Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "mystery-writer"

1. Murder, She Wrote (1984–1996)

TV-PG | 50 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Professional writer and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher uses her intellect, charm, and persistence to get to the bottom of every crime she encounters.

Stars: Angela Lansbury, William Windom, Ron Masak, Louis Herthum

Votes: 29,202

2. Knives Out (2019)

PG-13 | 130 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

A detective investigates the death of the patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.

Director: Rian Johnson | Stars: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis

Votes: 773,184 | Gross: $165.36M

3. A Haunting in Venice (2023)

PG-13 | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Horror

In post-World War II Venice, Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a seance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer.

Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey

Votes: 111,694

4. Insomnia (2002)

R | 118 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.

Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan

Votes: 318,947 | Gross: $67.36M

5. See How They Run (2022)

PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery

In the West End of 1950s London, plans for a movie version of a smash-hit play come to an abrupt halt after a pivotal member of the crew is murdered.

Director: Tom George | Stars: Kieran Hodgson, Pearl Chanda, Gregory Cox, Harris Dickinson

Votes: 64,111

6. Swimming Pool (2003)

R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

A British mystery author visits her publisher's home in the South of France, where her interaction with his unusual daughter sets off some touchy dynamics.

Director: François Ozon | Stars: Charlotte Rampling, Charles Dance, Ludivine Sagnier, Jean-Marie Lamour

Votes: 48,326 | Gross: $10.11M

7. The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)

Passed | 82 min | Comedy, Mystery

A wealthy mystery writer uses her doctor ex-husband's non-payment of alimony to coerce him into a reconciliation.

Director: Stephen Roberts | Stars: William Powell, Jean Arthur, James Gleason, Eric Blore

Votes: 2,188

8. Secret Window (2004)

PG-13 | 96 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A successful writer in the midst of a painful divorce is stalked at his remote lake house by a would-be scribe who accuses him of plagiarism.

Director: David Koepp | Stars: Johnny Depp, Maria Bello, John Turturro, Timothy Hutton

Votes: 209,436 | Gross: $48.02M

9. Sleuth (1972)

PG | 138 min | Mystery, Thriller

A man who loves games and theater invites his wife's lover to meet him, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Alec Cawthorne, John Matthews

Votes: 50,146 | Gross: $4.08M

10. Suspicion (1941)

Approved | 99 min | Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller

A shy young heiress marries a charming gentleman, and soon begins to suspect he is planning to murder her.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce

Votes: 42,386 | Gross: $4.50M

11. Let Them All Talk (2020)

R | 113 min | Comedy, Drama

A famous author goes on a cruise trip with her friends and nephew in an effort to find fun and happiness while she comes to terms with her troubled past.

Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Meryl Streep, Gemma Chan, Dianne Wiest, Christopher Fitzgerald

Votes: 12,955

12. The Black Cat (1934)

Not Rated | 65 min | Crime, Horror, Romance

American honeymooners in Hungary become trapped in the home of a Satan-worshipping priest when the bride is taken there for medical help following a road accident.

Director: Edgar G. Ulmer | Stars: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Julie Bishop

Votes: 12,981 | Gross: $0.51M

13. Big Driver (2014 TV Movie)

Not Rated | 87 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller

A famous mystery writer sets out for revenge after a brutal attack.

Director: Mikael Salomon | Stars: Maria Bello, Ann Dowd, Will Harris, Joan Jett

Votes: 6,588

14. Agatha (1979)

PG | 105 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

December 1926, Agatha Christie's husband asks for a divorce. She leaves her car and goes missing 11 days. She books into a hotel as Mrs. Neele. Fiction: A US reporter looks for her and investigates.

Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Vanessa Redgrave, Timothy Dalton, Helen Morse

Votes: 3,570 | Gross: $7.50M

15. Sleuth (2007)

R | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

On his sprawling country estate, an aging writer matches wits with the struggling actor who has stolen his wife's heart.

Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Michael Caine, Jude Law, Harold Pinter, Kenneth Branagh

Votes: 33,027 | Gross: $0.34M

16. Mapleworth Murders (2020)

TV-MA | Short, Comedy, Mystery

A murder-mystery writer named Abigail Mapleworth solves homicides in her quaint small town of New Woodstream.

Stars: Paula Pell, John Lutz, J.B. Smoove, Hayley Magnus

Votes: 823

17. The Bat (1959)

Approved | 80 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

A crazed killer known as "The Bat" is on the loose in a mansion full of people.

Director: Crane Wilbur | Stars: Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Gavin Gordon, John Sutton

Votes: 6,193

18. Another Man's Poison (1951)

TV-G | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

A mystery writer becomes involved in a tangled web of murderous deception not unlike the plots of her novels.

Director: Irving Rapper | Stars: Bette Davis, Gary Merrill, Emlyn Williams, Anthony Steel

Votes: 3,366

19. One Winter Wedding (2021 TV Movie)

TV-G | 84 min | Drama, Romance

Cara and Ben book the Clara Lake chalet and head back to where their romance began for a small, intimate wedding with friends and family.

