The predicted drought appears not to have eventuated. Last year’s strike by the American writers’ and actors’ unions was expected to have a noticeable impact on what has been a virtual deluge of content since the start of the streaming revolution. But for viewers, that steady flow has continued and, for those with access to several services, new series still arrive, abundantly and regularly.

So it’s easy to miss some of the good stuff. For devotees of crime series – a globally popular genre in the streaming world – it’s worth noting that many appear without promotional fanfare, or can easily be overlooked in the flood. Here are some good ones you might’ve missed.

Better (ABC iview)

Lou Slack (Leila Farzad) is a cluey and capable police detective, and her skill at her job is convincingly established early on. As is her corruption. For years, she’s been in the service of local crime boss Col McHugh (Andrew Buchan), and both have benefited from the arrangement: her career has thrived and her family’s finances have improved, while his activities have been protected by her information and ability to manipulate events in his favour. But a health crisis involving Lou’s teenage son causes her to re-evaluate her life and priorities. Still, the cop and the crim are closely entwined and Col, played with quietly chilling menace by Buchan (Industry), has a reptilian alertness for any flicker of shifting loyalties. Created and written by Jonathan Brackley (Humans, Spooks) and with four of its five episodes directed by Jonathan Brough (Rosehaven), this taut BBC thriller is loaded with twists and maintains the tension through to the audacious and fitting finale.

Under the Bridge (Disney+)

Set in Victoria, the capital of the Canadian province of British Columbia, this gruelling eight-part series dramatises a real case from 1997 involving the disappearance of a teenager. Based on a book by Rebecca Godfrey and also “inspired by” Manjit Virk’s memoir, Reena: A Father’s Story, it evokes a cruel world filled with broken families, anger and pain. Written for TV by Quinn Shephard, it stars Riley Keough (Daisy Jones & The Six) as the psychologically scarred Godfrey. She returns to her hometown to write a book and finds herself caught up in the case involving Reena (Vritika Gupta), the daughter of American-Indian parents who craves acceptance from a group of schoolgirls led by the volatile and vengeful Josephine Bell (Chloe Guidry). Moving back and forth in time, the drama charts the circumstances surrounding Reena’s fate after she joins the group at a party. It develops into a harrowing tale, aching with sadness and regret, in which issues of race, religion and class are woven through a powerful account of adolescent angst and alienation. The uniformly captivating cast also features Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) as a local cop and Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife) as Reena’s mother.

The Veil (Disney+)

In this slick espionage thriller, Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, The Handmaid’s Tale) stars as a consummate spy assigned to extract a woman (Yumna Marwan) suspected of being an Islamic State leader from a Turkish refugee camp. Her mission is to deliver her charge safely to her MI6 bosses while also confirming that she’s one of the most dangerous people on the planet. The ticking-bomb urgency is ratcheted higher as intelligence agencies in France, Britain and the United States, who don’t quite trust each other, rush to thwart a potentially catastrophic terrorist attack that they learn is imminent. Deftly matched for screen power and allure, Moss and Marwan play out an intriguing game of cat-and-mouse while evading all manner of threats. On the journey, they discuss duty, men and motherhood while each displays a mastery of spycraft. Shot by Australian Bonnie Elliott (Stateless) with three episodes directed by Emmy-winning Australian Daina Reid (The Handmaid’s Tale), the gripping, fast-paced six-part series, made for America’s FX, benefits from a generous globetrotting budget from the remote, snowbound refugee camp to Istanbul, Paris, London and the English countryside.