Movies like By Appointment Only (2007)
The best movies like By Appointment Only (2007) are Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For (2019), Is There a Killer in My Family? (2020) and Desert Dawn (2025). If By Appointment Only hooked you with its mystery and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPetals on the Wind (2014)6.6/10 from 231 votes
- NewestKidnapped in a Small Town (2025)Released 2025
Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For (2019)
A crossword puzzle editor finds her life completely disrupted when several of the clues in her recent puzzles are linked to unsolved crimes, and she is pulled into the police investigation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIs There a Killer in My Family? (2020)
True-crime author, Carly, and her husband Kevin take a vacation at a historical mansion on Crawford Island. Kevin thinks it will be a chance for them to reconnect, but Carly plans to research the puzzling unsolved murder of Diana Crawford.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDesert Dawn (2025)
A newly appointed small-town sheriff and his begrudging deputy get tangled up in a web of lies and corruption involving shady businessmen and the cartel while investigating the murder of a mysterious woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKept Woman (2015)
Jessica and her fiancé Evan have just moved from the city into their dream home on a quiet suburban street. Soon after, Jessica catches her seemingly friendly new neighbor, Simon, in a strange lie and can't let her suspicions rest. The danger escalates when Simon lures her inside his home and imprisons Jessica in his secret bunker, meticulously decorated in the idealized style of the 1950s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAurora Teagarden Mysteries: How to Con A Con (2021)
When Aida Teagarden's real estate client is found murdered, her sleuthing daughter Aurora sets out with her fiancé Nick and the Real Murders Club to solve the murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022)
A murder investigation is reignited in a house that is considered haunted by the Lawrenceton locals and where years ago Aurora and Sally, as teenagers, discovered a body.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRiddled with Deceit: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery (2020)
Former detective Jeff Jackson teams up with Dr. Zee Madieras to track down their friend's missing emerald brooch, a thief, and also... a murderer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrossword Mysteries: Proposing Murder (2019)
When an old friend of New York Sentinel Crosswords editor Tess Harper is found murdered on the very day her puzzle includes his proposal of marriage, Tess unofficially teams up with Detective Logan O’Connor to find the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThree Bedrooms, One Corpse: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2016)
While Aurora "Roe" Teagarden searches for her piece of the American dream, she decides to test the waters of the family business - real estate sales. Only thing is there's a dead body in the first house she shows. When a second body shows up in another home, Roe realizes there's more to real estate than she thought.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAurora Teagarden Mysteries: Til Death Do Us Part (2021)
Just days before Aurora’s wedding, a body is discovered, and she fears her father may be a suspect. She and Nick race to solve the cold case before they walk down the aisle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPast Malice: An Emma Fielding Mystery (2018)
Archaeologist Emma Fielding is hired to consult on the acquisition of a castle-like estate that local legend states is cursed. But she finds herself in the middle of a murder case after discovering the body of the archaeologist she was hired to shadow in a secret chamber in the bowels of the huge building. Assisted by her friend, FBI special agent Jim Conner, Fielding must sift through clues and a long list of suspects, each of whom has their own reason for wanting the man dead, to determine who is the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlower Shop Mystery: Dearly Depotted (2016)
Abby Knight, ex-lawyer and crime buff, and the owner of Bloomers Flower Shop, is having a week to be reckoned with. A reluctant bridesmaid at her drama queen cousin’s wedding, Abby ends up not just doing the flowers...but having to find out who murdered a wedding crasher. Stars Brooke Shields, Brennan Elliott and Beau Bridges.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGarage Sale Mystery: The Deadly Room (2015)
A sleuthing garage sale maven suspects foul play when her friend dies in an old house with a cursed reputation. Even though police evidence - and even webcam footage of the death – point to natural causes – this mysterious death in a cursed” home poised for multi-million dollar sale seems too coincidental. Putting her keen instincts to work, she examines a few key suspects. As she digs into this deadly mystery, she uncovers clues that bring her closer to the truth, and even put her own life in danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (1986)
Faced with two false confessions and numerous suspects after a despised civil magistrate is found shot in the local vicarage, Detective Inspector Slack reluctantly accepts help from Miss Marple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like this5lbs of Pressure (2024)
Fresh out of prison after serving time for murder, Adam returns to his old stomping grounds to seek out a son who doesn't know him. Eli, the brother of the man he killed is looking for revenge. Mike, is trying to escape a life of crime living under the thumb of his gangster Uncle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Bone to Pick: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2015)
