Alan Cumming Returning to CBS for Dr. Death Crime Drama

The Good Wife's Alan Cumming is getting a starring vehicle on CBS of his very own: Deadline reports that Cumming has signed on to star and executive-produce crime procedural Dr. Death, based on an upcoming novel by the America's best-selling author, James Patterson.

Cumming will play a retired CIA operative who's called back into service when the NYPD needs his help to catch a serial killer.

The in-development series hails from a number of people CBS has done business with before. In addition to Cumming, executive producers include former Royal Pains showrunner Michael Rauch and Alex Kurtzman, co-creator of CBS All Access' upcoming series Star Trek: Discovery, and Patterson, whose novel Zoo also inspired a series on the network that was renewed for a third season last month.

Dr. Death the book will be released in 2017.

There are currently no plans for Cumming to appear on CBS All Access' upcoming The Good Wife spin-off, though Sarah Steele, who played his character's daughter, Marissa Gold, will reprise her role in the series, which premieres in February.

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