200 Crime TV Trivia Questions and Answers (Easy to Hard) – See What You Still Remember From Your Favorite Crime Shows

I published my movie trivia questions and answers recently, and while I was working on it, I realised just how many crime TV series I’ve watched over the years.

From Jake and the Fatman and Tequila and Bonetti to Murder, She Wrote, Elementary, Bones, CSI, NCIS, Hawaii Five-0, Rizzoli & Isles, Magnum P.I. and so many others, I’ve loved this type of series for a very long time. And I’m still watching them. Will Trent and Criminal Minds are both in my current rotation on Disney+, and now there’s R.J. Decker too.

So, to complement the movie quiz, along with the medical drama TV trivia questions and answers, here’s another trivia challenge based on shows I genuinely enjoy: 200 crime TV trivia questions and answers covering detectives, police procedurals, profilers, forensic teams, federal agents, private investigators, lawyers and a short group of classic crime series.

Don’t worry, this isn’t an experts-only test because, even if I watched many crime TV shows, I don’t remember every detail, and I think few people do. So the questions go from easy to hard, but even the final ones, based on characters, relationships, settings, habits, and story details, are rather accessible – or so I think. 

I mixed the shows on purpose – one question may take you to The Rookie, the next to NCIS, and a few questions later you may be back with Bosch, Castle, Will Trent or The Mentalist. There are so many good crime and detective TV shows that even 200 questions can’t cover them all.

I’ve also added a few short interesting facts that I hope you will enjoy – they aren’t there after every question, because I didn’t want the quiz to turn into 200 mini-essays.

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Easy Crime TV Trivia Questions

As I mentioned, the beginning is easy. The first 55 questions are the warm-up. These easy crime TV trivia questions cover famous characters, jobs, agencies, partners, and details you will probably remember easily.

There are newer series in the mix from the beginning, but plenty of the characters here became familiar during the previous decade. If shows such as Castle, The Mentalist, Blue Bloods, and Hawaii Five-0 are still fresh in your memory, you may also enjoy the wider pop-culture mix in these 2010s trivia questions.

1. Before becoming a police officer, what kind of business did John Nolan run?
Answer: A construction company

2. What do the initials BAU stand for in Criminal Minds?
Answer: Behavioral Analysis Unit

3. What two branches of the U.S. military are most closely tied to the cases investigated by NCIS?
Answer: The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps

4. Which forensic anthropologist works with FBI agent Seeley Booth?
Answer: Dr. Temperance Brennan

5. What type of vehicle gives Mickey Haller his famous professional nickname?
Answer: A Lincoln
Interesting fact: Mickey works from Lincolns in Michael Connelly’s books too. The mobile-office idea was part of the character before the Netflix adaptation.

6. Which actor plays LAPD detective Harry Bosch?
Answer: Titus Welliver
Interesting fact: Bosch began as an Amazon pilot in 2014 and ultimately ran for seven seasons before the story continued with Bosch: Legacy.

7. Which Georgia law-enforcement agency employs Will?
Answer: The Georgia Bureau of Investigation

8. What job is Morgan doing at the LAPD when she first helps solve a case?
Answer: Cleaner

9. What is Kate Beckett’s job when Richard Castle first begins working with her?
Answer: NYPD homicide detective

10. Before consulting for law enforcement, what did Patrick Jane claim to be?
Answer: A psychic medium

11. What weekly Reagan family tradition repeatedly brings several generations together?
Answer: Sunday family dinner

12. What is Maura Isles’s profession?
Answer: Chief medical examiner

13. Who is Steve McGarrett’s best-known detective partner in the 2010 series?
Answer: Danny “Danno” Williams

14. What branch of zoology especially fascinates Gil Grissom?
Answer: Entomology
Interesting fact: Forensic entomology is a real discipline. Insects found on or near human remains can help investigators estimate part of the postmortem timeline.

15. What does SVU stand for?
Answer: Special Victims Unit

16. What medical specialty did Megan Hunt practice before becoming a medical examiner?
Answer: Neurosurgery

17. What does Colter Shaw do to earn money while searching for missing people?
Answer: He collects posted rewards
Interesting fact: Tracker is based on Jeffery Deaver’s Colter Shaw novels; the first book in the series is The Never Game.

