Best Mystery Podcasts (2026)
The best mystery podcasts keep you guessing right up to the end — and sometimes beyond it. Whether you're drawn to cold cases, unsolved disappearances or real detective work, these 10 shows are the ones worth subscribing to.
Waking up with a podcast on iOS
Podcast Alarm is a fully featured podcast player and alarm. You can set up queues of your favourite episodes and listen to them whenever you like. Why not subscribe to your favourite podcast and have the latest episode wake you up every weekday morning. There are lots of screenshots and videos in our "How to set a podcast as an alarm on iphone?" blog post.
1. Casefile True Crime
The gold standard for mystery and true crime. An anonymous Australian host narrates meticulously researched cases — missing persons, cold cases, wrongful convictions — with zero sensationalism. If you only listen to one show on this list, make it Casefile.
2. Up and Vanished
Payne Lindsey started this as an amateur investigation into the disappearance of Georgia teacher Tara Grinstead — and ended up helping solve it. One of the few true crime podcasts that can say it directly contributed to an arrest.
3. Someone Knows Something
CBC's David Ridgen investigates cold cases alongside families still searching for answers. The show has actually helped solve cases. That alone makes it unlike anything else in the genre.
4. Your Own Backyard
Chris Lambert's long-running investigation into the disappearance of Kristin Smart from Cal Poly in 1996. Obsessively detailed, community-driven, and ultimately led to a conviction. A masterclass in citizen investigation.
5. Bear Brook
New Hampshire Public Radio's investigation into four unidentified murder victims found in barrels in the New Hampshire woods — a case that eventually cracked open thanks to DNA genealogy. Gripping and genuinely groundbreaking.
6. Swindled
A slightly different kind of mystery — corporate crime, regulatory failures and white-collar wrongdoing, narrated by an anonymous host with a very dry wit. Funny, infuriating and endlessly listenable.
7. Dirty John
The LA Times investigation into con man John Meehan and the woman he deceived. Told in gripping serial form, it covers manipulation, obsession and a family pushed to breaking point. The TV adaptation followed — the podcast came first.
8. Over My Dead Body
Wondery's narrative true crime series covers infamous cases with dramatic flair — but crucially, it gets the facts right. Each season covers a different story and works brilliantly as a binge listen.
9. Scam Goddess
Comedian Laci Mosley breaks down history's greatest scams and con artists with her comedian guests. More fun than it has any right to be — and you'll learn exactly how people get fooled.
10. Darknet Diaries
Jack Rhysider investigates hacks, breaches, cybercrime and the hidden parts of the internet. Each episode is a self-contained mystery — the kind where the twist is always that someone was much cleverer (or stupider) than you expected.
Wake up to a mystery
Set a true crime podcast as your morning alarm and start the day hooked. Download Podcast Alarm and wake up to your next favourite show.
Waking up with a podcast on iOS
Podcast Alarm is a fully featured podcast player and alarm. You can set up queues of your favourite episodes and listen to them whenever you like. Why not subscribe to your favourite podcast and have the latest episode wake you up every weekday morning. There are lots of screenshots and videos in our "How to set a podcast as an alarm on iphone?" blog post.
