Da Vinci's Inquest (Syndicated)

DA VINCI'S INQUEST is a critically acclaimed Canadian ensemble procedural crime drama that centers on Dominic Da Vinci (Nicholas Campbell), a former Royal Canadian Mountain Police undercover officer who's now a Vancouver coroner. Da Vinci investigates the details of the victims' cause of death with the help of homicide detectives Mick Leary (Ian Tracey), Leo Shannon (Donnelly Rhodes), and Angela Kosmo (Venus Terzo), veteran forensic investigator Chick Savoy (Alex Diakun), medical examiner Dr. Sunny Ramen (Suleka Mathew), and pathologist/ex-wife Dr. Patricia Da Vinci (Gwynyth Walsh). When the circumstances surrounding a death spark more questions than answers, Da Vinci calls an inquest -- a formal inquiry into the cause of death -- at the Coroner's Court, bringing all of the members of the crime-solving team together in front of a jury. Da Vinci's rigorous and sometimes unrelenting efforts to solve these mysteries often lead to clashes with Chief Coroner James Flynn (Robert Wisden) and Sgt. Sheila Kurtz (Sarah-Jane Redmond). But he can often win them over, thanks to behind-the-scenes help from his assistant, Helen (Sarah Strange).

This dark, gritty series -- which is often compared to Steven Bochco's popular stateside cop show NYPD Blue -- offers well-written, multifaceted stories that combine investigation work with the characters' complex personal issues. In fact, many of the episodic mysteries remain unsolved when the show's focus shifts from crime -solving to understanding the complex personal issues that Da Vinci and his colleagues are dealing with. Da Vinci's Inquest originally ran from 1998-2005 in Canada and currently airs in syndication in the U.S.