Mar 24, 2025 | #reviews
Every other Sunday, my Mystery Review newsletter carries a review of a book I loved and think you will, too. Basically, I’m recommending what to read while you wait for my next book!
But if you’re a big reader like me, one book every two weeks is not going to cut it. So here are some fun mini-reviews of books by friends who also write in the thriller/mystery/crime fiction genre.
Click the image to find the book on Amazon. Most are quite reasonably priced for Kindle readers.
Mar 8, 2025 | #authorlife
Goodreads is a great resource for readers. One part review platform, one part social sharing, all parts clunky and hard to navigate.
Yet it is worth taking the time to navigate the platform because you’ll discover great new reads and reader friends.
Putting books on lists in Goodreads’s Listopia section especially helps others find new books. You can put books on a list (although if you are an author you can’t add your own) and vote for books already on a list to increase its visibility and let others know your interests.
BUT navigating Listopia is not all that simple. There are literally thousands of lists and thousands of books on the popular lists. The terminology is confusing, with the word “vote” sometimes used in place of “put” and not much space between columns, making instructions run together.
Here’s the easiest way I’ve found to get a book on a themed list. Note–These instructions are for laptop/desktop screen, not a mobile device.
Step 1
Log into Goodreads. From the homepage, use the search box at the top of your profile to find the book you want to add. You can type in a title or an author name to find books. See how I’m using BARRACUDA BAY as the example.
Step 2
Click on the search result that shows the book you want. This will take you to the description page for the book.
Below the book cover you will see a button which is set to the default “Read.” This is your “bookshelf” section. Click to select from “Read” or “Want to Read” or “Currently Reading.” Choose any option as all will add the book to your profile’s book list.
Step 3
Now that the book is on your “bookshelves,” go to the top menu, click on Browse and select List.
This brings you into the Listopia section on Goodreads where thousands of lists reside and are waiting for your additions and votes. Click on one of the category links running across the middle of the screen.
Step 4
In this case, I chose the Mystery Tab, which brings me to the mystery book lists sub-section.You can also type in a keyword but that doesn’t seem to work as well to bring up relevant lists.
I’ll choose the list called Best Twists.
Step 5
To add a book to Best Twists, I have to click on the “Add books to this list” text on the right.
The books on my personal bookshelves will appear. Choose from that list showing the books you previously added to any of your bookshelves. I’m going to add DEAD WATER to the Best Twists list.
Step 6
Once you have added a book, a box will appear on the lower right of your screen giving you the option to say why you chose that book .Note–the screen won’t return you to the list, but stays on your bookshelves view, which is kind of irritating.
Type in a short note, such as Recommended to me or Book Club selection, etc. There is not room for a real review. Note–there’s no “Save” button. Just type and go. Use your browser back arrow to get back to the lists.
Step 7
If you see a book that is already on a list, you can “Vote” for it. Just click the box that says “Vote for this Book.” A text box will appear just the same as when you added a book, asking Why you added this book. Again, a short phrase is sufficient and there is no “Save” button.
Bonus: You can see what lists a book is already on by scrolling to the bottom of the book description page where you’ll see 3 lists and a link to all the rest of the lists where this book appears. So if you are adding that book to lists, pick different ones to add the book and/or choose an existing list to upvote the book.
That’s it!
Go forth and add books to Goodreads lists. Don’t forget to leave reviews, too.
Feb 28, 2025 | #booknews, #EmiliaCruz
All books are born alone . . . without any reviews.
Given that about 1% of readers actually take the time to write a review, those who do are truly rock stars.
BARRACUDA BAY, the latest Detective Emilia Cruz novel, came out last week. The first reviews are in, too.
Thanks to those early reviews, on Wednesday BARRACUDA BAY was #20 on Amazon’s VERY crowded list of Mystery Action Fiction titles, competing with authors like Lee Child and Steve Berry who always dominate that category. As of this writing it is #82 on Amazon’s International Mystery and Crime list, another highly competitive category stacked with authors like Louise Penny, Ann Cleeves, David Baldacci, etc.
One thing that always surprises me is how different aspects of a book resonate with different readers.
In his review of BARRACUDA BAY, thriller author David Bruns (THREAT AXIS, PROXY WAR, etc) had observations about place and plotting:
As with all of her books, Amato gives us two things in spades. First is an original plot, complex and full of rabbit holes to fall into. As a writer, there’s always a temptation to recycle a plot, especially one that worked well the first time around, but I have yet to see Amato pull that literary trick.
Second is her unerring sense of place. When you are in the barrio in Acapulco, you are IN the barrio. You see the facades of the buildings, feel the sticky heat, and smell the cologne of the guy sitting next to you.
