Murder In A Small Town is a decidedly cozy procedural

There is a lot of lamenting nowadays that they don’t make TV like they used to, and it doesn’t get more “like they used to” than Murder In A Small Town. Fox’s adaptation of the Karl Alberg series of books strikes a tone reminiscent of 2000s-era WB shows like Everwood and Gilmore Girls: It’s lightly comedic, airy, and everything is centered around a quirky small town. In this case, however, there’s a crucial bit of darkness woven in, not just from the titular killing but from the suggestion of the secrets that lurk under the surface of every small town. This is well-worn territory, sure, but the show strikes a jovial enough tone and manages to be somewhat unique without coming across as discomforting.  

Mercifully, Murder In A Small Town doesn’t play up the folksiness of its setting or the out-of-touch nature of its protagonist. Karl Alberg (Rossif Sutherland, son of Donald) has moved to a small coastal town from the big city, but he’s adjusted rather well. We’re introduced to him as he goes on an online date with Cassandra Mitchell (WB veteran Kristin Kreuk), a local librarian with attachment issues. The show’s setup actually has a lot more to juggle than the murder, because there’s also Edwina Yen (Mya Lowe), a new hire from Philadelphia, and George Wilcox (special guest star James Cromwell), who’s connected to the victim somehow. Murder In A Small Town is not always the cleanest. And at times, the series resembles something more like a small-town drama than a procedural, laying the groundwork for what could be overarching storylines or just background details. But it mostly works.

As for the titular murder? The show employs a mind-palace-esque visual style, though Karl is depicted more as being really good at his job than a genius or particularly special. As a whole, Murder In A Small Town is a pretty normal procedural with at least baseline competency for everyone on the force, so much so that at times it feels like waiting to get to a predetermined destination rather than being thrown by surprising twists and turns. Where the show shines is in the interplay between Karl and Cassandra. Sutherland and Kreuk have great chemistry that bodes well for whenever she eventually decides to help him out on cases. As we said, she has some commitment issues, but overall Cassandra gives off the impression of just being plucky and charming. (She’s also, we should note, not as well-defined as Karl just yet.) 

Murder In A Small Town doesn’t aim for the depth of the greatest procedurals, but it has enough low-key dramatics and small-town charm to keep us interested. That said, there is an edge that pops up in the back half of the show’s 90-minute premiere that throws a moral dilemma into the proceedings. As it stands now, it’s not entirely clear whether the series is building a season-long arc or planning to be something like a new Castle, an episode-of-the-week show that’s powered by a will-they-won’t-they (and one that, like that ABC mystery, also features Stana Katic). There are enough ingredients in both the cast and the setting to make for a pretty good small-town drama, and the nebulously Canadian backdrop is a refreshing change from all of the shows that have tried to cast that country as America. The comparatively sunny tone helps, too, though there is a feeling of not wanting to get too dark even as it alludes to, say, histories of domestic abuse.  

God knows the TV landscape has no lack of cop shows, and while there may be better—or at least more high-octane—series to get a procedural fix, there is something to be said for a new project that’s as much about a location and a community as it is about the corpses. What’s more, in its quieter moments, when Karl and Cassandra are taking walks and bantering, Murder In A Small Town becomes rather compelling. It’s certainly never boring, even if there could be more investigation and epiphanies. And we did end up wanting to know what landed these characters (some of which feel a bit thinly drawn early on) in this town. Everything here stays just at the edge of clichés, enough to be warmly familiar without making you roll your eyes at yet another detective haunted by the things he’s seen. It’s the definition of Cozy TV, the sort that used to feature Angela Lansbury or take place in Alaska. If it’s a little obvious in its intentions, it’s just a simple pleasure to be around these actors for an hour or so. And frankly, that’s its own kind of achievement.   

Murder In A Small Town premieres September 24 on Fox