Director: Gary Yates | Stars: Taylor Cole, Jack Turner, Rukiya Bernard, Dewshane Williams

Votes: 818

20. Dead Man's Folly (1986 TV Movie)

Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

During a murder hunt game at a country house, to which Hercule Poirot is invited as an "expert", a real murder occurs.

Director: Clive Donner | Stars: Peter Ustinov, Jean Stapleton, Constance Cummings, Tim Pigott-Smith

Votes: 2,256

21. Duet (1987–1989)

30 min | Comedy, Romance

It's love at first sight when mystery writer Ben Coleman meets caterer Laura Kelly. The ups and downs of their romance form the basis of this series.

Stars: Matthew Laurance, Mary Page Keller, Chris Lemmon, Alison La Placa

Votes: 201

22. The Mad Magician (1954)

Not Rated | 72 min | Drama, Horror

An illusionist becomes homicidal when his best kept magic secrets are stolen by his rival.

Director: John Brahm | Stars: Vincent Price, Mary Murphy, Eva Gabor, John Emery

Votes: 2,189

23. Mr. & Mrs. North (1952–1954)

TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery

Jerry and Pamela North live in Greenwich Village in New York City. Jerry is a mystery magazine publisher who thinks he is a good amateur detective. He and his wife investigate various crimes and solve them before the police do.

Stars: Richard Denning, Barbara Britton, Francis De Sales, Lowell Gilmore

Votes: 251

24. A Night to Remember (1942)

Passed | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance

A mystery writer and his newlywed wife move into a Greenwich Village apartment and find themselves with a corpse and a half dozen red herrings.

Director: Richard Wallace | Stars: Loretta Young, Brian Aherne, Jeff Donnell, William Wright

Votes: 1,425

25. Murder on Flight 502 (1975 TV Movie)

TV-PG | 97 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Left in the lounge for first-class passengers, a letter warns of murders on Flight 502 - and the warning's received a day early.

Director: George McCowan | Stars: Ralph Bellamy, Polly Bergen, Theodore Bikel, Sonny Bono

Votes: 720

26. The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)

Passed | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

Mystery writer Cornelius Leyden becomes intrigued after the murdered body of a vicious career criminal washes up in the Bosphorus.

Director: Jean Negulesco | Stars: Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson

Votes: 3,961

27. Dial 'M' for Murder (1981 TV Movie)

98 min | Thriller

A London businessman concocts an intricate plan to murder his unfaithful wife for her money.

Director: Boris Sagal | Stars: Angie Dickinson, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Quayle, Michael Parks

Votes: 269

28. The Boy Next Door (2008 TV Movie)

PG-13 | 90 min | Crime, Thriller

Published author and photographer Sara Wylde takes a writer's break--a trip--to gain inspiration for a novel. She soon finds sensual intrigue, and a clue, before realizing she's stepped into a mysterious and life-threatening reality.

Director: Neill Fearnley | Stars: Dina Meyer, Woody Jeffreys, Marc Menard, Barclay Hope

Votes: 437

29. Mr. Murder (1998 TV Movie)

R | 132 min | Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller

A group of scientists are trying to produce the perfect soldier by cloning. Seven years later, a mystery novel writer discovers that his clone has his same physical appearance but has the personality of a murderer.

Director: Dick Lowry | Stars: Stephen Baldwin, Julie Warner, Bill Smitrovich, Thomas Haden Church

Votes: 702

30. Your Past Is Showing (1957)

Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy

A very British comedy about a blackmailer and his victims.

Director: Mario Zampi | Stars: Terry-Thomas, Peter Sellers, Peggy Mount, Shirley Eaton

Votes: 2,043

31. The Breakthrough (I) (2023)

14 min | Short, Comedy, Drama

Jane and Teddy are on the brink of divorce - but when their marital problems come to a sticking point, they have an unexpected breakthrough.

Director: Daniel Sinclair | Stars: Greta Lee, Ben Sinclair, Kristin Slaysman, Hana Marie Kim

Votes: 42

32. A Talent for Murder (1984 TV Movie)

80 min | Drama, Mystery, Comedy

A famed mystery writer (Dame Angela Lansbury) and her doctor ex-lover (Sir Laurence Olivier) solve her daughter-in-law's murder.

Director: Alvin Rakoff | Stars: Angela Lansbury, Laurence Olivier, Hildegard Neil, Charles Keating

Votes: 169

33. Woman on the Run (2017 TV Movie)

TV-14 | 88 min | Thriller

After surviving an attempt on her life, a reclusive mystery author discovers that her nanny has stolen her identity, forcing her to go to extreme lengths to get her children back.

Director: Jason Bourque | Stars: Sarah Butler, Jim Thorburn, Lindsay Maxwell, Bailey Skodje

Votes: 566

34. Charlie Chan in the Chinese Cat (1944)

Passed | 66 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery

Charlie Chan investigates the locked-room murder of a chess expert.

Director: Phil Rosen | Stars: Sidney Toler, Joan Woodbury, Mantan Moreland, Benson Fong

Votes: 1,478

35. Beauty (1998 TV Movie)

90 min | Romance

A man hires an artist to fulfill his family tradition of painting a family portrait. In this modern rendition of Beauty and the Beast, the artist is a beautiful female painter, and the model suffers from a disfiguring medical condition.

