Murder at the Manor
A grand house, a weekend party, a body in the library and a guest list full of suspects. Nine British country-house mysteries to stream, from Agatha Christie classics to clever modern twists.
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What Is a Country-House Mystery?
A country-house mystery gathers a closed circle of suspects in a grand house, usually family, guests and servants, and cuts them off from the outside world until the killer is found. It's the classic setup of the golden age of detective fiction, and British television has been returning to it ever since.
Agatha Christie's Great Houses
Agatha Christie became one of the defining masters of the country-house murder. These four adaptations are the place to start.
Poirot: Dead Man's Folly
Ariadne Oliver is hired to stage a murder hunt at a fête at Nasse House in Devon, senses something is wrong, and calls in Poirot just before the game turns real. It was filmed mainly at Greenway, Agatha Christie's own Devon home.
Marple: The Body in the Library
Colonel and Dolly Bantry wake to find the body of a young woman in the library of Gossington Hall, and nobody in the house admits to knowing her. Geraldine McEwan's Miss Marple takes the case in the opening episode of the series.
Towards Zero
A tennis star, his ex-wife and his new wife gather with a volatile mix of guests at his aristocratic aunt's house on the south coast in the 1930s, and murder follows. Anjelica Huston plays the formidable Lady Tressilian, with Matthew Rhys as a troubled Inspector Leach.
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Out playing golf, Bobby Jones finds a dying man at the foot of a Welsh cliff whose last words are the question in the title, and he and Lady Frances Derwent follow the trail to a grand country house. Hugh Laurie wrote and directed, with Will Poulter, Lucy Boynton, Emma Thompson and Jim Broadbent.
Modern Twists on the Manor Murder
Two clever takes that play with the country-house form, one through a novel within the story, one through Jane Austen.
Magpie Murders
Editor Susan Ryeland reads the final Atticus Pünd manuscript, a 1950s-style mystery about a death at Pye Hall, home of Sir Magnus Pye, and finds the last chapter missing. Lesley Manville leads Anthony Horowitz's adaptation of his own novel, which runs the book's mystery and a present-day one side by side.
Death Comes to Pemberley
Six years after Pride and Prejudice, on the eve of the Pemberley ball, gunshots ring out in the woods, Captain Denny is found dead, and Wickham is arrested for murder. Matthew Rhys and Anna Maxwell Martin play Mr and Mrs Darcy in this adaptation of P.D. James's novel.
Cozy Country Estates
For when you want the grand house and the gardens, without too much darkness.
Rosemary & Thyme
Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris play two gardeners whose work takes them into the grounds of grand houses and estates, where bodies have a habit of turning up among the flowerbeds. Beautiful gardens, gentle humour and a proper whodunit every episode.
Father Brown
Mark Williams plays G.K. Chesterton's crime-solving Catholic priest in the 1950s Cotswolds village of Kembleford, where the local gentry and their grand houses supply a steady stream of cases. Warm, unhurried and a dependable comfort watch.
Midsomer Murders
Grand estates, feuding landed families and inheritance squabbles turn up in episode after episode of Midsomer. If you want the country-house murder on tap, this is the long-running answer.
Where to Watch in the US
These three services currently carry the shows featured on this page in the US. Availability can change, so it's worth double-checking a title before settling in.
What Readers Ask Most
What is a country-house mystery?
A murder mystery set in a grand house where a closed circle of suspects, usually family, guests and servants, is cut off until the killer is found. It's the classic setup of golden-age detective fiction, and Agatha Christie used it often.
Where can I stream British country-house mysteries in the US?
Poirot, Towards Zero, Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, Rosemary & Thyme and Father Brown are on BritBox. Agatha Christie's Marple and Midsomer Murders are on Acorn TV, and Magpie Murders and Death Comes to Pemberley are on PBS Masterpiece.
Was Dead Man's Folly really filmed at Agatha Christie's home?
Yes. The 2013 Poirot adaptation of Dead Man's Folly was filmed mainly at Greenway, Christie's own house in Devon.
Which country-house mystery is best for beginners?
The Body in the Library is the textbook setup: a grand house, a body nobody can explain, and Miss Marple. For something lighter, try Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Are there cozy country-house mysteries that aren't too dark?
Rosemary & Thyme and Father Brown both keep things gentle, with grand houses and gardens and very little gore.
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