CBC greenlights new female detective series from ‘Murdoch Mysteries’ producers

TORONTO – A 1920s-set female detective series from the producers of “Murdoch Mysteries” is bound for the CBC.

The public broadcaster says Shaftesbury’s “Frankie Drake” will begin production this summer for a fall 2017 launch.

Vancouver’s Lauren Lee Smith stars as Toronto’s only female private detective, who is described as “a spirited woman” who breaks gender barriers.

“Murdoch Mysteries” writers Carol Hay and Michelle Ricci created the original drama.

The CBC says Frankie Drake is “a woman ahead of her time, challenging convention and the status quo during a period of sweeping change, not unlike our own times.”