Like a less grim version of The Killing, Murder in a Small Town is an impressively solid whodunnit set in the Pacific Northwest that plays like a page-turner… with just a touch of cozy romance.
The series is based on a series of thrillers by author L.R. Wright, which showrunner Ian Weir called “tremendous,” adding that the books offered him “the absolute gift of wonderfully rich characters and tremendous murder mystery storylines” to adapt.
In this exclusive first look at the series, you’ll see that it’s not just one murder we’re dealing with here; Rossif Sutherland (another son of the late, great Donald Sutherland) stars as Karl Alberg, a former big-city cop who has moved to the cozy coastal hamlet of Gibsons to become the new chief of police.
Imposing yet affable, Alberg immediately hits it off with local librarian Cassandra Mitchell (Smallville’s forever queen, Kristin Kreuk, who got her start on Weir’s 2001 Canadian teen soap Edgemont), but before their first lunch date is even over, there’s already a dead body to deal with. And it won’t be the last.
“There’s not a murder in every episode, but essentially, yes, almost all of the episodes have a murder at the heart of them,” Weir told TV Insider.
Fox
Despite the alarming mortality rate, however, Weir promised that there’s a lot to love about Gibsons — and not just the fact that the multiple cases mean killer guest stars like Castle‘s Stana Katic, Paula Patton of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, and Succession‘s Emmy-nominated standout James Cromwell.
“There’s quite a blue-sky feel to the town… leaving aside the fact that, yes, people die at a rate of seven or eight per season,” Weir laughed. “That’s just the occupational hazard of living in an idyllic town where a murder mystery series is set.”
Murder in a Small Town, series premiere, Tuesday, September 24, 8/7c, Fox*
*The show moves to 9/8c starting October 1.
