• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, Yesterday

CBS is looking to jumpstart its next true-crime franchise with a prime-time series starring best-selling mystery novelist Harlan Coben.

On the show -- titled “Harlan Coben’s Final Twist” and premiering this Wednesday at 9 p.m. Eastern -- Coben, 63, (above photo) will play the role of host and storyteller.

Coben has written 21 mystery-thrillers that have sold around the world. The titles include Hold Tight, Gone for Good, Fool Me Once and Nobody’s Fool.

“[The author] is known for his twisting narratives and intricate plots,” says a CBS press release.

“In each one-hour episode, Harlan will guide audiences through gripping tales of murder, high-profile crimes and life-altering surprises, each meticulously unraveled to reveal hidden truths, deceptions and lies,” the press release continues.

This week’s premiere episode, titled “Billy & Billie Jean,” takes up the story of a couple found murdered in their home. It is indeed a case with unexpected twists.

In an investigation that leads to social media, “detectives discover a bizarre cyberbullying conflict with a neighboring family and the possible covert involvement of a CIA agent driven by personal vengeance,” says CBS.

Coben is credited as a producer of the show, along with a son, Ben Coben. But the secret sauce behind the scenes is executive producer Susan Zirinsky, one-time president of CBS News and a legend in the production of non-fiction content for TV.

She now heads a production company owned by Paramount -- See It Now Studios -- which takes its name from a very old CBS News show, “See It Now” (1951-58), anchored by Edward R. Murrow.

Most notably, Zirinsky was executive producer of the CBS News true-crime series “48 Hours” for 23 years -- from 1996-2021.

For years, repurposed repeats of “48 Hours” have been a ubiquitous staple of basic cable, along with NBC’s “Dateline” and ABC’s “20/20,” all of which have made money for their networks. 

True crime content is hot right now, not only on TV but in the podcast universe as well. Two basic cable channels are devoted 24 hours a day to true crime -- NBCU’s Oxygen and WBD’s Investigation Discovery (ID).

Along with their own programming, ID carries all three of the network-produced true-crime shows. Oxygen airs repackaged episodes of “Dateline.”

With Zirinsky involved, it is reasonable to suspect that CBS might be eyeing “Harlen Coben’s Final Twist” as a new true-crime franchise with revenue potential.