deep dive on Elba's body of work, you absolutely can't miss "Luther."

To say that "True Detective," the anthology series that first premiered on HBO back in 2014, has its ups and downs is a massive understatement. Season 1 of the series, which was helmed by Nic Pizzolatto and starred Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as detectives Martin "Marty" Hart and Rustin "Rust" Cohle, respectively, earned a ton of acclaim for its layered and twisted central mystery, Harrelson and McConaughey's phenomenal performances, and its fresh take on the familiar procedural format; in fact, it won an Emmy for outstanding drama series at the 2014 ceremony. 

Season 2 took a serious downturn in quality despite bringing in incredibly talented players like Rachel McAdams and Colin Farrell to tell a new story; Mahershala Ali joins the cast in Season 3, and Season 4 saw a fantastic shakeup with Issa López taking over as showrunner. That season, which stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis and is set in Alaska, represented a bold new step for this long-running series. If you love watching Detective Hole solve mysteries, "True Detective" gives you several different stories to keep you entertained.

"Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole" is streaming on Netflix now.