In 2014, the true-crime podcast “Serial” began like this: A tipster asked a radio journalist to investigate a murder. “S-Town,” the new narrative podcast from the creators of “Serial,” kicks off in a similar fashion. This time, the tipster is John B. McLemore, an eccentric antique clock restorer from Woodstock, Ala. The journalist is Brian Reed, a longtime producer for “This American Life.” When Mr. McLemore tells Mr. Reed that a Woodstock rich boy got away with murder and has been bragging about it ever since, Mr. Reed agrees to head down from New York to check it out. But it soon becomes clear that the homicide story is a bit of a red herring. It’s the hook to get Mr. Reed on the line.

Mr. Reed has used a similar tactic to draw his podcast audience into the story, with a teaser for the series that emphasizes the murder. Some “Serial” fans may be disappointed to learn that the crew’s latest offering is not a straightforward whodunit. They shouldn’t be. “S-Town” turns out to be much more interesting than that.

“S-Town” is not another tale of a journalist trying to solve a murder with just a microphone and a little elbow grease, and thank God. Instead, “S-Town” transcends the podcast procedural with a destabilizing narrative structure in which one small-town mystery leads to another, all surrounding Mr. McLemore and his acquaintances. There is that murder, but also a treasure hunt, a land grab and a mysterious benefactor. Mr. Reed’s investigation turns psychological and emotional — into how people come to be branded as bad, and the hidden relationships among men in the rural South.

“S-Town” — which is executive produced by Mr. Reed and the “Serial” producer Julie Snyder, with editorial input from the “Serial” host, Sarah Koenig, and the host of “This American Life,” Ira Glass — is not “Serial” Season 3. It’s kind of a podcast spinoff, and it unfolds more like a novel than a true-crime procedural. Mr. McLemore is its beguiling principal character. He’s got a backyard labyrinth, gold buried in an undisclosed location and a literary flair that turns small-town life into big drama. He’s the peppiest pessimist south of the Mason-Dixon line.