After a self-imposed exile, Perry Mason returns to criminal defense work, charged with defending two young Mexican men accused of murdering the son of a powerful businessman in 1930s Los Angeles. With the help of sidekicks Della Street and Paul Drake, Perry seeks justice for the defendants he fears will be railroaded. But victim Brooks McCutcheon was into some shady business: casino boats, oil drilling, and a new baseball stadium - not to mention his dangerous sexual predilections. While Paul seeks clues in LA’s mean streets, Perry and Della navigate the high society players who’d be happy to see the Gallardo brothers take the fall.

Matthew Rhys and an all-star cast return for the second season of the Emmy-nominated “Perry Mason.” Once again, the famous defense attorney must find how all the disparate players and opaque clues fit together hoping to reveal the real culprit and get a dramatic confession.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "PERRY MASON" SEASON TWO BEGIN IN THE FINAL TEN MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: Justice is delivered.

Lamonte McIntyre was imprisoned for a 1994 murder he didn’t commit, based largely on evidence provided by detective Roger Golubski. After his exoneration, attention in Kansas City, Kansas turned to the retired cop with a reputation for racism and corruption.

Residents said Golubski preyed on Black women and sex workers, abusing and forcing sex from them. Several of these women were murdered, their cases investigated by Golubski and left to go cold. Years later, federal authorities finally went after the cop many thought was untouchable.

Winner of the Investigative Reporters and Editors national award for best audio project, “Overlooked" is a six part series from KCUR and the NPR Midwest Newsroom.  Host Peggy Lowe examines Golubski’s years of misdeeds, his connections to unsolved crimes, and the present-day effort to hold a dirty cop accountable.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "OVERLOOKED" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 9 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

Juries often take as gospel forensics based on expert opinions and not peer-reviewed findings. There’s now a growing scrutiny of techniques like blood spatter, footwear analysis, bite marks, and arson detection - long accepted as reliable, yet responsible for many wrongful convictions. And efforts to establish meaningful standards to the disciplines are met with resistance from the prosecutors who rely on them.

“CSI on Trial” from iHeart and School of Humans examines the veracity of the most common forensic techniques, like ballistics and pattern analysis, as well as misapplied findings of arson and shaken baby syndrome. Host Molly Hermann uses the stories of those freed after wrongful convictions and those still behind bars because of shaky science.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "CSI ON TRIAL" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 9 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: old crime.

A teenager found in a field, another in a yard, another near a highway rest stop. They were the latest in the long line of deaths of Native women from Montana’s Crow and Northern Cheyenne reservations. Despite their suspicious nature, investigators failed to call the deaths crimes.

The incidents drew attention to the larger issue of Native American and First Nation women missing and murdered in the US and Canada. The cases have been largely ignored by the media, met with law enforcement indifference, and inflicted pain on a marginalized community.

Showtime’s “Murder in Big Horn” asks questions about the deaths of Henny Scott, Kaysera Stops Pretty Places, and Selena Not Afraid, as well as the pattern of missing and murdered Indigenous women. It explores the many issues contributing to the problem, like historical colonization, economic inequities, sex trafficking, and the lack of consequences for violence against women by Native and white men alike.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MURDER IN BIG HORN" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

Wrongful conviction lawyers looking for pre-DNA era evidence to test found a trove of samples where they shouldn’t have been: taped to a lab technician’s paperwork. That material would exonerate 13 men in Virginia. Advocates praised forensic scientist Mary Jane Burton for keeping the samples and foreseeing the arrival of DNA testing.

But few were asking why Burton broke the chain of custody rules or why so many of her cases resulted in wrongful convictions. Whistleblowers said Burton would skip scientific steps and record her blood test results in pencil, so she could change her findings to benefit the police.

Virginia Public Radio and Story Mechanics present “Admissible: Shreds of Evidence.” Host Tessa Kramer examines Burton’s work to answer whether those smuggled samples revealed more than just the wrong guy did it. Were the scientist’s unconventional methods responsible for getting innocent men out of prison…or for putting them there in the first place?

