Plot Synopsis

In the 1890s and early 1900s Toronto, Detective William Murdoch cracks the toughest cases using Steampunk technology, employing unorthodox methods of detection. Murdoch, a handsome detective, invents ingenious forensic techniques for the time, including fingerprinting and trace evidence, to solve some of the city's most gruesome murders. Based on Maureen Jennings's popular Detective Murdoch novels, MURDOCH MYSTERIES (initially called THE ARTFUL DETECTIVE in the U.S.) also features Murdoch's colleagues: Inspector Brackenreid, Murdoch's skeptical yet reluctantly supportive boss; feisty pathologist Dr. Emily Grace; and the love of his life, pathologist-turned-psychiatrist Dr. Julia Ogden, a staunch ally who shares the detective's fascination with forensic science and innovative ideas. After airing on City TV for the first five seasons, MURDOCH MYSTERIES moved to CBC for its sixth season, where it has aired since. When this one-hour series premiered in the United States on Saturday, July 27, 2013 at 8pm ET/5pm PT, Ovation aired the series with the title THE ARTFUL DETECTIVE.

On Saturday, February 21, 2015 at 7pm ET/4pm PT, Ovation aired the U.S. premiere of the eighth season of this series. In the season opener, "On the Waterfront (Part 1)," Murdoch suspects the brutal murder of a waterfront merchant might be linked to the vicious assault on Inspector Brackenreid. Season 8 finds Detective Murdoch and his colleagues exploring the world of corsets, the Women's Suffrage Movement, Vaudeville, the silver boom in Northern Ontario, the rise of the automobile, and the early days of organized crime on the Toronto waterfront. The new season also delves into Detective Murdoch's origins, and features historical figures, including lawman, gunslinger, and sports writer Bat Masterson; President Teddy Roosevelt; Mark Twain; Thomas Edison and his son; and W.C. Fields.

Ovation broadcast the U.S. premiere of the series' ninth season on Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 7pm ET/4pm PT. Season 9 begins in the year 1903, with Detective Murdoch and his team -- Dr. Julia Ogden, Inspector Brackenreid and Dr. Emily Grace -- continuing to solve the unsolvable and confronting each case with wit, wisdom and innovation. Season 9 also upholds the series' tradition of bringing historical figures to life. In the second episode, William Shatner portrays the beloved author and humorist Mark Twain.

On Monday, January 9, 2017 at 7pm ET/4pm PT, Ovation aired the U.S. linear television premiere of the 18-episode 10th season of THE ARTFUL DETECTIVE, immediately following an all-day marathon (8am-7pm) of encore episodes. As Season 10 begins, Det. Murdoch is proceeding with plans to build a house and create a happy life for himself and his wife, Dr. Julia Ogden. But unbeknownst to the detective, Ogden is suffering silently from guilt for killing her tormentor, the psychotic Eva Pearce. In an effort to distract herself from her anxiety, Ogden is introducing her newly-arrived friend Lady Suzanne Atherly and her daughter Elizabeth to Toronto society at a debutante ball. Unfortunately, the elegant event turns deadly when one of the ladies vying to marry Toronto's most eligible bachelor is murdered. The situation worsens when a destructive fire begins to rage throughout downtown Toronto, distracting the police from the case and putting Ogden in grave danger. As the season continues, Murdoch and Ogden must face the possibility that they sent the wrong man to prison for a murder when new forensic testing challenges their original evidence. The detective and doctor will also revisit a harrowing past case when they meet a murderer convinced he's possessed by the devil.

Season 11 premiered on Ovation on Saturday, February 3, 2018 at 10pm ET. The Season 10 finale saw the futures of Detective Murdoch and the heroes of Station House No. 4 in jeopardy amidst a corruption investigation gone awry. Season 11 picks up with the aftermath of the finale's events that left the lives of Murdoch's beloved Dr. Julia Ogden, Inspector Brackenreid and Constables George Crabtree, Henry Higgins, and Slugger Jackson at stake and their fates unknown. Season 11 storylines will feature a number of Canadian and international historical figures, including physician William Osler and Helen Keller, the return of artist Tom Thomson, President Theodore Roosevelt, and Alexander Graham Bell. Season 11 begins with Murdoch jailed and framed for the murder of a burlesque dancer. His constables were gunned down in an ambush, Brackenreid was last seen with a gun to his head, and the corrupt politician and his cronies responsible kidnapped Ogden. Murdoch must prove his innocence from behind bars, as Detective Llewellyn Watts helps covertly to solve the case.

