CIS: Miami alumna Khandi Alexander is returning to CBS with a co-starring role opposite Alan Cumming and Bojana Novakovic in CBS' drama pilot Instinct.

Written by Michael Rauch based on the upcoming book by James Patterson and directed by Marc Webb, Instinct centers on Dylan (Cumming), a former CIA operative who has since built a "normal" life as a gifted professor and writer but is pulled back into his old life when the NYPD needs his help to stop a serial killer on the loose. Alexander will play Lizzi's (Bojana Novakovic) police superior. Naveen Andrews and Daniel Ings also co-star.

Rauch, Cumming, Patterson and Marc Webb executive produce alongside Bill Robinson and Leopoldo Gout of James Patterson Entertainment, as well as Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin of Secret Hideout. CBS TV Studios is the studio.

In addition to her seven-season run on CBS' CSI: Miami, Alexander co-starred on HBO's Treme and recurred as Olivia Pope's scheming mother Maya on ABC's Scandal, a role that earned her an Emmy nomination. She is repped by Greene & Associates and attorney Jay Cooper.