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "ADMISSIBLE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: rock of the church.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny emerged as Vladimir Putin’s strongest rival for the presidency. But while on a flight to Moscow, Navalny became gravely ill. After getting treatment in Germany, it was determined he’d been poisoned with a nerve agent - likely by Russian special forces.

Using telecom data, investigative journalists working with Navalny identified the scientists and operatives who executed the attack. The politician then used the press and social media to expose his would-be assassins in an act of defiance against Putin’s regime.

The Academy Award winning documentary feature film “Navalny” from HBO Max and CNN Films brings us inside the activist’s effort to solve his own assassination attempt and score political points against an autocrat. We also see in real time the fallout as Navalny returns to Russian to continue his campaign to change the nation.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "NAVALNY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 9 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

The 2017 murders of Canadian pharmaceutical executive Barry Sherman and his wife Honey shook the nation. The Sherman’s were seen as pillars of Toronto’s Jewish community. But the billionaire CEO also had a reputation for being a savage businessman, even among those in the cutthroat world of generic drug manufacturing. Meanwhile, Sherman’s cousins claimed they’d been swindled out of their share of the company. Kerry Winters claimed Barry once asked him to murder Honey, then drew suspicion when he told the press he wanted to kill his uncle himself.

From Lionsgate Sound and CBC Podcasts comes “The No Good, Terribly Kind, Wonderful Lives and Tragic Deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman.” Five years after the unsolved crime, host Kathleen Goldhar explores the business rivals, disgruntled relatives and far-out conspiracy theories around the brutal society murders. While the culprit is unknown, Goldhar says the motive is surely money.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE NO GOOD, TERRIBLY KIND, WONDERFUL LIVES AND TRAGIC DEATHS OF BARRY AND HONEY SHERMAN" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THIS EPISODE. 

In Crime of the Week: Shawshank-style.

Thousands of love-struck men around the world were fooled by untold scammers whose cons all had the same thing in common. They all used stolen images of the same woman: a one-time camgirl and adult entertainer known as Janessa Brazil.

Heartbroken men and serious journalists all searched for the real Janessa, only to be fooled by more imposters. But where is the woman whose face drew the victims in? Was she just the unwitting bait used by others for their crimes, or was she part of the swindle?

From CBC Podcasts and the BBC World Service comes “Love, Janessa.” Host Hannah Ajala tracks down con artists in West Africa, victims in Europe, and a woman in the US believed to be the face that launched a thousand scams.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "LOVE, JANESSA" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 9 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

Loretta McLaughlin struggles for respect in the 1960s male-dominated newsroom at the Record-American. But she finds a pattern in different Boston-area murders: women choked in their homes, their stockings tied around their necks in a bow.  Teamed with reporter Jean Cole, the women lead the hunt for the killer they dub the Boston Strangler. The pair find their safety threatened as suspects move in and out of the frame, and the cops unable to make an arrest.

Oscar nominee Keira Knightley stars in “Boston Strangler” from 20th Century Studios and streaming on Hulu. McLaughlin fights the sexism of the police and fellow reporters, all while seeking the culprit. Was the man arrested for the crimes responsible for all 13 deaths? Or do the changing methods and victims indicate more than one man was the Boston Strangler?

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "BOSTON STRANGLER" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

In Crime of the Week: late for school.

Welsh police sergeant Jill Evans thinks she’s found the man of her dreams. Dean Jenkins is attentive and a bit mysterious. What she doesn’t know is that Dean has been supplementing his income as an armed robber. After his arrest, Jill's colleagues are suspicious of her claims she didn’t know Dean was a bandit. Now it’s more than just her career on the line.

From Wondery and Novel, comes “Stolen Hearts.” Host Kerry Godliman mixes true crime and rom-com for a breezy look at a very British scandal.  

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "STOLEN HEARTS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 8 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.