The series was originally ordered by Hulu in March 2022 under the working title Career Opportunities in Murder and Mayhem, with Mandy Patinkin already attached to the lead role.

Creators Mike Weiss and Heidi Cole McAdams describe themselves as huge fans of Agatha Christie and said they wanted to capture the atmosphere of her works while dragging her style into a contemporary setting.

Mandy Patinkin's detective character, Rufus Cotesworth, was inspired by a blend of famous fictional detectives including Hercule Poirot, Sam Spade, Sherlock Holmes, and Philip Marlowe.

Angela Zhou first acted in the pilot as Teddy Goh, the crew manager on the SS Varuna, and then joined the writers' room for the series while continuing to play the role.

The core cast including Mandy Patinkin, Violett Beane, Lauren Patten, Hugo Diego Garcia, Angela Zhou, Pardis Saremi, and Rahul Kohli was announced when the series was picked up in March 2022, with additional cast members like Annie Q. Riegel, Linda Emond, Jayne Atkinson, David Marshall Grant, and Christian Svensson joining between August and November 2022.

Despite mixed critical reviews, the show performed well in streaming metrics, being ranked among the top five most-streamed series in the U.S. by multiple tracking services (TVision, JustWatch, and Whip Media) during January and early February 2024.

Hulu canceled Death and Other Details after just one season in March 2024, despite its strong streaming numbers.

The series received the ReFrame Stamp for 2023–2024, an award recognizing gender-balanced hiring in film and television productions, and was nominated for Best Production Design in a Dramatic Series at the 2024 Leo Awards.