SCARPETTA on Prime Video is a crime thriller series with eight episodes in its first season. It’s based on the book series by Patricia Cornwell, and has a strong serial killer plot. With Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis in two key roles, Prime Video struck gold. I absolutely loved this series – from the plot to the entire cast. Read our full Scarpetta Season 1 review here!
SCARPETTA is a Prime Video series adaptation of Patricia Cornwell’s best-selling book series about the brilliant medical examiner Kay Scarpetta. Amazingly, I still have not begun reading these books, but you can be damn sure I’m starting now! I loved everything about this universe, from the crime cases to the character gallery and, not least, the casting for this series adaptation on Prime Video.
The first season has eight episodes, and I absolutely binge-watched it. I’m thrilled I was able to watch all the episodes in the first season, and if the second season had been made already, I would gladly have watched that one as well. This is one of the best Prime Video series I have ever watched, and I cannot wait for season 2. Get ready to binge-watch this new series… and enjoy!
Continue reading our season 1 review of Scarpetta below, and find it on Prime Video from March 11, 2026.
The past catches up to the present
Scarpetta plays out in both the present and 28 years earlier in 1998. A serial killer, who was stopped in 1998, appears to have somehow returned. Even though this is impossible! So, is this new serial killer a copycat, or did they catch the wrong guy nearly three decades ago? The latter seems impossible, but has to be considered.
It’s important to note that the case from 1998 was the first big case for Dr. Kay Scarpetta, and quite literally made her career. The present-day serial killer returns just as Kay Scarpetta has returned to her job as medical examiner in the same area. It couldn’t possibly be a coincidence, but how should she approach this case when she knows many are just waiting for her to fail?!
Exactly as they did back in 1998, where she managed to fight back.
As Scarpetta unfolds in this Prime Video series adaptation, we continuously jump from 1998 to the present day… and back again. Thanks to the different actors playing all roles, we never have to be in doubt about when we are. As such, it works perfectly, and makes for a fascinating watch that focuses both on how some things have changed, while others (sadly!) remain the same.
Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis are perfect together
Despite being a fan of both Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis, I never expected to love them together as much as I did. Their chemistry and the brilliant dynamic force between them in Scarpetta is pure magic. This is the kind of stuff you hope for, but can never be certain of.
Nicole Kidman is a brilliant doctor and investigator – with the amazing Rosy McEwen equally breathtaking in the young version – and Jamie Lee Curtis is her author sister. Okay, obviously, I am not doing Jamie Lee Curtis justice by referring to her character simply as an “author”. Her character is a very sensual and emotional creature, and the two, as siblings, are oil and water.
Except when they’re fire and gasoline.
They are so wildly different and have that sibling dynamic where they want to kill each other at times. However, if anyone dares threaten them, then they team up immediately. As the younger version of Jamie Lee Curtis, we have Amanda Righetti (The Mentalist), who manages to have the same energy opposite Rosy McEwen.
So, whether the characters are in the present or nearly three decades earlier, the dynamic remains the same.
Brilliant supporting cast all around
While the two Scarpetta siblings, Kay and Dorothy (or “Dot”), are at the center of my Scarpetta universe, this is a crime thriller series with a serial killer plot. Playing a huge role in this are both Bobby Cannevale as a police detective, who has known Kay forever, and Ariana DeBose (House of Spoils), as Lucy. These are the two people always working with and helping Kay Scarpetta.
Lucy is brilliant with a computer and has worked at the FBI, but is currently in mourning after having lost her wife. Now, she has an AI version of her wife, Janet (Janet Montgomery), and she keeps talking with her all day, as if she were still alive. It’s a way of dealing with grief while making it impossible to move on.
As a fun detail, I should mention that Bobby Cannevale’s “Pete Marino” is portrayed by his own son, Jake Cannevale, in the past. It works really well… even if Jake is much shorter than his dad. Then again, so is Rosy compared to Nicole, so it works out.
Finally, we also have Simon Baker as Kay’s husband, played by Hunter Parrish in the past. And Tiya Sirca (Station Eleven) as a police officer, Blaise Fruge, who worked with the recently retired Pete Marino, and still helps him.
Watch Scarpetta Season 1 on Prime Video
The creator of this series (or developer, as Patricia Cornwell obviously created the characters and universe) is Liz Sarnoff. And yes, you should recognize the name of this writer and producer, as Elizabeth Sarnoff has worked on extremely successful productions such as Lost, Deadwood, and Barry.
The team behind the Prime Video series adaptation of Patricia Cornwell’s “Scarpetta” book series is a virtual dream team.
Jamie Lee Curtis and Nicole Kidman are both on board as executive producers alongside, among others, Patrica Cornwell, Jason Blum, and David Gordon Green. And yes, this does mean the recent Halloween trilogy team is reunited with Jamie Lee Curtis, Jason Blum, and David Gordon Green at the helm. The latter also directs several episodes, as does director Charlotte Brändström (The Consultant).
As much as I expected to enjoy Scarpetta, I didn’t anticipate that I would love it this much. I cannot wait for it to continue, and will start reading the books in the meantime.
Scarpetta premieres its first season on Prime Video on March 11, 2026, with all eight episodes.
📺 Watch trailer
Plot
Scarpetta brings Patricia Cornwell’s iconic literary character to life in a gripping series starring Nicole Kidman as “Dr. Kay Scarpetta.” With skilled hands and an unnerving eye, this unrelenting medical examiner is determined to serve as the voice of the victims, unmask a serial killer, and prove that her career-making case from 28 years prior isn’t also her undoing. Set against the backdrop of modern forensic investigation, the series delves beyond the crime scene to explore the psychological complexities of both perpetrators and investigators, creating a multi-layered thriller that examines the toll of pursuing justice at all costs.
Details
Showrunner: Liz Sarnoff
Directors: David Gordon Green, Charlotte Brändström
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana DeBose, Bobby Cannavale, Simon Baker, Rosy McEwen, Jake Cannavale, Savannah Lumar
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