Shonda Rhimes White House Murder Mystery ‘The Residence’ Gets Netflix Series Order

Shonda Rhimes is making a new White House drama. Shondaland’s newest series, The Residence, is officially in development at Netflix, the streaming service announced March 7.

The Residence is a murder mystery from executive producer/showrunner Paul William Davies (For the People) and executive producers Rhimes and Betsy Beers. Both Rhimes and Davies have overall deals with Netflix.

The series is based on Kate Andersen Brower’s book The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House. Netflix and Shondaland acquired the rights to Brower’s book in 2018. The series will consist of eight episodes, and based on Netflix’s series description, it sounds like a mix of Downton Abbey and Clue.

It said: “132 rooms. 157 suspects. One dead body. One wildly eccentric detective. One disastrous State Dinner. The Residence is a screwball whodunnit set in the upstairs, downstairs, and backstairs of the White House, among the eclectic staff of the world’s most famous mansion.”

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Davies, Rhimes, and Beers previously worked together on Scandal. Davies was a writer for the Kerry Washington-led drama. He went on to create For the People for ABC starring Bridgerton‘s Regé-Jean Page, which Shondaland produced.

The Residence is the newest of Rhimes’ many Netflix titles. The Grey’s Anatomy creator’s most recent release was Inventing Anna — a limited series based on Jessica Pressler’s viral New York magazine article “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People.”

Future Shondaland titles include a Bridgerton spinoff limited series about a young Queen Charlotte. Bridgerton smashed Netflix records when Season 1 was released. Its second season comes out March 25, and it’s already been renewed for Seasons 3 and 4.

Rhimes signed her Netflix overall deal in 2017 and renewed it in 2021. The renewal deal will expand her Netflix content into feature films, video games, and virtual reality.