The 18-episode twelfth season of MURDOCH MYSTERIES had its U.S. premiere on Saturday, April 20, 2019 from 7-9pm ET/4-6pm PT on Ovation, with back-to-back episodes. In Season 12, Murdoch and his wife, Julia Ogden, have reconciled after a miscarriage and built the dream home, designed by modernist architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Ogden discovers a new passion and studies to be a surgeon, while Murdoch explores new prospects at work. Crabtree is nursing a broken heart and may be romantically doomed. Brackenreid's world is turned upside down when he's struck by personal and professional tragedy. Meanwhile, Higgins has become an insufferable snob as he readies to marry his socialite fiance. Watts finds his career jeopardized after he's involved in an altercation that leaves an ex-con dead. At the morgue, Violet Hart takes on more responsibilities and seeks a promotion.

Season 13 of MURDOCH MYSTERIES had its U.S. linear television premiere on Saturday, February 1, 2020 from 7-9pm ET/4-6pm PT, as Ovation debuted the first two episodes. Ovation debuts two new episodes each Saturday through March 28. The 18-episode new season follows Murdoch as he continues his deft detective work and bolsters his investigations with new innovations, including a "searchizer" device that measures facial features and matches them with existing police files. Unfortunately, he is still rattled by suspicions about Violet Hart's appointment to coroner and doesn't completely trust her abilities or motives. The station also sees a new addition with Special Constable Robert Parker, an African American former Pinkerton who went from suspect in a union murder to helping solve the case. Meanwhile Dr. Julie Ogden is happily settled into her role as a full-time surgeon at Toronto Mercy Hospital but is surprised by the attentions of her colleague Dr. Andrew Dixon. This season had its U.S. premiere on Wednesday, December 25, 2019, when Acorn TV released the first two episodes, with subsequent episodes debuting weekly on Mondays through April 13, which means Acorn TV presents the U.S. premiere of the first 13 episodes, and Ovation has the U.S. premiere of the final five episodes of the new season.

The 11-episode fourteenth season of MURDOCH MYSTERIES had its U.S. premiere on Saturday, February 20, 2021 at 7pm ET/4pm PT on Ovation. The year is 1908 as Season 14 begins. Detective Murdoch continues his inventive detective work with Ogden's unflinching support even after an investigation leads him to a family member that he never knew about. Brackenreid and Margaret's marriage, now on the mend, is tested once more, and a potentially volatile interloper threatens Crabtree's relationship with Effie Newsome. Family relations also loom large for Higgins now that Ruth is pregnant. Unfortunately, Watts' secret love affair faces dangerous scrutiny, while Violet Hart's now public liaison with a wealthy playboy causes social outrage.

Season 15 of MURDOCH MYSTERIES made its U.S. debut on Saturday, February 26, 2022 at 7pm ET/4pm PT on Ovation. This season is the series' longest to date with a total of 24 episodes, including two episodes directed by series star Yannick Bisson and one episode written by Maureen Jennings, author of the novels on which the TV series is based. Season 15 opens with Detective Murdoch as he journeys to Montreal, seeking to find and protect his son, Harry, from the Black Hand gang. Murdoch's wife, Dr. Julia Ogden, assists him with a challenging case at a women's reformatory by going undercover, but back at the hospital she faces opposition and censure when she tries to assist a woman in grave pain, causing potentially irreparable damage to her career. Elsewhere, Brackenreid's son has sprung loose from jail and is on the run after a murder at the Kingston Pen; Crabtree finds himself in a compromised situation as he tries to save Effie from her kidnappers; Violet Hart explores an interesting way to deal with her not-so-new husband; and Watts, still embroiled in an illicit affair, encounters a brand-new murder mystery. Other cases this season include a death threat against Dr. Sigmund Freud when he and his colleagues, including Carl Jung, visit Toronto for a lecture. At Halloween, a violent clown is tormenting young lovers and the shooting of a political cartoonist at an awards ceremony appears to have ties to journalistic jealousy and new development projects in the city of Toronto. Later in the season, the murder of a stage manager with compromising film images of actress Mary Pickford could complicate her path to New York and stardom. And when Murdoch, Ogden, Harry, Crabtree, and a team of ragtag players attend an out-of-town basketball tournament, Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, is implicated in the murder of the mayor. Season 15's guest stars include Colin Mochrie as Private Investigator-turned-psychotic murderer Ralph Fellows, Peter Stebbings as inventive entrepreneur James Pendrick, Peter Keleghan as intrepid spy Terrence Myers in a bizarre covert situation, and a special appearance by the champion Toronto Raptors' coach Nick Nurse.