18. What is the name of the New York apartment building where Charles, Oliver and Mabel live?
Answer: The Arconia

I know Only Murders in the Building may not be the first TV series you’d expect me to include in crime drama trivia. But there are murders, investigations, suspects, clues, plenty of contact with the police and, most importantly, Charles, Oliver and Mabel – a trio that’s very hard not to love once you start watching the show. So yes, they definitely get a few questions too.

19. What nickname is commonly used for Special Agent Omar Adom Zidan?
Answer: OA

20. Which Criminal Minds alumnus stars as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson?
Answer: Shemar Moore
Interesting fact: Before S.W.A.T., Shemar Moore spent 11 seasons playing Derek Morgan on Criminal Minds.

21. What kind of investigations does Lilly Rush’s squad reopen in Cold Case?
Answer: Unsolved murders from the past

22. What type of cases does the FBI team in Without a Trace specialize in?
Answer: Missing-person cases

23. Who plays young Leroy Jethro Gibbs?
Answer: Austin Stowell

24. Which actress plays LAPD detective Renée Ballard?
Answer: Maggie Q

25. Which legal drama first introduced Elsbeth Tascioni to television audiences?
Answer: The Good Wife
Interesting fact: Elsbeth didn’t jump straight from The Good Wife to her own series. The character also appeared repeatedly in The Good Fight.

26. Which actress plays Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson?
Answer: Kyra Sedgwick

27. Which actress leads Major Crimes as Sharon Raydor?
Answer: Mary McDonnell

28. What family relationship connects FBI agent Don Eppes and mathematician Charlie Eppes?
Answer: They are brothers
Interesting fact: Numb3rs used real mathematical ideas as the starting point for many cases, with mathematicians serving as consultants behind the scenes.

29. Which lieutenant leads the Miami crime lab team?
Answer: Horatio Caine

30. What is Penelope Garcia’s main specialty for the BAU?
Answer: Technical analysis and computer systems

31. Which actress plays Lucy Chen?
Answer: Melissa O’Neil

32. Which of Mickey Haller’s ex-wives works closely with him as his office manager and legal aide?
Answer: Lorna Crane

33. What is the first name of Harry Bosch’s daughter?
Answer: Maddie

34. What breed is Betty, the dog Will adopts?
Answer: Chihuahua

35. Which by-the-book detective becomes Morgan’s principal police partner?
Answer: Adam Karadec

36. What is the real surname of the medical examiner everyone calls Ducky?
Answer: Mallard

37. Which fictional action hero made Richard Castle famous early in his writing career?
Answer: Derrick Storm

38. What do the initials CBI stand for in the early seasons?
Answer: California Bureau of Investigation

39. What nickname does Booth often use for the scientists at the Jeffersonian?
Answer: Squints

40. What job does Frank Reagan hold for most of the series?
Answer: New York City Police Commissioner

41. Which actor plays Chin Ho Kelly in the 2010 reboot?
Answer: Daniel Dae Kim
Interesting fact: Hawaii Five-0 was filmed extensively on Oahu, which is why so many real Honolulu and island locations appear throughout the series.

42. What is the first name of Jane Rizzoli’s mother?
Answer: Angela Rizzoli

43. Which actor plays Mac Taylor?
Answer: Gary Sinise

44. Who leads the Intelligence Unit at the center of Chicago P.D.?
Answer: Hank Voight

45. Which officer played by Alyssa Diaz starts the series as a training officer and later becomes a detective?
Answer: Angela Lopez

46. What unusual form of transportation lets the BAU travel rapidly to cases around the country?
Answer: A dedicated FBI jet

47. Who leads the Pearl Harbor NCIS field office in the series?
Answer: Jane Tennant

48. Which Australian law-enforcement organization works alongside the American NCIS agents?
Answer: The Australian Federal Police
Interesting fact: NCIS: Sydney was the first NCIS franchise series set outside the United States.

49. What two parts of the justice process traditionally divide a Law & Order episode?
Answer: The police investigation and the prosecution

50. What is the name of the FBI team that tracks fugitives in FBI: Most Wanted?
Answer: The Fugitive Task Force

51. What identifying information does the Machine usually provide when it flags someone connected to an imminent violent crime?
Answer: A Social Security number
Interesting fact: Person of Interest was created by Jonathan Nolan, who later co-created Westworld.

