Patricia Cornwell‘s Kay Scarpetta novels finally got the screen treatment in Scarpetta, the eight-episode crime drama that premiered on Prime Video on March 11.
The star-studded series followed the renowned medical examiner on a new serial killing case that has some unsettling connections to her career-making case from the ’90s, and the last episode ended with a major cliffhanger.
So is the series a one-and-done, or is there more to come? Here’s what we know.
Is Scarpetta renewed for Season 2?
Yes! Prime Video ordered two seasons of the series.
When will Scarpetta Season 2 premiere?
A premiere date has not yet been revealed, but TV Insider has learned that the series went back into production starting on March 9.
Who will star in Scarpetta Season 2?
It is expected that all members of the main cast will return to their roles for Season 2, and several new additions have been made. Returning for the series, which takes place across two timelines will be Nicole Kidman stars as Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Jamie Lee Curtis as her chaotic sister Dorothy Farinelli, Bobby Cannavale as Detective Pete Marino, Simon Baker as FBI profiler Benton Wesley, and Ariana DeBose stars as Kay’s niece Lucy in the present day, plus from the ’90s-set timeline, we’ll see Rosy McEwen as Kay, Amanda Righetti as Dorothy, Jake Cannavale as Pete, and Hunter Parrish as Benton.
Joining the cast for Season 2 are, per Deadline, David Arquette, Jodi Balfour, William Zabka, Stella Baker, Kim Dickens, Troy Garity, Jerod Haynes, Mike “Killer Mike” Render, and Holland Taylor.
What will happen in Scarpetta Season 2?
An official description of the second season has not yet been revealed, but writer, executive producer, and showrunner Liz Sarnoff confirmed it will continue from the events of Season 1’s finale: “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,” she told TV Insider. That means we’ll find out the answers to the most burning questions of the first season, including who walked in when Kay was pummeling her serial killer attacker in the last shot.
What books will Scarpetta Season 2 be based on?
The second season is expected to incorporate the events of the novels Cruel and Unusual and The Body Farm.
The description for Cruel and Unusual, the fourth novel in the Kay Scarpetta series, tells us, “When an executed murderer’s fingerprints turn up at a new crime scene, Kay Scarpetta investigates.”
Meanwhile, The Body Farm, which is the fifth in the series, is described like so: “Little Emily Steiner left a church meeting late one afternoon and strolled toward home along a lakeside path; a week later, her nude body was discovered, bound in blaze-orange duct tape. Called by the North Carolina authorities, forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta recognizes similarities to the gruesome work of a serial killer who has long eluded the FBI. But as she tries to make sense of the evidence, she is left with questions that lead her to the Body Farm, a little-known research facility in Tennessee where, with the help of some grisly experiments, she might discover the answer. It is Scarpetta alone who can interpret the forensic hieroglyphics that eventually reveal a solution to the case as staggering as it is horrifying. But she must also endeavor to help her niece, Lucy, who is embroiled in controversy at Quantico. And Scarpetta, too, is vulnerable, as she opens herself to the first physical and emotional bond she has felt in far too long a time. Tenacious and brilliant, tender and gentle, this is Scarpetta even more realized and poignant than we’ve seen her before — in a stunning achievement from a bestselling author at the peak of her powers.”
What else is there to know about Scarpetta Season 2?
Sarnoff also confirmed that the novels’ author was involved with the creation of the series, including its second season. “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,” Sarnoff said. “We had her in Season 2, she was in the writers’ 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.”
Scarpetta, Season 2, Premiere Date TBA, Prime Video
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