Prime Video has just dropped a brand-new crime thriller based on a much-loved author's book series, but it hasn't gone down well with audiences.

Scarpetta stars Nicole Kidman as the title character, Kay Scarpetta, a Chief Medical Examiner, with Jamie Lee Curtis as Kay's older sister, Dorothy.

Despite the star-studded cast, the Prime Video series received extremely low scores from viewers at home, who were quick to criticize the show, which was inspired by former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner, Marcella Farinelli Fierro.

All eight episodes dropped at the same time on Prime Video, and just hours after it was released, viewers aired their concerns.

According to IMDb reviews, a number of people slammed the show's casting, with one viewer even urging others not to bother watching.

Newtownduch said: "Odd casting choices. Kay Scarpetta (in the novels) is a diminutive woman of Italian heritage. Nicole Kidman stands at 180cm (5ft 11") and hails from Irish stock (via Australia).

"Media reports suggest that Cornwell had long hoped that Jodie Foster would one day be cast as Scarpetta, and she would certainly seem to be a better fit, in terms of physicality and gravitas.

"And what on Earth is with casting Jamie Lee Curtis as Scarpetta's narcissistic younger sister, Dorothy? I love Jamie Lee, but there is a 9-year age gap here, and in the opposite direction."

Aonsao added: "Irritable and poorly cast. Anything that could have been interesting about the murder-mystery gets completely drowned out by over-the-top artificial drama. Skip this one and go rewatch Mare of Easttown or Sharp Objects."

Austenhaines1 penned: "How to ruin my love of Patricia Cornwell. I so loved the books, and was so excited to watch this series. Something is off. What is it?

"The overly dark contrast of the picture (for me). Like, I can't see what is happening. I have upped the brightness, lowered the contrast on my screen, and nada.

"But the real problem is it feels like whoever adapted this for TV has not ever read the books. This cannot be true, but it feels like it."

Mark-1206 concluded: "Don't bother. The main characters are not likeable. Dialogue is not good - feels like they are improvising a lot of it and not in a good way. Lots of shaky cam. Jamie Lee Curtis is overacting and her character is super annoying. Side characters are just odd...One ep was enough for me."

However, some fans gave the series 10 stars, with todapi sharing: "Brilliant start, ignore bad reviews from people who prefer the books.

"This is a really well-done show with brilliant casting. Would highly recommend. Strong characters, brutal murder mystery and intense scenes. Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis are fantastic in this role and both play really well off each other the rest of the cast are also strong.

The show currently has an 80 per cent Rotten Tomatoes score, which is certainly a promising start.

Over on X, formerly Twitter, Grayson said: "Oh wow! It's a SERIES! I thought this was just a single movie... but we get a whole SEASON of #Scarpetta? Outstanding."

Scarpetta is on Prime Video

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