Season 16 of MURDOCH MYSTERIES made its U.S. debut on Saturday, February 11, 2023 at 7pm ET/4pm PT on Ovation. In the new season, Detective Murdoch and Dr. Julia Ogden are settling into life with baby Susannah. His innovative time-saving devices are entertaining the infant and have freed up time prompting Ogden to return to her women's clinic. But domestic calm and bliss is far from the reality for Murdoch's associates. Constable George Crabtree has left his betrothed, Effie Newsome, at the altar after a prophecy by his aunt foretells marrying her would sign her death certificate. Brokenhearted, he endures the confoundment of Murdoch and Ogden and the wrath of Inspector Thomas Brackenreid. Constable Henry Higgins-Newsome presumes he got cold feet and used the curse as an excuse. But then he suspects Crabtree's aunt might have ulterior motives and enlists Effie and Louise Cherry to find out more. Nefarious goings on are also taking place in Violet Hart and Arthur Carmichael's world. After her menacing father Maurice Majors, appeared to extort her and her husband, as well as threaten Brackenreid for a past misdeed, he has apparently died. But has he? When a coffin shipped to New York arrives full of dirt and a corpse mysteriously rises from a pauper's grave killing two men, Murdoch wonders how desperate and depraved Hart might be. Meanwhile, Detective Llewelyn Watts has gone missing from work and Toronto, presumably with his paramour Jack the butcher and his infant Samuel. Brackenreid tracks him down to New York to warn the men that their domestic situation is in jeopardy because an odious private investigator has been hired by the toddler's grandparents. But while there, Brackenreid lets his defenses down and suddenly finds that not only is Watts' future in peril, so too is his own. Guest stars this season include Siobhan McSweeney appearing as Crabtree's clairvoyant Auntie Oleander, Sean Cullen as Rudyard Kipling, Christopher Heyerdahl as a stoic Mennonite elder, and the return of fan favorites Peter Stebbings as inventive entrepreneur James Pendrick and Peter Keleghan as intrepid, and occasionally annoying, spy Terrence Myers. Plus, there are special appearances by International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield, Olympic champion Andre De Grasse, and renowned historian Morgan Ross.

The 17th season of MURDOCH MYSTERIES made its U.S. debut on Saturday, February 10, 2024 at 7pm ET/4pm PT on Ovation. The new season begins with William Murdoch and Julia Ogden racing to discover the true intentions of their mysterious captors in order to escape and resume their lives in Toronto. Constable Crabtree and Effie will find their domestic bliss interrupted by an urgent mission that emerges from Crabtree's past and Station House #4 will be in a state of tension as Brackenreid's place in the constabulary remains in question. Llewellyn Watts resumes work as a detective, determined to live his truth and pursue happiness on his own terms, while Violet Hart will thrive in her new romance with Isaiah Buchanan -- but the future of the Star Bright Club hangs by a thread, as does Violet's fortune when she is brought to court by the family of her dead husband.
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Season 18 of MURDOCH MYSTERIES made its U.S. debut on Monday, October 7, 2024 at 8pm ET/5pm PT on Ovation -- one week after it premiered on CBC Gem and the same night it first aired on CBC TV. Paul Sun-Hyung Lee joins MURDOCH MYSTERIES as Inspector Albert Choi, the new Inspector at Station House #4. The 18th season, consisting of 22 episodes and celebrating the series' 300th episode, is full of Murdochian delights: a murder at a Charles Dickens convention; Murdoch acting as a bodyguard for a silent film star (guest star Siobhan Murphy) and thrown into a cinematic adventure himself; foiling a theft of the world's largest ruby; proving the veracity of a "Missing Link" skull found in Milton, Ontario; and a holiday episode celebrating the "misfits" and singletons. Episodes that root mysteries in the social issues of the time are also explored: a worker's strike at a factory; an early instance of low-income housing; competing public hydro projects; and immigrants trying to purchase land in the "paradise" of the wilds of Canada.