52. What criminal skills make Neal Caffrey especially useful to the FBI?
Answer: Con artistry and forgery

53. Which Oscar-winning actress stars as Madeline “Matty” Matlock in the 2024 series?
Answer: Kathy Bates

54. What was R.J. Decker’s profession before prison and taking on cases of his own?
Answer: Newspaper photographer

55. What former job did Adrian Monk hold before becoming a consultant to the San Francisco police?
Answer: SFPD homicide detective
Interesting fact: Monk ran for eight seasons, and Tony Shalhoub returned to the character in the 2023 reunion film Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie.

Medium Crime TV Trivia Questions

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Let’s make things a little more complicated: the next crime drama trivia questions for adults move into supporting characters, previous careers, team roles, recurring habits, and details you tend to remember when you watched a show for several seasons.

A lot of the forensic and network procedurals in this round became huge during the 2000s, when CSI, NCIS, Without a Trace, Numb3rs, Cold Case and other crime series seemed to be everywhere. If that period is one you remember well, these 2000s trivia questions cover the rest of the decade too.

On a fun note, I would add that I learned a lot from some TV series – even practical tips like checking the inside of the car before getting in it at night, for example. Travel is another one: I’m already quite careful about what I check before booking a hotel, and I also pay attention to what I check when entering a hotel room. TV isn’t a safety manual, obviously, but sometimes a scene is what makes me think about something and then check the real information afterwards.

You may laugh, but one Criminal Minds episode even sent me looking up the history behind birthday candles while I was binge-watching the series on Disney+ last year. I hadn’t started the episode expecting to search for that afterwards, but that’s part of the fun for me.

56. What emergency-service profession does Bailey Nune have when she becomes part of Nolan’s life?
Answer: Firefighter

57. What highly caffeinated drink is Abby Sciuto famously devoted to?
Answer: Caf-Pow

58. What kind of music does Harry Bosch listen to obsessively?
Answer: Jazz
Interesting fact: Harry Bosch’s love of jazz isn’t only a TV detail. Michael Connelly made jazz part of Bosch’s personality in the novels as well.

59. What affectionate nickname does Derek Morgan often use for Garcia?
Answer: Baby Girl

60. What learning disorder has Will spent much of his life hiding?
Answer: Dyslexia

61. Which fictional NYPD detective does Castle create after beginning to work with Beckett?
Answer: Nikki Heat
Interesting fact: The fictional publishing world escaped the screen: Nikki Heat and Derrick Storm books were released in real life under the author name Richard Castle.

62. What hot drink does Patrick Jane order again and again?
Answer: Tea

63. What is Cisco’s main role on Mickey Haller’s legal team?
Answer: Private investigator

64. Which Jeffersonian scientist specializes in insects, spores and minerals?
Answer: Jack Hodgins

65. Who is John Nolan’s first training officer?
Answer: Talia Bishop

66. The U.S. series High Potential is adapted from a television hit originally made in which country?
Answer: France

67. Which Reagan sibling works as a prosecutor for much of the series?
Answer: Erin Reagan

68. What hobby keeps Gibbs busy in his basement for years?
Answer: Building wooden boats

69. Which veteran Boston detective is Jane Rizzoli’s longtime partner and mentor?
Answer: Vince Korsak

70. What do the initials in JJ’s nickname stand for?
Answer: Jennifer Jareau

71. What elite military background does Steve McGarrett bring to Five-0?
Answer: Former Navy SEAL

72. In which city does Megan Hunt work as a medical examiner?
Answer: Philadelphia

73. In what year does the story of NCIS: Origins begin?
Answer: 1991

74. What kind of snack does Brenda Leigh Johnson repeatedly reach for, even when she’s trying to hide the habit?
Answer: Candy and other sweets

75. What is Don Eppes’s profession?
Answer: FBI special agent

76. What profession does Wesley Evers practice?
Answer: Defense attorney

77. Which original Las Vegas investigator previously worked as an exotic dancer?
Answer: Catherine Willows

78. Which agent becomes Patrick Jane’s closest law-enforcement partner?
Answer: Teresa Lisbon

79. Which detective works beside Olivia Benson for most of the show’s first twelve seasons?
Answer: Elliot Stabler

80. Which lawyer frequently helps Colter Shaw with the legal side of his cases?
Answer: Reenie Green

81. What medical profession did Joan Watson have before becoming a sober companion?
Answer: Surgeon
Interesting fact: Casting Lucy Liu as Joan Watson turned the traditionally male Dr. Watson into a woman while keeping Watson a doctor and Sherlock’s closest investigative partner.

