What TV crime/murder series works best for you?

1. We know who the killer is and there is a cat mouse game between the killer and police?

2. We don't know the killer and there are several suspects?

1. Columbo. My favorite. While not a formula unique to Columbo, I can't readily think of another (TV series as opposed to a singe episode that is).

2. Love a good mystery.

I can appreciate both options when done right.
There's also option 3. They find out who the killer is halfway and then the cat and mouse game commences.

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The show "Monk" (starring Tony Shalhoub), and some episodes of the current show "Elsbeth" (starring Carrie Preston) are also "howcatchem" shows.

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There was also a short-lived show called "Mrs. Columbo" (starring Kate Mulgrew), but I don't remember if it used the "howcatchem" format.

@gbgoodies Thanks, I might check those out, but probably not Mrs. Columbo. Blasphemy! (I do like Kate Mulgrew, though.)

I highly recommend "Monk". Tony Shalhoub is a very underrated actor.

I read that Elsbeth started out as a recurring character on the TV show "The Good Wife", but I never saw her on that show. I've been watching and enjoying "Elsbeth" since it started last year, and you don't need to watch the previous show to enjoy her in this show.

I'll second Monk and Elsbeth.

If done well, I don't mind which of the two in the OP I watch. But not done well, (and if I'm not connecting with anything else) then the second can be painful as you sit there sure/having a very good idea of who and how in the first few minutes and having to wait for the clues to drop, each one just reinforcing what you thought from the beginning.

One of my favourites starts a new series this week, series 12 of Father Brown. I'm very pleased about that as I didn't know until Monday that it was made. They used to start the beginning of the year, so when there wasn't one, I wondered if they'd stopped. If you've not seen it before, it's a series using the GK Chesterton character as a basis for new stories. Set in 1950's Cotswolds it's the kind of idylic, village life people picture as England when they've never been and people here think existed when it never really did. At least, not quite like that.

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I like the kinds with surreal moments ala Twin Peaks

I prefer #1, mostly because there have been more shows I like that rely on it (Criminal, Spiral, The Shield, The Wire, etc.) I feel like you really have to dig to find a good show that relies on #2 since the procedural machines at CBS and NBC have exploited it to the nth degree. Psych is the only one off the top of my head that has deviated from the norm for #2 in the last couple decades.

You can't get better than "Columbo". It's the gold standard for #1. "Poker Face", which is on Peacock, is clearly inspired by "Columbo". I actually think it's better than "Elsbeth", which was also inspired by "Columbo".

If you are looking for ensemble shows rather than a one on one type of dynamic related to investigation of crimes, "Criminal Minds" is probably the best show of that type that I've seen, though Tongo probably wouldn't be a fan Another show that comes to mind is "Luther" with Idris Elba. For another British show, "Line of Duty" is fantastic, though it's broader than just murders. From your post, it's unclear to me if you're looking for any show about the investigation of crimes, or if you are more focused on those that have a one on one dynamic.

I have been watching this Danish crime show called Darkness: Those Who Kill which also reveals the killer upfront like Colombo.

Then it's the second spin-off from The Good Wife (which I've loved from start to finish).
I had started watching The Good Fight but lost interest after two seasons.

Instead of Columbo I'd rather watch stories with the ciminal as the protagonist and I'm sort of hoping they're getting away with it e.g. The Shield.

I watched the first few seasons of "The Good Wife", but in reruns, not when it originally aired. I haven't finished watching it yet because I just haven't had the time yet, but if I ever finish it, I'm planning to watch "The Good Fight", too.