Shows Like Castle
After a serial killer imitates the plots of his novels, successful mystery novelist Richard "Rick" Castle receives permission from the Mayor of New York City to tag along with an NYPD homicide investigation team for research purposes.
Ranked by shared creators, cast, themes, genre, and network — not just generic recommendations.
Take Two
Same creators (Andrew W. Marlowe & Terri Edda Miller); identical format: celebrity civilian shadows detective, banter-driven crime-comedy.
Psych
Civilian consultant (fake psychic) paired with detective solves murders; same lighthearted tone, will-they chemistry, episodic+serialized.
Bones
Civilian expert + federal agent solve murders together; banter-and-romance arc mirrors Castle almost scene-for-scene.
The Mentalist
Civilian consultant with sharp observational wit embedded in police unit; procedural-with-serialized-arc, same tone and network audience.
Monk
OCD civilian consultant solves murders with detective partner; lighthearted procedural with character comedy, identical Castle audience.
Elementary
Sherlock Holmes as NYPD consultant paired with female partner; NYC setting, civilian-consultant hook, same procedural-with-character-arc format.
Instinct
Author/CIA operative as NYPD criminal consultant paired with female detective; NYC, near-identical premise and tone to Castle.
Murder, She Wrote
Mystery writer turned amateur sleuth; same writer-solves-crimes hook, cozy crime tone, broad mainstream audience.
Columbo
Quirky-detective-with-charm format; murder-of-the-week, witty persona front-and-center, same cozy crime audience.
Rizzoli & Isles
Female detective + civilian expert solve Boston murders; buddy-duo chemistry, lighthearted procedural tone, same network demo.
Bored to Death
Brooklyn writer moonlights as unlicensed detective; same writer-plays-detective conceit, crime-comedy tone.
Unforgettable
NYC/NYPD female detective with unique ability; procedural structure, same network audience, overlapping Castle viewership.
Cold Case
Female homicide detective lead, character-driven procedural; same tone and mainstream crime-drama audience as Castle.
The Equalizer
Same creators (Marlowe/Miller) but tone shifts darker/action-heavy; female lead crime drama without the consultant-banter dynamic.
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
Odd-couple detective pairing (aristocrat + working-class DS) solves murders; same buddy structure, British but same tonal shelf.
DCI Banks
Novel-based detective with strong male/female partner dynamic; crime procedural with character serialization, adjacent shelf.
Murder in a Small Town
Detective with civilian sensibility in cozy-crime setting; lighter procedural tone, novel-based, same comfort-crime audience.
The Alienist
NYC criminal investigation with civilian expert (psychologist) embedded in police work; shares NYC + consultant angle, darker tone.
Cross
Brilliant detective-consultant hybrid hunting serial killers; same procedural DNA but darker serialized tone, no comedy.
The Sinner
NYC-area haunted detective solving perplexing crimes; shares investigative obsession but anthology format and dark psychological tone.
How Good Is Castle?
Ratings across IMDb and TMDB, plus our verdict.
Where to Watch Castle
Streaming, rental, and purchase options across 40+ countries.
United States
USStream
5
Amazon Prime Video
Disney Plus
Hulu
Amazon Prime Video with Ads
PhiloFree with Ads
1
The Roku ChannelBuy
6
Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Fandango At Home
Google Play Movies
GRUV
Amazon DVD / Blu-rayAvailable in 77 countries
Frequently asked about Castle
Common questions people search for, with answers written by us at MoviesPack.
Who killed Richard Castle's father, and why was it kept secret for so long?
Castle's father is revealed to be a covert CIA operative named Jackson Hunt, who kept his identity hidden to protect his family from his dangerous work. The secrecy was maintained because Hunt operated deep undercover and any acknowledgment of his relationship with Castle could have endangered both of them. Castle only learns the full truth in Season 6 when Hunt surfaces during a mission involving Castle's kidnapped fiancée.
What happened during Castle's two-month disappearance before his wedding in Season 7?
Castle is found adrift off the coast of Delaware with no memory of the two months he was missing, having apparently been involved in a covert operation. Throughout Season 7, it is slowly revealed that he was recruited and brainwashed by a shadowy organization called LokSat for a secret mission he cannot remember. The full truth about what he did and why he agreed to participate remains deliberately ambiguous for much of the season.
What is LokSat, and why was it targeting Castle and Beckett?
LokSat is a deep-cover CIA drug smuggling operation run by a corrupt official named Caleb Brown, who used it to fund black-budget intelligence programs. Castle and Beckett became targets after Beckett's investigation into her mother's murder led her to uncover the network's existence. LokSat ordered the murder of anyone who could expose the operation, making the couple a threat simply by possessing too much knowledge.
How does Kate Beckett's obsession with her mother's murder shape her arc across the series?
Johanna Beckett was killed in 1999 as a warning to suppress her pro-bono legal work exposing a drug cartel, a conspiracy that reached into the highest levels of law enforcement. Beckett dedicates her career to solving the case, but is repeatedly blocked by powerful forces, and two attempts on her own life result directly from getting too close to the truth. Solving the murder and dismantling the connected conspiracy is the emotional throughline of the entire series, culminating in her exposure of LokSat and Senator Bracken.
Why did Senator William Bracken arrange the murder of Beckett's mother rather than simply silencing her another way?
Bracken ordered Johanna Beckett's murder because she had gathered enough evidence of his involvement in drug trafficking to destroy his political career, and he judged a public silencing too risky. Her death was staged to look like a random street crime, giving Bracken deniability while eliminating the threat permanently. He underestimated the ripple effect: her daughter Kate became a homicide detective specifically to find her killer, eventually bringing him down years later.