There was something for everyone on TV in 2025. Some shows shattered conventions, others re‑examined true crime classics as dramatic adaptations, and still others were returning favorites. But which TV shows and documentaries we reviewed truly stood out? We’ll hear from crime writers as they share their top ten picks for 2025.

Lara's picks for best TV of 2025

1. Adolescence
2. The Quilters
3. Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War
4. Unknown Number Catfishing scam-
5. Dept. Q
6. The Diplomat season 3
7. Only Murders in the Building season 5
8. Task
9. The Perfect Neighbor
10. The Hunting Wives

Toby's picks for the best TV of 2025

1. Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War
2. Adolescence
3. The Lowdown
4. The Diplomat season 3
5. White Lotus
6. The Perfect Neighbor
7. The Yogurt Shop Murders
8. Only Murders In the Building season 5
9. CHAOS – The Manson Murders
10. The Fox Hollow Murders

Kevin's picks for the best TV of 2025

1. Adolescence
2. The White Lotus season 3
3. Good American Family
4. Unknown Number: A High School Catfish
5. Task
6. Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War
7. The Fox Hollow Murders
8. Surviving Ohio State
9. The Perfect Neighbor
10. The Bunker

Rebecca's picks for the best TV of 2025

1. The Diplomat season 3
2. Adolescence
3. The White Lotus season 3
4. Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War
5. The Beast in Me
6. The Perfect Neighbor
7. Unknown Number
8. Quilters
9. Only Murders In the Building season 5
10. Murdaugh: Death in the Family

The Crime Writers On Best of 2025 true crime documentaries

1. Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War (Prime)
2. Unknown Number: A High School Catfish (Netflix)
3. The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix)
4. The Quilters (Netflix)
5. The Fox Hollow Murders (ABC News Studios)
6. The Yogurt Shop Murders (HBO)
7. Surviving Ohio State (HBO)
8. CHAOS - The Manson Murders (Netflix)
9. The Bunker (Viaplay)
10. A Deadly American Marriage (Netflix)

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2025 was a solid year for podcasts. There were multiple investigative series, retrospectives on the history you thought you knew, and even some light‑hearted fare that was quirky and entertaining. But which titles truly stood out? We’ll hear from crime writers as they share their top 10 podcasts we reviewed in 2025.

Lara's top 10 podcasts:

1. Spotlight: Snitch City
2. Liberty Lost  
3. The Preventionist
4. The Retrievals season 2
5. Not a Very Good Murderer
6. Wisecrack
7. Breakdown: Three Days in May
8. Uncover: Sea of Lies  
9. Scam Factory
10. Bone Valley Season 3 | Graves County

Toby's top 10 podcasts:

1. Bone Valley Season 3 | Graves County
2. Scam Factory
3. Final Thoughts: Jerry Springer
4. Breakdown: Three Days in May
5. Uncover: Sea of Lies
6. Not a Very Good Murderer
7. Wisecrack
8. Stakeknife
9. Dirtbag Climber
10. Lords of Death

Kevin's top 10 podcasts:

1. Wisecrack
2. Spotlight: Snitch City
3. Stakeknife
4. Final Thoughts: Jerry Springer
5. The Copernic Affair
6. Not a Very Good Murderer
7. The Retrievals season 2
8. Bone Valley Season 3 | Graves County
9. Death County, PA
10. The Preventionist

Rebecca's top 10 podcasts:

1. Wisecrack
2. Bone Valley Season 3 | Graves County
3. Spotlight: Snitch City
4. Stakeknife
5. The Retrievals season 2
6. Not a Very Good Murderer
7. Dirtbag Climber
8. Death County PA
9. Final Thoughts: Jerry Springer
10. Liberty Lost

The Crime Writers On Best of 2025 Podcast List

1. Wisecrack
2. Spotlight: Snitch City
3. Bone Valley Season 3 | Graves County
4. Not a Very Good Murderer
5. Stakeknife
6. The Retrievals season 2
7. Final Thoughts: Jerry Springer
8. Breakdown: Three Days in May
9. Scam Factory
10. Liberty Lost

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When the body of 18-year-old Sarah Zuber was found outside her home in 2019, the evidence suggested a variety of competing theories. Was it a murder, a hit and run, or Sarah’s own intoxicated misadventure?  Her parents believed authorities bungled the case and are hiding information. Community members organized on Facebook pages and in action groups, spouting their own theories and suspects. The Zuber case also spawned a political movement targeting a mayor and the sheriff. But as answers to what actually happened still elude us, questions remain whether the attention has benefitted the case - or benefitted the people demanding results.

Season two of the podcast from Oregon Public Broadcasting “Hush: Love Thy Neighbor” focuses on the Sarah Zuber case and why the available evidence supports the contrary conclusions of those throughout Columbia County. Host Leah Sottile and producer Ryan Haas examine how true crime culture and changes in media have altered how a case like this is consumed. They also leave listeners to wonder if the motives of Sarah’s greatest champions are completely altruistic.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "HUSH: LOVE THY NEIGHBOR" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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Alex Murdaugh was part of a South Carolina legal dynasty, but the attorney was hiding secrets. He had been embezzling from his family’s law firm to maintain a lavish lifestyle and his addiction to pills. Things start to unravel when his younger son Paul is involved in a fatal boating accident. A reporter turns up evidence of suspicious deaths and apparent corruption by members of the Murdaugh family. As his marriage falls apart and a civil lawsuit will surely expose his financial crimes, Alex Murdaugh contemplates drastic measures to avoid the consequences.  