Author, historian and educator Dr. Michael Hogan (ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND MEXICO, etc) focused on the authentic details:
The book is replete with authentic touches. We see the wedding cake facades of the coastal homes, as well as a classic edifice on the hillside by famous architect Luis Barragan. We hear the music of the popular group Maná and taste the delicious tapas from an upscale local restaurant. Unlike to so many books ostensibly set in Mexico with their misspelled words and fake background, Amato’s work bristles with authenticity. Her knowledge of the intricacies of police procedures, narcotics traffic, femicide, and US-Mexico relations also ring true, based Amato’s own experience in her former career as an intelligence officer.
Reviewer Carol F. pointed out the duality of the setting:
Let me set the scene: Emilia Cruz, the beleaguered and only female homicide detective in Acapulco, has a foot in both worlds – the glamour and four-star hospitality of a vacation playground, and the grit of its drug cartel activity, murders, mayhem, missing persons, dirty politicians and vengeful mobsters – all of which help shape this story.
Former police officer Rob H. focused on the law enforcement angle:
As a retired cop in the US, and a former resident of Mexico, I can tell you that every word Amato writes rings true. She knows the country, she knows corruption, and she knows human nature. She uses that knowledge to create novels that grab you and don’t let go through the last page . . . . Each novel is fresh and engaging – the throughline of the characters is there, but the plots vary as patrol shifts do in a big jurisdiction.
Every review is a little connection between me and the reviewer, and between all of us and the next reader. That’s how communities grow. I’m so proud to be sharing this experience with all of you!
Links
What’s your unique take on BARRACUDA BAY?
In case you haven’t posted your review yet, here are the links. I understand that you might not have accounts on all sales platforms but try to post in as many places as possible. Again, thank you so much for being part of the Detective Emilia Cruz worldwide team!
Amazon: https://geni.us/bbay2025
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/barracuda-bay-carmen-amato/1146877496
Books-a-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Barracuda-Bay/Carmen-Amato/9798989140374
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223520438-barracuda-bay
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/barracuda-bay-a-detective-emilia-cruz-novel-by-carmen-amato
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and helping to build that community.
Feb 20, 2025 | #booknews, #EmiliaCruz
The long-awaited continuation of the award-winning Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series is out now, taking you into the dizzying, dangerous world of money laundering and cross-border intrigue.
BARRACUDA BAY is the 9th book with Emilia Cruz, the first female police detective and last honest cop in Acapulco.
Get BARRACUDA BAY Now
The sister of the mayor of Acapulco is murdered in a derelict building. Emilia quickly has a solid lead because the victim’s ex-boyfriend has a suspiciously weak alibi. Moreover, the only person who can clear him is missing.
It looks like a double murder but is the crime scene the real key to finding the killer? The building was once used for a secret Mexican government operation targeting a ruthless drug lord.
Meanwhile, there’s a conspiracy within the police department to force Emilia out.
Before Emilia can save her job or arrest her prime suspect, she’s sent on an errand of mercy to Washington, DC that goes awry.
There, alone, desperate and on the run, Emilia turns for help to a man she once vowed to murder. He’s her only chance to survive a deadly game of political intrigue on the wrong side of the border.
*cue cinematic music*
A big thank-you to advance readers
It has been 3 years since NARCO NOIR, the last Detective Emilia Cruz book (due to the the Galliano Club series.) To bridge the gap, 28 advance reader book boxes went out earlier this month to a Cheer Squad.
The response has been tremendous. Reviewers like Carol F. posted pictures of their advance copy and themed swag.
Reader Edie W. even took her Detective Emilia Cruz tote on a cruise with the caption, “Posting from glorious St Lucia and sharing my tote bag story with fellow passengers.”
Meanwhile, Marie O. started her review like this:
I just love the Emilia Cruz novels and to have a new one in my hands was like sitting down to a five star restaurant dinner. The anticipation as I sat there and studied the blue and yellow cover filled me with a sense of excitement, kind of like seeing the towers of the roller coaster over the fence of the amusement park as I was buying my ticket.
To say that I’m grateful for readers like Carol, Edie and Marie is an understatement. Few readers make the effort to review books, whether on Amazon, Goodreads or BookBub, much participate in the actual release of a book with an author.
We haven’t met in real life, yet they are part of the Detective Emilia Cruz story. They love reading an exciting mystery but these readers are also there for the resilience, hope and positivity that Emilia represents.
My hat is off to all the readers and reviewers who are welcoming Emilia back after a long absence.
As the song says, you are simply the best!
And for those of you who are new to the world of Detective Emilia Cruz, welcome! You are in good company.
Jan 21, 2025 | #reviews
This is a Russian nesting doll of a book, with multiple literary devices nested inside a wider puzzle. The pundits have called it a thriller, which is stretching the definition in my view, but it sure drips with intrigue and deception!