82. Which intelligence service did Ziva David serve before joining NCIS?
Answer: Mossad

83. Which detective is Harry Bosch’s partner through much of the original series?
Answer: Jerry Edgar

84. What is the first name of Will’s GBI partner, played by Iantha Richardson?
Answer: Faith

85. What is the name of Castle’s daughter?
Answer: Alexis Castle

86. Which actor plays Charles-Haden Savage?
Answer: Steve Martin
Interesting fact: Steve Martin didn’t just star in Only Murders in the Building. He co-created the series with John Hoffman.

87. What was Garcia before the FBI recruited her for her computer skills?
Answer: A hacker

88. Which former undercover detective becomes one of the LAPD’s training officers?
Answer: Nyla Harper

89. Which Reagan son works as an NYPD detective and is often partnered with Maria Baez?
Answer: Danny Reagan

90. Which Miami crime-lab investigator is especially associated with firearms and ballistics?
Answer: Calleigh Duquesne

91. What nickname does Mickey use for prosecutor Maggie McPherson?
Answer: Maggie McFierce

92. Which Jeffersonian artist uses computer technology to reconstruct faces and crime scenes?
Answer: Angela Montenegro

93. What pen name does Timothy McGee use for his novels?
Answer: Thom E. Gemcity
Interesting fact: Thom E. Gemcity is an anagram of Timothy McGee.

94. Which serial killer drives Patrick Jane’s long quest for revenge?
Answer: Red John

95. Who becomes Nolan’s first rookie after he qualifies as a training officer?
Answer: Celina Juarez

96. Which veteran supervisor coordinates the team from the Joint Operations Command center?
Answer: Jubal Valentine

97. Who created the Machine and recruits John Reese?
Answer: Harold Finch

98. Which FBI agent becomes Neal Caffrey’s handler and friend?
Answer: Peter Burke

99. Which actor stars as the title character in R.J. Decker?
Answer: Scott Speedman

100. Who replaces Sharona as Monk’s assistant?
Answer: Natalie Teeger
Interesting fact: Natalie arrives after Sharona Fleming leaves during Season 3. Sharona later returns for a guest appearance in the final season.

101. In which city does Hondo’s tactical team operate?
Answer: Los Angeles

102. What shared obsession first brings Charles, Oliver and Mabel together?
Answer: True crime and true-crime podcasts
Interesting fact: There’s now a real official Only Murders in the Building podcast too, with behind-the-scenes discussions about the series.

103. Which teenager becomes closely connected to Sharon Raydor after witnessing a crime?
Answer: Rusty Beck

104. What familiar command does McGarrett often direct at his partner after a case is solved?
Answer: “Book ’em, Danno.”
Interesting fact: “Book ’em, Danno” deliberately echoes one of the most famous lines associated with the original Hawaii Five-O.

105. What is the surname of the American NCIS special agent who initially leads the U.S. side of the Sydney task force?
Answer: Mackey
Interesting fact: NCIS: Sydney also gave the franchise its first permanent team built around cooperation between NCIS and an overseas national police agency.

106. Which detective and forensic specialist works closely with Mac Taylor during the early seasons?
Answer: Stella Bonasera

107. What is Oliver Putnam’s profession?
Answer: Broadway director
Interesting fact: That background becomes especially important in Season 3, when one of the trio’s murder investigations unfolds around Oliver’s Broadway production.

108. Why is Elsbeth initially sent to observe the NYPD?
Answer: To monitor a consent decree

109. What kind of cases does Renée Ballard’s LAPD unit investigate?
Answer: Cold cases
Interesting fact: Ballard belongs to Michael Connelly’s Bosch universe, and the TV series follows her introduction in Bosch: Legacy.

110. After leaving the LAPD, what work does Bosch take up?
Answer: Private detective

111. Which actor plays Dr. Spencer Reid?
Answer: Matthew Gray Gubler
Interesting fact: Matthew Gray Gubler didn’t only act on Criminal Minds; he also directed several episodes of the series.

