TNT's 'Rizzoli & Isles' Kicks Off with West Roxbury Whodunnit

It's no secret that Boston's a popular city for fictitious crime stories thanks to the mean-streets reputation of Southie, Dorchester and of course, Charlestown, the bank-robbery capital of the universe.

TNT's new hit series, "Rizzoli & Isles" kicked off its introductory storyline right here in West Roxbury – but not because it's a criminal haven. Author Tess Gerritsen, who developed the book series behind the new show, says that West Roxbury wasn't even the original scene of the crime.

"The pilot episode, 'See One, Do One, Teach One,' which premiered July 12, opens with a murder in a West Roxbury mansion," she said. "In the book, I used Newton and a different PD as co-investigators. The West Roxbury setting for the murder was actually chosen by the TV writers with assistance from Boston PD homicide detective Russell Grant." Grant, a member of the Boston Police force for 31 years and a detective for 26 of them, was brought on by TNT as a consultant - to help maintain authenticity.

"My job is to make what's in the story as believable as television will allow, thus establishing 'reality' for the viewers," Grant explained. "If the person were murdered in this fashion does the crime scene fit? Is there enough blood or too much in some cases? Do the wounds to the body represent the injuries inflicted by the particular instrument? Does the crime scene and the behavior of the responding personnel 'look' real?"

Grant elaborated on the criteria for picking West Roxbury to open the series. "When the show's executive producer, Janet Tamaro, was looking for a place to commit a murder that would shock Boston, I offered up the good people of Bellevue Hill," Grant said. "This was one of many areas in West Roxbury I'd considered. But the deciding vote was cast when I realized one of the other areas was close to the home of our Suffolk County District Attorney, Dan Conley; another was on the doorstep of the Commander of the Homicide Unit's house and the third was in front of the office of my dentist, Dr. Helaine Smith. Since I don't want to go to jail, I like my current assignment in the Homicide Unit and am extremely fond of my smile, I chose Bellevue Hill. If it is of any consolation, I thought of West Roxbury because of the lack of significant crime activity."

Overall, the effort to remain true-to-life is rather heroic, and Gerrtisen explained that it played a large part in setting her "Rizzoli & Isles" stories here from the very beginning.

"I started using Boston as a setting ever since my first medical thriller, Harvest.  In that case Boston was an absolutely perfect setting because it's a center for medical research. I've never lived there, but it's not so far from my home in Maine," she said. "When I wrote the first Rizzoli title, 'The Surgeon,' I wanted the nearest urban setting with a busy homicide unit. Boston's close enough for me to drive down for research. Up here in Maine, we just don't have enough murders to make a homicide unit of that size believable."

Whether or not you find West Roxbury to be a believable spot for a murder, Grant's disclosure of the processes by which the acclimating shots of the city are compiled might shed light on some nagging questions.

"The second unit that filmed the background footage in Boston spent hours on research before arriving here in order to find areas that would 'match' the parts of L.A. used on location. Locals will recognize many of the backgrounds," said Grant. "The one's that leave you scratching your head are a compilation of real Boston scenes and computer enhanced images. One such image was the ballpark in the second episode, Boston Strangler Redux. The overpass is from Charlestown and the ballpark is in L.A."

The initial run of "Rizzoli & Isles" wraps up next week, and West Roxbury is certainly a location possibility for future episodes of the show, which stars former Law and Order regular Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander from NCIS. Recent guest stars have included Donnie Wahlberg, Antonio Sabato Jr, Balthazar Getty, Billy Burke (Twilight) and Brenda Strong (Desperate Housewives).

"Rizzoli & Isles" airs Monday nights at 10PM on TNT.