A librarian with a sharp mind for murder, Aurora Teagarden is known around her small town as a master sleuth. When her friend Jane unexpectedly dies and leaves Aurora everything in her will, she also leaves a troubling murder mystery haunting her neighborhood. It is up to Aurora to piece together the clues—including a skull, its missing skeleton and a suspicious group of neighbors—and solve the murder before she becomes the unlikely killer’s next victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHailey Dean Mysteries: Deadly Estate (2017)
When Hailey helps her friend Pam sell her recently deceased parent’s estate, she becomes suspicious when Pam suddenly leaves town without notice. To make matters worse, Pam's boyfriend is the sudden victim of an accident and the man Hailey's dating, Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Jonas McClellan, falls critically ill. Now Hailey must determine: Are all these events a coincidence?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFramed for Murder: A Fixer Upper Mystery (2017)
In the small resort town of Lighthouse Cove, everyone knows that the best man for the job is a woman. And that woman is Shannon Hughes, owner of a construction company and an expert in Victorian home restoration and renovation. Through her renovations she will find clues to uncover the house’s secret past and in turn become an unlikely sleuth to help crack these unsolved mysteries
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGarage Sale Mystery: The Novel Murders (2016)
When Jennifer makes a home delivery for a customer, she finds the recipient has been murdered. She soon realizes that the victim's cold-blooded demise is a re-enactment of a murder in a classic mystery novel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHailey Dean Mysteries: Murder, With Love (2016)
Former prosecutor-turned-therapist Hailey Dean is a powerhouse, Mensa bright, and acutely observant. During a tragic week, one of her patients loses her parents to separate fatal accidents along with millions of dollars that has seemingly vanished into thin air. When the police begin to question Hailey's patient, shes knows she is innocent. But who is the culprit?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMissing at 17 (2013)
A woman tries to save her adopted daughter from a criminal, with help from the girl's biological mother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & mystery
Big Driver (2014)
Tess Thorne, a famous writer, is determined to seek revenge on the man who brutally assaulted and raped her on a desolate New England road.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisMurder in Nashville (2025)
Eden Perry, a talented young musician with big dreams, leaves behind her small-town roots and moves to Nashville, the heart of country music.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Girl Followed (2017)
A resentful 14-year-old girl is drawn into a seemingly innocent friendship with an older man, but the relationship turns sinister.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Trapped in Her Dorm Room (2025)
When a classmate's adoration turns into a dangerous obsession, college student Erin finds herself held captive in her own dorm room during spring break.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Guilty at 17 (2014)
A teenager becomes overwhelmed with guilt after her lies to support a friend's claim of sexual assault lead to the accused teacher's suicide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Kidnapped by a Killer: The Heather Robinson Story (2025)
This is the TRUE STORY of how Heather Robinson grew up in a loving family in Illinois and, by the time she was a teen, had long known that she had been adopted as an infant. But in 2000, the then-15-year-old’s world was shattered when she learned that the man she knew as her uncle, John Robinson, was actually a serial killer accused of murdering multiple women in the Kansas City area, including her biological mother. Following her uncle’s arrest, Heather learns the shocking truth about her birth mother’s disappearance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Kidnapped in a Small Town (2025)
On a road trip to drop her daughter Ruby off at college, Sarah's car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. A passing driver, Allie, offers a ride into town for help, and though hesitant, Sarah lets Ruby go while she waits for a tow truck. But when Sarah arrives at a nearby diner to meet them, Ruby is missing, and Allie claims they've never met.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Petals on the Wind (2014)
This sequel to Flowers in the Attic picks up 10 years after Cathy, Chris and Carrie managed to escape Foxworth Hall.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRunning Away (2017)
Sisters Maggie and Lizzie move in with mom Peg's new husband. Secrets and lies start immediately. Maggie cannot handle what follows and recruits a friend to help her plan to get out of town with her step father's secrets. When Peg discovers that her daughter has run away, she now has to find Maggie fast but must come to terms with the dark secrets that led to Maggie's fleeing and the secrets about her new husband.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like By Appointment Only?
The closest matches to By Appointment Only are Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For (2019), Is There a Killer in My Family? (2020) and Desert Dawn (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after By Appointment Only?
Start with Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For (2019), the closest match to By Appointment Only.
What is the highest-rated movie like By Appointment Only?
Petals on the Wind (2014), rated 6.6/10 by 231 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like By Appointment Only?
Kidnapped in a Small Town (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like By Appointment Only?
Yes: Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For (2019), Is There a Killer in My Family? (2020) and Desert Dawn (2025).
How are movies similar to By Appointment Only chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside By Appointment Only, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.