Director: Jerry London | Stars: Janine Turner, Jamey Sheridan, Linden Ashby, Shirley Broderick

Votes: 421

36. Footsteps in the Dark (1941)

Approved | 96 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery

A respected investment advisor has a double life as a mystery writer and becomes involved in the real murder of a shady client.

Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Ralph Bellamy, Alan Hale

Votes: 1,423

37. Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen (1990 TV Movie)

95 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

The chief suspects in the murder of an author are the numerous colleagues whom he continuously plagiarized.

Director: Christian I. Nyby II | Stars: Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, William R. Moses, Cindy Williams

Votes: 456

38. Dangerous Blondes (1943)

Approved | 81 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

A crime fiction writer and his wife investigate murders that are occurring at a fashion photography studio.

Director: Leigh Jason | Stars: Allyn Joslyn, Evelyn Keyes, Edmund Lowe, John Hubbard

Votes: 398

39. Murder in the Blue Room (1944)

61 min | Comedy, Crime, Film-Noir

A party is thrown at a haunted mansion, people start to die, and a man who spent a night in the "blue room" disappears.

Director: Leslie Goodwins | Stars: Anne Gwynne, Donald Cook, John Litel, Grace McDonald

Votes: 395

40. The Devil Plays (1931)

Passed | 63 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

A murder mystery evolves during a weekend at an exclusive mansion.

Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Jameson Thomas, Florence Britton, Thomas E. Jackson, Richard Tucker

Votes: 189

41. Thrill of the Kill (2006 TV Movie)

88 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Brilliant New York crime author Graydon Jennings agrees to help Kelly Holden investigate her sister Allison's murder, which seems uncannily equal to one his anti-hero-lead character Carlton... See full summary »

Director: Richard Roy | Stars: Shiri Appleby, Chris Potter, Paul Hopkins, James Kidnie

Votes: 449

42. Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery (1941)

Approved | 69 min | Adventure, Crime, Mystery

Jewlery smuggled into the United States from China.

Director: James P. Hogan | Stars: Ralph Bellamy, Margaret Lindsay, Charley Grapewin, Anna May Wong

Votes: 223

43. Ellery Queen: Don't Look Behind You (1971 TV Movie)

95 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Detective Ellery Queen has to solve a series of murders where the victims were killed in numerically descending ages, the male victims were strangled with blue cords and the female victims with pink ones.

Director: Barry Shear | Stars: Peter Lawford, Harry Morgan, E.G. Marshall, Skye Aubrey

Votes: 156

44. Seven Keys to Baldpate (1947)

Passed | 64 min | Mystery, Romance, Thriller

A mystery writer gets caught up in a real mystery when he accepts a bet to write a book at Baldpate, a remote inn.

Director: Lew Landers | Stars: Phillip Terry, Jacqueline White, Eduardo Ciannelli, Margaret Lindsay

Votes: 444

45. Capitol Hill (2014– )

Comedy

"Capitol Hill" follows an innocent young girl, named Roses Smell, who escapes the terrible backwater hell-hole of Portland, Oregon and comes to beautiful Seattle, Washington, in hopes of a better life. But will she find it?

Stars: Benjamin Putnam, Marc Kenison, Alexandra Tavares, Jeremy Wikander

Votes: 72

46. Mad Holiday (1936)

Passed | 71 min | Comedy, Mystery, Romance

Philip Trent is tired of playing film detective Shelby James, thinking that the stories are tripe, and plans a vacation to get away from Hollywood. But on the ship he meets a mysterious ... See full summary »

Director: George B. Seitz | Stars: Edmund Lowe, Elissa Landi, Zasu Pitts, Ted Healy

Votes: 224

47. Lost in Panic Cruise (2011)

Mystery

Detective novelist Liu Yunfei takes it upon himself to investigate a series of murders on a cruise ship. This is the sequel to the 2010 film "Lost in Panic Room."

Director: Fanfan Zhang | Stars: Alec Su, Junjie Mao, Hongjie Ni, Annie Wu

Votes: 61

48. The Town That Said No

Action, Crime, Drama | Announced

A small American town becomes divided when a soldier returning from Afghanistan is accused of war crimes. Based on the novel by Nat Segaloff

Stars: Liviu Covalschi, Jayce Venditti

49. Tezký zivot dobrodruha (1941)

89 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery

A writer of pulp crime novels is drawn into a series of real crimes.

Director: Martin Fric | Stars: Otomar Korbelár, Ladislav Pesek, Adina Mandlová, Jaroslav Marvan

Votes: 70

50. Kiken na onnatachi (1985)

122 min | Mystery

Shuhei, a mystery writer, is invited to a dinner party at a country house. The guests include Tanase and his wife Noriko. Next day, Tanase is shot and Noriko with a gun stands near him. Tanase calls one of the guest's name and dies.

Director: Yoshitarô Nomura | Stars: Mariko Fuji, Tomoe Hiiro, Kimiko Ikegami, Kôji Ishizaka

Votes: 10