112. Which recurring criminal often creates both danger and darkly funny moments for the LAPD team?
Answer: Oscar Hutchinson

113. Which NCIS director is played by Rocky Carroll?
Answer: Leon Vance

114. Who becomes Mickey’s driver after first being his client?
Answer: Izzy Letts

115. Which actor plays Thomas Magnum in the 2018 reboot?
Answer: Jay Hernandez

Classic Crime TV Trivia Questions

I kept the dedicated classics round short on purpose. This article is mainly about newer crime shows, but I couldn’t leave out Columbo, Starsky & Hutch, Kojak, Murder, She Wrote, the original Magnum, P.I., Matlock, Jake and the Fatman and Tequila and Bonetti.

Some of these shows are part of the same nostalgia I get from the 80s trivia questions, while others carried on into the period covered by the 90s trivia quiz. There are only 18 questions here, so younger viewers don’t have to cross a giant wall of older television before reaching the harder modern rounds.

116. Which actor turned Lieutenant Columbo into one of television’s most recognizable detectives?
Answer: Peter Falk
Interesting fact: Columbo often tells viewers who committed the murder near the beginning. The fun is watching Columbo figure out how it was done and prove it, a format often called a “howcatchem.”

117. What car became inseparable from Starsky and Hutch in popular culture?
Answer: A red-and-white Ford Gran Torino
Interesting fact: The striped Gran Torino became so closely linked with the series that Ford sold a limited Starsky & Hutch edition of the car in the 1970s.

118. Which actor played Lieutenant Theo Kojak?
Answer: Telly Savalas

119. What is the name of Jessica Fletcher’s fictional Maine hometown?
Answer: Cabot Cove
Interesting fact: Cabot Cove is fictional. Many of the exterior scenes that stood in for the Maine town were filmed in Mendocino, California.

120. Which actor played Thomas Magnum in the original series?
Answer: Tom Selleck
Interesting fact: The original Magnum, P.I. ran for eight seasons, from 1980 to 1988.

121. What kind of lawyer is Ben Matlock best known for being?
Answer: Criminal defense lawyer

122. Who played investigator Jake Styles opposite William Conrad?
Answer: Joe Penny
Interesting fact: Jake and the Fatman aired for five seasons, from 1987 to 1992.

123. Which actor played Detective Nico Bonetti?
Answer: Jack Scalia

124. What make of battered European convertible does Columbo drive?
Answer: Peugeot
Interesting fact: Columbo’s car is a Peugeot 403 convertible, and its battered appearance became almost as recognizable as his raincoat.

125. What is the surname of the unseen boss who gives the Angels their assignments?
Answer: Townsend

126. Which actor played undercover detective Sonny Crockett?
Answer: Don Johnson
Interesting fact: Miami Vice became famous for using contemporary pop music throughout its scenes; the pilot’s use of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” remains one of its best-known examples.

127. What is Jessica Fletcher’s profession apart from solving crimes?
Answer: Mystery novelist

128. What is the name of the streetwise informant who regularly helps Starsky and Hutch?
Answer: Huggy Bear
Interesting fact: Huggy Bear was played by Antonio Fargas, and the character became popular enough to get an attempted spin-off pilot.

129. What sweet treat became part of Kojak’s trademark look?
Answer: A lollipop

130. What are the names of Higgins’s two Dobermans?
Answer: Zeus and Apollo
Interesting fact: Higgins usually refers to Zeus and Apollo as “the lads.”

131. Which actor played Detective Andy Sipowicz?
Answer: Dennis Franz
Interesting fact: Dennis Franz won four Primetime Emmy Awards for playing Andy Sipowicz.

132. What inexpensive food is Ben Matlock especially fond of?
Answer: Hot dogs

133. What kind of animal is Tequila, Bonetti’s unusual partner?
Answer: A French Mastiff

Hard Crime TV Trivia Questions

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The difficulty goes up here, but the hard crime TV trivia questions still stick to things you could reasonably know if you watched the crime TV series with attention.

I skipped the sort of question that asks for a license plate from one scene or a line spoken by a one-episode character. Remembering the name of a motorcycle club from The Lincoln Lawyer is one thing; remembering what was written on a piece of paper in Season 3, Episode 14 isn’t my idea of a fun quiz.