Hulu’s “Murdaugh: Death in the Family” stars Jason Clarke and Patricia Arquette. Adapted from the “Murdaugh Murders Podcast,” the miniseries focuses on Alex's financial scams, Maggie’s unhappy marriage, Paul’s boating crash, and Buster’s connection to a cold case. It mines the emotional consequences of the characters' actions, all leading up to a double murder on the family’s property.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MURDAUGH: DEATH IN THE FAMILY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: grizzly bear.

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Author Aggie Wiggs finds herself at odds with her new neighbor: wealthy property developer Nile Jarvis, who’s been living under suspicion since the disappearance of his first wife. But when the man who killed Aggie’s son in a drunk driving accident also vanishes, she wonders if Jarvis had a hand in it. Desperate for cash and encouraged by Jarvis, Aggie agrees to write about him. As he gives her more access into his life, Aggie is drawn into her mercurial subject’s mind games and fears what he is actually capable of.

Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys star in the Netflix series “The Beast In Me.” The thriller features a cat-and-mouse game between the famous author and the infamous real estate scion. Aggie struggles with personal demons, her uneasy relationship with her rich neighbor, and whether the truths of the past could destroy them both.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE BEAST IN ME" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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Straight-A student Paul Fisher dropped out of college to try his hand as a male gigolo in L.A. After a chance encounter with a mobster flush with cash, Fisher moved to New York and opened his own modeling agency to compete with the titans of the industry. The so-called “model war” changed the way stars are born in the fashion industry. But along the way, Fisher struggled with the excesses of the 80s, pushback from the old guard, and the shady figures who backed his agency.  

The podcast “Model Wars” from Campside Media and iHeartPodcasts looks at the improbable rise and fall of a self-made libertine and the characters around him who disrupted the industry. Host Vanessa Grigoriadis lets Fisher tell his own story of making stars, making money, and making trouble in the world of high fashion during the 1980s.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MODEL WARS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: Should have seen that coming.

Our special fill-in guest is Ronald Young Jr. from the podcast "Weight for It."

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After writing his latest exposé about the family of a gubernatorial candidate, journalist, used book seller, and self-styled “truthstorian” Lee Raybon learns that Donald Washberg’s brother has shot himself. But notes from Dale Washberg, tucked into paperbacks, lead Lee to suspect things are not as they seem. With the help of his eccentric acquaintances, Lee searches for a connection between Washberg, a group of skinheads, a cabal of wealthy Oklahomans, and a series of suspicious real estate deals. He also tries to balance his relationships with a conniving widow, his ex-wife, and his pre-teen daughter, who’s looking for her father’s attention.

Ethan Hawke stars in “The Lowdown,” from FX and available on Hulu. The quirky journalist navigates Tulsa’s political world—and its underworld—to learn whether Dale Washberg’s death was suicide or homicide… all while dodging hate groups, juggling his faltering business, and fumbling his personal relationships.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE LOWDOWN" BEGIN IN THE FINAL NINE MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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Attorney Steven Donziger spent his whole career on one case: suing an oil company for polluting villages in the Amazon rainforest. When he obtained a $9 billion judgment against Chevron, it was considered a win for the environment, for corporate accountability, and for Donziger himself. But Chevron never paid the judgement and shifted its legal strategy. They targeted Donziger and his propensity for pushing the limits of the law. In the end, the attorney found himself ruined, disbarred, and under house arrest.

The podcast “Scorched Earth: Inside the Epic Battle Between Steven Donziger and Chevron,” available now as an Audible Original, looks at the multibillion-dollar lawsuit, an ethically-compromised attorney, and the lengths that Big Oil went to avoid responsibility. Host David Sirota raises questions about the weaponization of the law, about accountability in the climate change era, and about the line between advocacy and misconduct. 

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SCORCHED EARTH" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: six feet under from stardom.

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An official in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley made a troubling discovery about the county’s Office of Youth Services. Workers were taking action against a large number of families based on the diagnosis of a hospital specialist…diagnoses that were frequently proven wrong. He argued money was wasted and lives were destroyed by an overabundance of caution from one doctor. Dr. Debra Jenssen made a career in multiple states finding signs of abuse others hadn’t found, and strong-arming authorities to take action against unsuspecting caretakers. Parents, social workers - and even judges - claimed the specialist too often misdiagnosed illness or accident as trauma, rejected contrary evidence, and upended families in a misguided effort to protect children. 

The podcast “The Preventionist” from Serial Productions and The New York Times explores the rise of a powerful new field in medicine and the consequences of its “better safe than sorry” application by one doctor. Host Dyan Neary also highlights the story of a family trying to piece itself together after authorities took action on a questionable diagnosis of child abuse.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE PREVENTIONIST" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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In 1988, postal officials intercepted a package of heroin from China being sent to New York. DEA Agents followed the shipment to the door of a young mother living in Chinatown. Tina Wong told them she was paid by a high school friend to receive packages and pass them along to a street gang. Officials learned women in local mahjong parlors were being recruited to take part in a massive drug trafficking operation. Prosecutors leaned on Wong to betray her friend and take down the gang. But as they moved in on the Flying Dragons, its leader named “Onionhead,” fled to Hong Kong.

From Pushkin Industries comes the podcast “The Chinatown Sting.” Host Lidia Jean Kott and co-reporter Shuyu Wang talk to key figures in the crime who’ve never spoken before. In addition to reviewing the investigation, they dig into the challenging cultural landscape faced by those growing up in New York’s Chinese neighborhoods during the 1980s.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE CHINATOWN STING" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: Legal technicality.

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