Dr. Kay Scarpetta has been solving crimes for more than 30 years, and she’s showing no signs of stopping. The brilliant forensic pathologist is the protagonist of Patricia Cornwell’s long-running mystery-thriller series, which currently spans an impressive 29 books and has made her one of the most recognizable and enduring characters in crime fiction. Now, she’s cracking a new (but also very old) case in a Prime Video series that premiered March 11 and stars Nicole Kidman, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bobby Canavale, and Ariana DeBose.
Like Cornwell’s books, the thriller series follows Dr. Scarpetta (Kidman), the chief medical examiner of Virginia. Her skilled hands and relentless determination guide her as she investigates crime scenes, examines evidence, and serves as a voice for victims—including, in the world of the show, a murder that has unsettling connections to a case from her past.
If the murder-mystery TV show has you curious about the Scarpetta books, look no further. We have your guide to the series’s origins (including the real-life woman who inspired the character), the full rundown of the books in order, and some sleuthing about what’s to come in season 2.
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Detective Pete Marino (Bobby Cannavale) and Kay Scarpetta (Nicole Kidman) investigating in Scarpetta.
Is Kay Scarpetta based on a real person?
Yes, and she has a fascinating story of her own. Dr. Marcella Fierro spent a three-decade career in forensic pathology, including serving as Virginia’s first female chief medical examiner from 1994 until her retirement in 2008. Author Cornwell met Fierro in 1984, when the then-aspiring writer, who was living in Richmond, Virginia at the time (where the Scarpetta novels are set), got an appointment to ask her questions about what a medical examiner does.
“Marcella told me, ‘This is not a spectator sport; I don’t just let people watch autopsies,’” Cornwell recalled in a 2025 interview with Richmond magazine. “She told me I had to make myself legitimate and suggested I become a volunteer police officer—so I did.” Cornwell then accompanied Fierro to crime scenes and observed her in the morgue, and that firsthand experience led her to craft the character of Dr. Kay Scarpetta.
“She would often run things by me to make sure they were plausible,” Fierro told Richmond. “I was convinced from the get-go her drive, her determination and her commitment to the accuracy of the work would triumph.”
Cornwell published her first Scarpetta novel, Postmortem, in 1990, with Fierro’s support, launching what would become a seminal part of the crime fiction genre. As she told the Associated Press when Fierro retired, “I would not be where I am today in my life were it not for Dr. Fierro.”
What are the 'Scarpetta' books about?
If we tried to recap all 29 books, we’d be here a while! But here are the biggest things to know about the series: Dr. Kay Scarpetta is the brilliant and compassionate chief medical examiner of the Commonwealth of Virginia, who uses her sharp analytical skills and forensic investigative techniques to solve crimes and unmask killers. Her work, naturally, also brings her into contact with law enforcement, including the gruff cop Pete Marino and FBI agent Benton Wesley (who becomes her husband).
The Scarpetta novels also spend time on the character’s life outside the office. She has a sister, Dorothy Farinelli, a chaotic and impulsive foil to the disciplined, even-keeled Kay, and a niece, Lucy, who is extremely intelligent and tech-savvy.
What book is 'Scarpetta' season 1 based on?
As Cornwell noted on Instagram, season 1 of Scarpetta takes inspiration from two books in her long-running series. One is the first Scarpetta novel, 1990’s Postmortem, which follows Kay as she hunts down a serial killer while navigating scrutiny and possible sabotage from those who are skeptical of a woman holding the chief medical examiner post. The other is 2021’s Autopsy, in which Kay returns to Virginia with Benton after many years away. Newly back on the job as chief medical examiner, she’s called to a murder case with a trail that leads “unnervingly close to her own historic neighborhood.”
The TV series breaks up these stories across two timelines, in 1998 and the present day. The 1998 part of the plot—featuring an ensemble of younger actors—is where Kay Scarpetta, newly appointed as chief medical examiner, investigates a series of murders with the help of Pete and Wesley. The present-day timeline sees Kay (Kidman) and Benton (Simon Baker) returning to Virginia after some time away—while also navigating complicated family dynamics with Dorothy (Jamie Lee Curtis); Pete (Bobby Cannavale), who’s now married to Dorothy; and Lucy (Ariana DeBose), who lives in Kay’s guest house and is grieving the death of her wife. Now reinstated as chief medical examiner, Kay finds herself investigating a murder with surprising connections to that first case she cracked 28 years earlier. And if they are connected, it could mean her entire career was built on a lie.
How do I read the 'Scarpetta' books in order?
Here are the 29* Scarpetta books, starting with 1990’s Postmortem and continuing through 2025’s Sharp Force.
- Postmortem (1990)
- Body of Evidence (1991)
- All that Remains (1992)
- Cruel and Unusual (1993)
- The Body Farm (1994)
- From Potter’s Field (1995)
- Cause of Death (1996)
- Unnatural Exposure (1997)
- Point of Origin (1998)
- Black Notice (1999)
- The Last Precinct (2000)
- Blow Fly (2003)
- Trace (2004)
- Predator (2005)
- Book of the Dead (2007)
- Scarpetta (2008)
- The Scarpetta Factor (2009)
- Port Mortuary (2010)
- Red Mist (2011)
- The Bone Bed (2012)
- Dust (2013)
- Flesh and Blood (2014)
- Depraved Heart (2015)
- Chaos (2016)
- Autopsy (2021)
- Livid (2022)
- Unnatural Death (2023)
- Identity Unknown (2024)
- Sharp Force (2025)
*There’s also a holiday-themed novella, Scarpetta’s Winter Table (1998), which features Christmas recipes and photographs.
According to the Scarpetta showrunner, the series will continue to explore both the timelines.
What book will 'Scarpetta' season 2 adapt?
The show was given a two-season order right from the jump, so we know that Kay will return for another round of crime-solving.
There’s no logline or casting info for the new season just yet, but writer/executive producer/showrunner Liz Sarnoff said it will pick up after the events of the season 1 finale and continue telling the story across the past and present timelines. That means the younger troupe of actors, including Rosy McEwen and Jake Cannavale (yes, son of Bobby) as the past versions of Kay and Pete, seems likely to return alongside Kidman, Curtis, Cannavale, and DeBose.
“It’s half in the past and half in the present. And in the past, it’s a little bit later [than season 1], and then the present picks up where we left off,” Sarnoff told TV Insider. This could mean that the show continues the precedent of adapting more than one book a season—given that there are 29 to choose from, the creative team certainly has plenty of options.
Sarnoff also revealed that Cornwell has been involved in the series, including having her expert eyes on the season 2 scripts. “She read all the scripts and corrected us when we got stuff wrong, and she was always there. I could reach out to her, and it was wonderful for me. I’m a big fan, and she was very available to the show,” she added. “We had her in season 2. She was in the writers’s room a bunch, where we would Zoom with her and talk to her about what we were planning. And she has unbelievable ideas, and she was just a pleasure to have as a resource.”
For now, fans can watch the eight-episode first season of Scarpetta and play forensic analyst, looking for clues about where the story could go next. And if that’s not enough to keep you hooked until the show returns, you can read the 27 other entries in the source material.