The book has a mathematical theme, not surprising given the author’s PhD in the subject, but that’s secondary to the stellar craftsmanship and attention to detail.
Julia Hart is an ambitious book editor in conversation with Grant McAllister, a reclusive mathematician who once wrote a collection of 7 short stories called The White Murders. They’re on a remote Mediterranean island where he’s lived in seclusion for years. Julia’s publishing hour wants to republish the collection.
One by one, Julia reads the stories out loud to Grant and they discuss how each aligns with his mathematical theory of what constitutes detective fiction. Along the way, Julia grows suspicious that Grant is hiding something from her.
The narrative is delivered in slices. First Story #1, then a slice of Julia and Grant discussing theory, then Story #2, then another slice of discussion and so on. Julia and Grant are the only “real” characters, others merely serve Grant’s formula.
Each story stands alone. The only continuity is how a story correlates to Grant’s detective fiction formula. It’s fun to pick out the elements as you read.
Both the stories and the Julia and Grant sections are written in the same omniscient narration style. This gives the book a sense of cohesion and prevents what otherwise could have been a disjointed reading experience.
There are 7 stories with a character who acts as a detective. Julia herself is the 8th, which isn’t hard to guess, but the how and why creates a twist you never see coming.
Unique and compelling, THE 8th DETECTIVE is a real brain-teaser.
Jan 18, 2025 | #authorlife, #EmiliaCruz
The top question I get from readers?
“Is Detective Emilia Cruz based on a real person?”
Yes, sort of.
Emilia is a composite of three different people. All contribute in unique ways to the character, including Emilia’s analytic skills, innate suspicion of others’ motives, and ability to role play.
The first is a woman who held a senior position in Mexico’s intelligence apparatus, whom I met during my CIA career. She was the only woman in that arena, just like Emilia, but more deferential and careful to toe the line, less inclined to buck culture.
The second was our housekeeper in Mexico, a brilliant woman trapped by Mexico’s social hierarchy and expectations for a woman of her class. Capable and observant, she knew how to get things done.
The third is me.
I was often the only woman in the room, too. (Why didn’t I choose an easier career?!) The scene in CLIFF DIVER when Silvio tells Emilia he’ll make her life miserable until she quits because he doesn’t want to work with a woman?
Exact same thing happened to me.
I told the colleague what Emilia says in the book: “Tell me something I don’t know” and got on with the job.
(That colleague left a few months later, following his wife who got a job in a different state. Ironic.)
I think characters that really resonate with us are authentic and relatable because we see our own strengths and weaknesses, resilience and hopes, in them.
Related post: The Detective Emilia Cruz Dreamcast
Dec 31, 2024 | #authorlife
Phew! 2024 was quite a year. Here’s a swift recap:
2024 in review: New releases
New cover, new edits, new tagline: “It’s time to save your soul.” Romantic suspense with a paranormal twist.
1 Backlist glow-up: AWAKENING MACBETH, 2nd edition
2 Audiobooks: MADE IN ACAPULCO and THE LISTMAKER OF ACAPULCO
1 Box Set: THE COMPLETE GALLIANO CLUB SERIES
4 Large Print Editions: ROAD TO THE GALLIANO CLUB, MURDER AT THE GALLIANO CLUB, BLACKMAIL AT THE GALLIANO CLUB, REVENGE AT THE GALLIANO CLUB
1 Anthology: Short story “Warm Nights in Cold Shelter” was included in SMOKING GUNS edited by Kay George
Although I didn’t release a new novel this year, it was still a good year for both me and mystery lovers: 17,438 books went out into the world and nearly 400,000 pages were pored over by Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
CLIFF DIVER, the 1st Detective Emilia Cruz, continues to be my best seller. THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY, published 12 years ago, had an outstanding year.
Never underestimate the power of the backlist.
Outstanding events in 2024
It was a busy year, judging from how cluttered my poor Moleskine planner got.
- Founding Member of The Dangerous Pen Society (and yes, we do have fancy pens) focusing on author education and partnerships,
- Co-hosting the Literary Crime Club, a series of quarterly ticketed events,
- Spending 10 days at the Oneida Community Mansion, reveling in the vast library of first editions,
- Participating in the Stitches and Secrets Book Club conceived by a knitwear designer and hosted by a fiber arts store/studio that pairs my Galliano Club books with custom knitting projects,
- Moving the Mystery Ahead newsletter to Substack and meeting a whole new cadre of mystery readers there,
- A Zoom discussion with narco-journalist Ioan Grillo, and
- Attending the Killer Nashville mystery author conference for the 6th time, being a judge for the Claymore Award and co-presenting a 3-hour workshop with fellow authors Ashley Sargeant Hagen and Lisa Wysocky. I was Runner-up for Best Attending Author and REVENGE AT THE GALLIANO CLUB was a Finalist for the Silver Falchion Award.
