The strange thing about Karl Alberg is there’s nothing strange about him at all.
Alberg is the protagonist of FOX’s new fall drama series Murder in a Small Town, premiering Sept. 24, as part of the Network’s fall lineup for 2024/25.
His character and the series itself are both based on L.R. Wright’s 9-book “Karl Alberg” series. On TV Alberg is played by Rossif Sutherland (son of the late Donald Sutherland), with quiet intensity and earnest conviction.
Murder in a Small Town centers on a world-weary but world-class detective who has recently moved to sleepy coastal town to become the new chief of police. Alberg’s psyche has been battered, we are told, by big city police work, but also honed to a knife’s edge, which we are not told, but shown over several key scenes in the pilot episode. Well done, show writers!
Which brings us back to the opening line of this review. The strange thing about Alberg is how normal he is. While Networks are busy prepping a fall lineup of doctors, firemen, detectives, cops, and lawyers with lengthy lists of crime-solving quirks (He’s a savant! He’s an idiot! He hates people! He talks to the dead! He is dead! He has face blindness! He has color blindness! He has regular blindness!) Murder in a Small Town plays it straight. Alberg is a regular guy who depends on good old fashioned detective work — observation, interviews, leg work, and intuition — to solve his cases, and it’s so refreshing I could weep.
If Alberg could be said to have any quirk at all it might be his humanity. Rather than barging in, flashing his gun and badge, this TV cop uses his compassion and his level head to get at the truth. Coupled with Sutherland’s understated and nuanced performance and set against the backdrop of a sleepy, rain-drenched New England town, this feels like a show I might actually want to get into this TV season.
Also starring is Kristin Kreuk, who you might remember from genre shows on the CW like Smallville and Beauty and the Beast. Kruek plays Cassandra Lee, a local librarian who has been unlucky in love, and who keeps her romantic cards close to her vest as a result.
Our PR material for the series tells us that “Cassandra becomes Karl’s muse, foil and romantic interest,” and the pilot episode does a capable job of setting up this pair to run the course. (The premiere episode literally opens with Karl and Cassandra embarking on a blind date. As they get to know each other over an awkward lunch that Cassandra keeps trying to back out of, the audience gets to know them both.)
There’s a brittle energy to Kruek’s performance also that hints at more to Cassandra’s past than we are initially told, but at the time of writing we’ve only reviewed the pilot episode, and have to guess where her demons lie.
The pilot episode is a lengthy 90 minutes long, and guest stars James Cromwell as the number one suspect in the murder of a local resident. While Alberg works the crime scene, Cassandra finds herself reluctantly drawn into the confidence of the killer, and quickly on the wrong side of Alberg’s investigation. Caught between the wishes of her confidant, her burgeoning feelings for Alberg, and her duty to do the right thing, we can see that this would-be relationship is off to quite a rocky start.
Cromwell is well utilized in the premiere. His performance serves to balance the murder mystery elements with moments of pure character drama. He’s not the only notable guest star set to make an appearance on the show this season either. Look out for Stana Katic (Castle, Absentia), Paula Patton (The Perfect Match, Precious) and Noah Reid (Schitt’s Creek), who are all set to make their guest-starring debuts this season too.
Meanwhile, Mya Lowe (My Life with the Walter Boys, Yellowjackets), Savonna Spracklin (Two-Spirit Odyssey, Wildhood), Aaron Douglas (Battlestar Galactica, The Watchful Eye) and Fritzy-Klevans Destine (The Boys, Superman & Lois) recur in the series also.
With fresh murders continuing to wash up on Alberg’s shores, there’s plenty to keep the townsfolk busy and a curious audience tuning in for more this fall.
Murder in a Small Town premieres Tuesday, Sept. 24 (8:00-9:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX.
