Stephen King’s ‘Mr. Mercedes’ Becomes Netflix’s Newest Crime Obsession

Netflix has a new crime fixation, and this time it’s not Mindhunter. Stephen King’s hard-boiled thriller Mr. Mercedes is surging up the streamer’s charts, quietly slipping into the slot once occupied by David Fincher’s cult-favorite FBI profiler drama—and giving King’s crime-fiction side a long-overdue moment in the spotlight.

From Edgar Winner to Streaming Sleeper Hit

Published in 2014, Mr. Mercedes kicked off King’s Bill Hodges Trilogy and won the 2015 Edgar Award for Best Novel, cementing his crime chops beyond supernatural horror.[1] The book follows retired detective Bill Hodges as he’s taunted by the mass-murderer he never caught—a cat-and-mouse setup that translates cleanly to TV binge-watching.

The TV adaptation, developed by David E. Kelley and Jack Bender, originally aired from 2017–2019 on Audience Network before migrating to Peacock after that channel shut down.[2] Now, with Netflix giving the series a fresh algorithmic push, Mr. Mercedes feels like the latest case of a “lost” King show finally finding the massive audience it always seemed built for—similar to how the Castle Rock series picked up new life once it hit the platform.

The Holly Gibney Effect and King’s Expanding TV Universe

Part of the appeal for Constant Readers is how Mr. Mercedes plugs into King’s growing on-screen universe. The show introduces Holly Gibney, the anxious, brilliant investigator who later appears in King’s novels and becomes a key player in HBO’s adaptation of The Outsider.[3] For fans who loved The Outsider, diving into Mr. Mercedes feels like discovering a crucial prequel.

The Netflix resurgence also arrives during a fresh wave of King adaptations. 2025 alone brings film takes on The Long Walk—with a brutal, buzzy trailer already making the rounds[4]—and The Monkey.[5] Hulu is rolling out The Life of Chuck, while The Institute is set for its own series treatment.

Layer on top of that Mike Flanagan’s ambitious plans for Carrie and an epic The Dark Tower cycle—projects King has publicly praised, even suggesting there’s a case to call Flanagan the Quentin Tarantino of horror—and you get a sense of how crowded the King screen multiverse is becoming.[6]

For readers, Mr. Mercedes climbing Netflix’s crime ranks is more than just another algorithm blip. It’s a reminder that King’s non-supernatural work—particularly the Bill Hodges Trilogy of Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch[7]—is increasingly essential to understanding his interconnected universe. If you’ve only met Holly Gibney on HBO, Netflix is now inviting you back to where her story, and one of King’s tightest crime sagas, truly begins.

Part of our full guide: Stephen King Adaptations in 2026: What Is Filming, What Was Cancelled and What Is Next