Crime stories also made me more curious about security in places where most of us expect a certain amount of privacy. That’s why the real cases behind what can happen in a hotel room when you’re not there caught my attention too. BTW: Of course I always question what I see in a TV series – if it makes me curious, I check the real information afterwards.

134. What is the first name of Aaron Hotchner’s son?
Answer: Jack

135. According to Gibbs’s Rule 9, what should an agent never go anywhere without?
Answer: A knife

136. What fan-created name combines Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen as a couple?
Answer: Chenford

137. What is the name of Bosch’s ex-wife, a former FBI profiler?
Answer: Eleanor Wish

138. Which novelist created Will Trent?
Answer: Karin Slaughter
Interesting fact: Will Trent first appeared in Karin Slaughter’s 2006 novel Triptych, years before the ABC adaptation.

139. What name was Richard Castle born with before changing it?
Answer: Richard Alexander Rodgers

140. Which actor plays the famously calm and direct Kimball Cho?
Answer: Tim Kang

141. What is the name of Booth and Brennan’s daughter?
Answer: Christine Angela Booth

142. How is former police commissioner Henry Reagan related to Frank?
Answer: He is Frank’s father

143. What motorcycle club is tied to Cisco’s past?
Answer: The Road Saints

144. What do the initials HPI stand for in the title of the French series that inspired High Potential?
Answer: Haut Potentiel Intellectuel
Interesting fact: Haut Potentiel Intellectuel translates roughly as “high intellectual potential,” which explains the title chosen for the American adaptation.

145. Who narrates the prequel as an older Gibbs looking back?
Answer: Mark Harmon
Interesting fact: Mark Harmon is also an executive producer on NCIS: Origins, keeping him connected to the franchise after his regular run as Gibbs on NCIS.

146. Which actor plays Colter Shaw’s brother Russell?
Answer: Jensen Ackles

147. What is the name of Maura Isles’s biological father, a Boston crime figure?
Answer: Patrick “Paddy” Doyle

148. Which actress plays Kono Kalakaua in the 2010 series?
Answer: Grace Park

149. Who is Megan Hunt’s investigator partner during the first two seasons?
Answer: Peter Dunlop

150. What identity is eventually revealed behind Sherlock’s former love Irene Adler?
Answer: Jamie Moriarty
Interesting fact: Natalie Dormer plays the character who is presented as Irene Adler and later revealed to be Moriarty.

151. What nickname is used by Neal Caffrey’s conspiracy-loving best friend?
Answer: Mozzie

152. What kind of government work did John Reese do before Finch recruited him?
Answer: CIA operations

153. What is the name of the fictional university where Charlie Eppes teaches?
Answer: CalSci

154. From which Southern city does Brenda Leigh Johnson come before taking her LAPD post?
Answer: Atlanta

155. Which dangerous attorney becomes a long-running threat to Sharon Raydor’s Major Crimes team?
Answer: Phillip Stroh

156. Who serves as Special Agent in Charge of the New York field office team for much of FBI?
Answer: Isobel Castille

157. What is the real name of the S.W.A.T. teammate everyone calls Deacon?
Answer: David Kay

158. Which long-serving prosecutor played by Sam Waterston later becomes district attorney?
Answer: Jack McCoy

159. Which rapper and actor has played Fin Tutuola since Season 2?
Answer: Ice-T

160. What criminal nicknames are given to the lookalikes of Bradford and Chen?
Answer: Dim and Juicy

161. What is the name of Spencer Reid’s mother?
Answer: Diana Reid

162. Which gruff former NIS agent acts as Gibbs’s mentor and close friend?
Answer: Mike Franks

163. What landmark funicular railway gives one Bosch story its title?
Answer: Angels Flight
Interesting fact: Angels Flight is a real Los Angeles funicular. It first opened in 1901 and has moved and reopened more than once during its long history.

164. Which Michael Connelly novel supplies the main story for Season 1 of the Netflix series?
Answer: The Brass Verdict
Interesting fact: The Brass Verdict is the second Mickey Haller novel, even though Netflix used it as the main source for the show’s first season.

165. Who is Will’s formidable boss at the GBI?
Answer: Amanda Wagner

166. What is the name of the TV detective role that made Charles-Haden Savage famous?
Answer: Brazzos
Interesting fact: Charles’s old television career becomes a recurring source of jokes, clues and even new work as the series continues.

