NoBadPicks

Shows Like The Dresden Files

If you loved The Dresden Files's Sci-Fi & Fantasy and Mystery storytelling, these series deliver a similar experience — chosen for tone, narrative quality, and viewer satisfaction. Each includes where to stream it now.

Top Picks

Grimm
8.3

Grimm

2011

After Portland homicide detective Nick Burkhardt discovers he's descended from an elite line of criminal profilers known as "Grimms," he increasingly finds his responsibilities as a detective at odds with his new responsibilities as a Grimm.

Presumed Innocent
7.9

Presumed Innocent

2024

A horrific murder upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorney's Office when one of its own is suspected of the crime—leaving the accused fighting to keep his family together.

Jonathan Creek
7.5

Jonathan Creek

1997

Working from his home in a converted windmill, Jonathan Creek is a magician with a natural ability for solving puzzles. He soon puts this ability to the use of solving impossible crimes and mysterious murders.

The Untouchables
7.8

The Untouchables

1959

Special Agent Eliot Ness and his elite team of incorruptible agents battle organized crime in 1930s Chicago.

Shining Girls
7.5

Shining Girls

2022

Years after a brutal attack left her in a constantly shifting reality, Kirby Mazrachi learns that a recent murder is linked to her assault. She teams with veteran reporter Dan Velazquez to understand her ever-changing present—and confront her past.

Father Dowling Mysteries
7.4

Father Dowling Mysteries

1989

Father Dowling is a sleuthing parish priest from Chicago who investigates baffling crimes

Baretta
6.4

Baretta

1975

Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma. While popular, Toma received intense criticism at the time for its realistic and frequent depiction of police and criminal violence. When Musante left the series after a single season, the concept was retooled as Baretta, with Robert Blake in the title role.

Emergence
7.0

Emergence

2019

A police chief takes in a young child she finds near the site of a mysterious accident who has no memory of what has happened. The investigation draws her into a conspiracy larger than she ever imagined, and the child’s identity is at the center of it all.

More Shows Like The Dresden Files

Perry Mason
7.2

Perry Mason

2020

Set in 1932 Los Angeles, the series focuses on the origin story of famed defense lawyer Perry Mason. Living check-to-check as a low-rent private investigator, Mason is haunted by his wartime experiences in France and suffering the effects of a broken marriage. L.A. is booming while the rest of the country recovers from the Great Depression — but a kidnapping gone very wrong leads to Mason exposing a fractured city as he uncovers the truth of the crime.

APB
6.5

APB

2017

After a billionaire engineer witnesses his best friend’s murder, he takes charge of Chicago’s troubled 13th District and reboots it as a technically innovative police force, challenging the district to rethink everything about the way they fight crime.

Nancy Drew
7.8

Nancy Drew

2019

Nancy Drew makes plans to leave her hometown for college, but finds herself drawn into a supernatural murder mystery instead.

Shakespeare & Hathaway - Private Investigators
7.3

Shakespeare & Hathaway - Private Investigators

2018

Frank Hathaway, a hardboiled private investigator, and his rookie sidekick Lu Shakespeare form the unlikeliest of partnerships as they investigate the secrets of rural Warwickshire's residents.

The Exorcist
7.3

The Exorcist

2016

Follow the lives of two very different priests tackling one family’s case of terrifying demonic possession.

The Purge
6.9

The Purge

2018

Set in a dystopian America ruled by a totalitarian political party, the series follows several seemingly unrelated characters living in a small city. Tying them all together is a mysterious savior who’s impeccably equipped for everything the night throws at them. As the clock winds down with their fates hanging in the balance, each character is forced to reckon with their pasts as they discover how far they will go to survive the night.

Medium
7.5

Medium

2005

Allison Dubois works in the District Attorney’s office using her natural intuition about people and her ability to communicate with the dead to help to solve crimes. Her dreams often give her clues to the whereabouts of missing people.

Mike Hammer
6.6

Mike Hammer

1984

Private detective Mike Hammer hunts down criminals on the mean streets of New York City.

Dead Boy Detectives
7.7

Dead Boy Detectives

2024

Two teen ghosts work alongside a clairvoyant to solve mysteries for their supernatural clientele — until a powerful witch complicates their plans.

Agatha Christie's Poirot
8.2

Agatha Christie's Poirot

1989

From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule Poirot pits his wits against a collection of first class deceptions.

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy
7.3

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy

2025

When a teenager goes missing, it becomes clear that many young men and boys have disappeared at the hands of John Wayne Gacy, the prime suspect.

Ellis
6.1

Ellis

2024

DCI Ellis, a tenacious cop, is parachuted into failing investigations alongside her partner DS Harper. Each case will bring her to a different police station where she'll have to not only immerse herself in the case, but also win over the local police.

Why These Shows Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with The Dresden Files (2007): Sci-Fi & Fantasy and Mystery themes, similar pacing, and comparable production quality. NoBadPicks uses TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface series most likely to resonate with fans of The Dresden Files.

See full details for The Dresden Files (2007)

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