by: Maddie Rowley

HLN is killing it lately (pun 100% intended). The CNN-owned brand known for its “headline news by day, mysteries and investigation by night,” syndication strategy has recently relaunched Forensic Files and is airing new show, Sex & Murder on Monday, March 16th at 9 PM ET/PT.

Here’s the trailer:

I really had no expectations when HLN sent over a pre-screening of the first episode of Sex & Murder but I did know that I like what they’re doing with Forensic Files II and love their foray into podcasting with “Down the Hill: the Delphi Murders” which has landed on Apple Podcast’s top ten list for several weeks now.  

The title of the new show pretty much says it all in that I’m guessing each episode will include some form of murder AND some sort of sex. Scandalous! 

The first episode, titled “Date with the Devil” (which was the same episode that I was sent last week to pre-screen) was fast-paced and covered a case that I hadn’t heard about before. 

Without giving too much away, a recently-divorced woman’s remains are found distributed between several garbage cans across several neighborhoods near Seattle. Detectives have to dig into her past to find out who would do such a gruesome thing and why. 

I thought the level of reporting was top-notch. The show features really detailed interviews—for example they talk to the first man who found the woman’s head and leg in his recycling bin and he says that he could see the outline of her face through the plastic bag. It really doesn’t get more in-depth than that. 

I definitely recommend tuning in on Monday nights when new episodes air. Cheers, armchair detectives!