167. What travel trailer is closely associated with Colter’s life on the road?
Answer: An Airstream

168. Which real-life retired LAPD detective helped inspire Michael Connelly’s Renée Ballard character?
Answer: Mitzi Roberts

169. Which Carl Hiaasen novel inspired R.J. Decker?
Answer: Double Whammy
Interesting fact: Carl Hiaasen published Double Whammy in 1987, almost four decades before R.J. Decker reached television.

170. Which NYPD officer becomes one of Elsbeth’s closest allies during the first seasons?
Answer: Kaya Blanke

171. Which law-firm partner, played by Skye P. Marshall, becomes the title character’s boss and an important part of her plan?
Answer: Olympia Lawrence

172. What is Lance Sweets’s professional specialty?
Answer: Psychology

173. Which actor plays Detective Javier Esposito?
Answer: Jon Huertas

174. What hacker alias did Garcia use before joining the FBI?
Answer: The Black Queen

175. What is the name of Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David’s daughter?
Answer: Tali

176. Where does the Five-0 task force have its headquarters in the 2010 series?
Answer: ʻIolani Palace
Interesting fact: ʻIolani Palace is a real historic site in Honolulu and was the official residence of Hawaii’s last reigning monarchs.

177. What is the name of Maura Isles’s pet tortoise?
Answer: Bass

178. What unusual French car does Patrick Jane drive?
Answer: Citroën DS
Interesting fact: The Citroën DS was famous in its own right for its unusual styling and hydropneumatic suspension, which makes Jane’s choice of car even more distinctive.

179. What is the name of the teenager who becomes Lucy Chen’s roommate and chosen family?
Answer: Tamara Colins

180. Which international organization does Emily Prentiss work for after leaving the BAU for a time?
Answer: Interpol

181. What is the name of the covert NCIS division where Callen and Sam Hanna work?
Answer: Office of Special Projects
Interesting fact: NCIS: Los Angeles was itself introduced through the two-part NCIS story “Legend” before becoming a separate series.

182. Which law school did Jamie Reagan graduate from before joining the NYPD?
Answer: Harvard Law School

183. Which investigator eventually marries Gil Grissom?
Answer: Sara Sidle

184. Who is the police captain who repeatedly calls on Monk’s consulting skills?
Answer: Leland Stottlemeyer

185. Which actor plays team leader Dwayne Pride?
Answer: Scott Bakula
Interesting fact: Dwayne Pride and the New Orleans team were introduced in the two-part NCIS story “Crescent City” before the spin-off premiered.

The Final Case: 15 Crime TV Questions for Serious Fans

If you’ve reached Question 186, you’ve already gone from very familiar procedural TV trivia to character history, franchise details and some older detective shows. Congratulations!!! The final 15 are harder, but I still wanted every one of them to feel fair.

There are current series here too, including Criminal Minds: Evolution, NCIS: Tony & Ziva, The Rookie, Ballard, R.J. Decker and NCIS: Origins. The last question brings together two characters whose connection is much clearer in the books than it is on television.

186. What alias does Elias Voit use while running the serial-killer network at the center of Criminal Minds: Evolution?
Answer: Sicarius
Interesting fact: Criminal Minds: Evolution continued the original Criminal Minds story after the first series had run for 15 seasons.

187. In NCIS: Tony & Ziva, which European city are Tony and Ziva living in with their daughter when the series begins?
Answer: Paris
Interesting fact: The 2025 Paramount+ spin-off ran for 10 episodes and sent the family on the run across Europe after Tony’s security company was attacked.

188. What LAPD division serves as the main home base for Nolan and his colleagues?
Answer: Mid-Wilshire Division

189. What principle does Bosch repeat about the value of every victim?
Answer: “Everybody counts or nobody counts.”

190. What is Mickey Haller’s daughter’s first name?
Answer: Hayley

191. Which police department employs Angie Polaski?
Answer: The Atlanta Police Department

192. Which character, played by Niecy Nash-Betts, becomes an unusually mature FBI rookie?
Answer: Simone Clark
Interesting fact: Simone Clark was introduced during The Rookie‘s fourth season before The Rookie: Feds launched as its own series.

