MUMBAI: Anthony E. Zuiker, the creator of the ?CSI? franchise, begins production on his first primetime reality series ?Whodunnit?? on US broadcaster ABC.

Cris Abrego partners with Zuiker for the new nine-episode summer alternative series, which is produced by Zuiker?s Dare to Pass and 51 Minds. The series puts 13 contestants? investigative skills to the test in a new mystery reality competition which airs this summer.

Each week players will use a variety of crime scene investigation techniques to meticulously uncover evidence that will ultimately reveal who among them is the killer. The interactive series will pit 13 amateur sleuths against each other in a quest to solve a series of puzzling murders. Some will form alliances and others will choose to go at it alone just to get them closer to the grand prize. The contestants will reside on a glamorous estate where each week they must solve a new crime in order to advance in The Game. Failure to solve the crime will lead to each player?s demise until only three are left. In the final episode, one player will unmask the killer and take home the $250,000 prize.

Zuiker said, "I?ve built a career telling crime stories, and if there?s one thing that I?ve learned, especially from ?CSI,? it?s that the audience loves to solve the mystery. ?Whodunnit?? allows everyday fans to be in the show themselves and get the chance every week to do what they love best, which is ultimately solve the case."

Abrego said, "?Whodunnit?? takes the best elements from the timelessly entertaining narrative form, the murder mystery, and infuses it with all the contemporary energy of a competition based reality show. The mystery fans who suddenly find themselves in the middle of an unfolding murder mystery won?t actually be playing for their lives, of course, but they?ll certainly feel like they are, and it promises to be just as engaging and suspenseful for the viewers at home."