(Photo: FOX)

Murder in a Small Town is headed to FOX next season. The network has ordered the crime drama from executive producer/writer Ian Weir. The series is based on the Alberg and Cassandra mysteries novels by L.R. Wright.

Starring Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk, the series will follow Karl Alberg (Sutherland) after he moves to a small town to escape police work in the big city. He soon learns he’ll have just as much detective work to do in his new small-town home. Karl also meets Cassandra (Kreuk), a local librarian, who becomes his love interest and foil.

FOX revealed more about the new series in a press release.

Continuing to deploy its strategy to identify premium content by working with international studios on creating new and innovative business models, FOX has commissioned the psychological crime drama, Murder in a Small Town, from Executive Producer/Head Writer Ian Weir (Arctic Air, Edgemont) and Sepia Films in association with FOX Entertainment and Jeff Wachtel’s Future Shack Entertainment, for the 2024-25 season.

Based on the Edgar Award-winning, nine-book “Karl Alberg” series by acclaimed novelist L.R. Wright, and starring Rossif Sutherland (Reign, The Handmaid’s Tale) and Kristin Kreuk (Smallville, Beauty & the Beast), Murder in a Small Town will be produced in British Columbia, with Milan Cheylov (24, The Cleaning Lady) executive producing and directing multiple episodes of the program. FOX has acquired all U.S. rights of Murder in a Small Town, which will be executive produced by Nick Orchard (Soapbox Productions), Morris Ruskin and Sharon Wisnia (Mojo Global Arts) and Jon Cotton.

Murder in a Small Town follows Karl Alberg (Sutherland), who moves to a quiet coastal town to soothe a psyche that has been battered by big-city police work. But this gentle paradise has more than its share of secrets, and Karl will need to call upon all the skills that made him a world-class detective in solving the murders that, even in this seemingly idyllic setting, continue to wash up on his shore. Kreuk stars as Cassandra, a local librarian who becomes Alberg’s muse, foil and romantic interest.

“Ian has done a masterful job bringing L.R. Wright’s seminal detective Karl Alberg to life, finding his perfect alter ego, Rossif Sutherland, to star on screen alongside Kristin Kreuk,” said Michael Thorn, President, Scripted Programming, of FOX Entertainment. “Murder in a Small Town illustrates our ongoing strategy to identify and commission impactful global content in a smart and effective manner with proven creative partners, all of which we have found in Ian, Milan, Sepia Films and Future Shack.”

Wachtel added, “It’s a joy to be doing this wonderful show with my old friends at FOX. Ian, Milan, Rossif and Kristin form the core of a world-class creative team that will bring this unique detective show to life.”

“We are thrilled to be collaborating with FOX Entertainment and Future Shack on an innovative production model that will bring the internationally acclaimed Karl Alberg mystery novels by Edgar Award-winning novelist L.R. Wright to the screen,” said Tina Pehme and Kim Roberts, Co-CEOs/Producers of Sepia Films.

A premiere date and additional details will be announced later.

What do you think? Are you excited to see this new series on FOX during the 2024-25 TV season?