193. Which actress plays Colter Shaw’s sister Dory?
Answer: Melissa Roxburgh

194. Which actor plays retired detective Thomas Laffont on Ballard?
Answer: John Carroll Lynch

195. Which writer behind Elementary developed R.J. Decker for television?
Answer: Rob Doherty

196. What is the surname of the NYPD captain played by Wendell Pierce?
Answer: Wagner

197. At which Marine Corps base does young Gibbs begin his NIS career?
Answer: Camp Pendleton
Interesting fact: Camp Pendleton is a real U.S. Marine Corps base in Southern California, which gives the prequel a setting closely tied to Gibbs’s Marine background.

198. What was Temperance Brennan’s birth name before her family changed identities?
Answer: Joy Keenan

199. What two JAG episode titles formed the backdoor pilot that introduced Gibbs’s team?
Answer: “Ice Queen” and “Meltdown”
Interesting fact: Those two JAG episodes aired in 2003 and functioned as the launchpad for NCIS, which premiered as its own series later that year.

200. In Michael Connelly’s novels, what family relationship connects Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller?
Answer: They are half-brothers
Interesting fact: Connelly has brought Bosch and Haller together in several novels, so their family connection is much more than a small piece of background trivia.

How Many Crime TV Trivia Questions Did You Get Right?

With 200 questions spread across so many series, one show can hurt your score without ruining the whole quiz. Give yourself one point for every correct answer and see where you land.

0-70 correct: You recognized plenty of the shows, but your watchlist may be about to get longer.

71-130 correct: You know your crime TV. Detectives, profilers, forensic scientists and federal agents have clearly occupied quite a few of your evenings.

131-175 correct: That’s an excellent score. You remembered details from several different franchises and eras, not just one favorite series.

176-200 correct: At this point, you may remember these fictional investigations better than some of the people who worked on them.

How I Checked These Crime TV Trivia Questions

I checked character names, jobs, franchise details, book connections and information about newer series before putting the final quiz together. Where a detail was disputed, unclear or depended on an extremely specific interpretation of one episode, I left it out. I also checked the full set for repeated facts, duplicate answers and questions that would give away a later answer.

Conclusion: Which Crime Series Did You Know Best?

One of the things I enjoyed most while putting this crime TV quiz together was moving between shows I watched years ago and the ones I’m watching now. I can remember some Criminal Minds or NCIS details immediately, then suddenly need a few seconds for a character from a series I haven’t seen in years.

Your score may be just as uneven. Maybe The Rookie was easy but CSI caught you out. Perhaps you remembered almost everything from Castle and Rizzoli & Isles, or maybe Charles, Oliver and Mabel turned out to be your easiest trio. And if the classic crime TV questions were the easiest part, you’ve clearly been watching these shows for a while.

If you still want another challenge after 200 fictional cases, these general knowledge questions and answers switch completely away from crime TV and mix history, geography, science, culture and many other topics.

What was your score, and which crime series did you know best? I’m also curious which show you’d choose for a full trivia article of its own.

Crime TV Trivia Questions: Quick Answers

What shows are included in this crime TV trivia quiz?
The 200 questions cover dozens of detective, crime drama and police procedural TV shows, including The Rookie, Criminal Minds, NCIS, Will Trent, High Potential, Bosch, The Lincoln Lawyer, Only Murders in the Building, Castle, Bones, The Mentalist, Rizzoli & Isles, Hawaii Five-0, CSI, Ballard, R.J. Decker and a short selection of classic detective series.

Are these crime TV trivia questions easy or hard?
They start with 55 accessible questions, move into a 60-question medium round, take a short 18-question classics break, and then progress to harder questions and a 15-question final challenge. The hard questions are more specific, but they don’t depend on remembering random one-scene details.

Does this quiz include current crime and procedural TV shows?
Yes. Newer shows and franchise additions appear throughout the quiz, including Will Trent, High Potential, The Rookie, Tracker, Only Murders in the Building, Ballard, R.J. Decker, NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Tony & Ziva.

Are classic TV detectives included?
Yes, but they don’t dominate the article. The dedicated classic round has questions from Columbo, Starsky & Hutch, Kojak, Murder, She Wrote, Magnum, P.I., Matlock, Jake and the Fatman, Tequila and Bonetti and a few other older favorites.