Fox is asking one of the former stars of the NBC comedy series “The Office” to investigate mysteries, giving the drama “Backstrom,” starring Rainn Wilson, a 13-episode order, reports the Los Angeles Times’ Show Tracker.

The series is from “Bones” creator Hart Hanson and is based on a pair of Swedish novels. The TV project focuses on Detective Everett Backstrom, a grouchy investigator with Portland’s Serious Crimes Unit, who will be played by Wilson.

“He attempts to solve cases while also trying to clean up his own behavior. We’ll go out on a limb here and guess that he’s probably only successful at one of those things,” the story notes.

“Backstrom” was originally at CBS, but when the pilot wasn’t picked up last summer, the project moved to Fox, where “Bones” is in its ninth season. Production will start in early 2014, although it’s not clear when the series will air on the network.

Rainn Wilson