What’s Ahead in 2025
2025 promises to be just as busy, with BARRACUDA BAY: Detective Emilia Cruz #9 coming 20 Feb! After a 2-year hiatus while I worked on the Galliano Club historical fiction thrillers, it was a joy to get back to the first female police detective in Acapulco and the mystery series that draws on my counterdrug and espionage background.
Matt Chase created another stunning cover, too. Each one is better than the last! I’ve officially dubbed BARRACUDA BAY The Big Yellow Book.
It’s a Big Story, too, reaching across the US-Mexico border to deliver a series of shocks you’ll never see coming.
If you’d like to be part of the Cheer Squad that helps get the news out about the release (Amazon/BookBub/Goodreads), please email me asap: carmen@carmenamato.net.
FYI: Detective Emilia Cruz #10 is already in the works, too.
Ending 2024 on a note of gratitude
2024 was rough in some respects. It was a year of hard losses.
I lost my mother, my uncle and Hazel, our senior German Shepherd. My husband had a score of health issues, including (I’m not making this up) getting chased and stung by a swarm of angry hornets.
My website was the target of Russian hackers, necessitating a $$$ rescue operation. The email service which hosted this newsletter for 7 years tripled prices, prompting the move to Substack, which is more complex than the pundits claim.
Yet wonderful things happened, too, including our first grandchild. He’s adorable and I was able to spend 2 weeks helping out when he first arrived.
Plus, you all kept me writing. Lots of emails, kind reviews, invitations, and so much moral support! You recommend Mystery Ahead, take Emilia Cruz to your heart and followed my detour into historical fiction with the Galliano Club thrillers. It’s always an absolute thrill to get an email asking when the next Emilia Cruz is coming out or saying you recognize the landmarks in one of my books.
You all are the best, most enthusiastic and loyal readers any author could ask for. Thank you and cheers to 2025!
In conclusion
Wishing you health, happiness, and more great reads.
All the best, Carmen
PS: To keep the newsletter free, consider buying a book. Or invite me on your podcast or book blog to promote the release of BARRACUDA BAY on 20 Feb 2025. Thank you!
PPS: Were you looking for all my free downloads including the Detective Emilia Cruz Starter Library? Find them here.
Nov 22, 2024 | #reviews
It’s been 12 years since I released THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY. On the eve of Mexico’s presidential elections, an attorney discovers collusion between the country’s powerful Minister of Public Security and a notorious drug cartel leader, making him a target hunted by both the cartel and his own government. Literary Fiction Review called it “Enthralling political drama.” it was longlisted for the 2020 Millennium Book Award.
Yet, agents said that no publisher wanted a book with all Mexican characters. I should make the heroine Luz de Maria a college student from the United States.
Related post: Worst writing advice ever.
Well, I’m glad to see that this attitude has gone by the wayside. ALL OUR WARS by US writer Stephanie Vasquez is a Mexican family drama pitted against pending presidential elections, very similar to HIDDEN LIGHT but with narco protagonists as in Jeanine Kitchel’s 2-volume WHEELS Up series about narco Layla Navarro.
If you like literary fiction with a deep dose of Mexican authenticity, ALL OUR WARS is a must-read.
Sofia De Luna left Mexico—and the mid-tier drug cartel run by her father—after her mother was murdered. More than a decade later, she is summoned home to Cuernavaca because her drug kingpin father is going to “retire.” As the family gathers, the unspoken question is who will inherit the mantle of jefe. Odds are that the old man will anoint one of Sofia’s two brother or two male cousins.
Instead, he points to her.
Sofia is reluctantly plunged into the role of cartel dealmaker. A presidential election is coming up, the cartels are fighting for territory and candidates want their support. One in particular is willing to strike a deal, knowing Sofia wans out of the business. The deal is being enabled by a partner in the drug business who was Sofia’s first true love as well as the man rumored to be responsible for her mother’s death.
At the same time, her cousins are tired of moving cocaine and are moving into the more lucrative human trafficking business, plus causing trouble by tweaking the nose of Mexico City law enforcement.
This is a heavily dialogue-driven story, with lots of enigmatic conversations. Everyone wants Sofia to make deals but the actual terms are opaque and it’s hard to know if that was a deliberate device by the author or not. Sofia is bound by family ties, a theme repeated over and over, basically keeping her from really doing anything until she finds out about the human smuggling and suddenly has something to trade.
The book would have moved more swiftly without the asides about her dead mother, although the flashbacks from that woman’s point of view are very well done. I assumed that the flashbacks would point to Sofia’s father as the mother’s killer, which would have freed Sophia to act more independently, but that was not the case.
Who is revealed to be the killer? Will Sophia break free of her family’s dirty business? Those are the questions that drive the book and come together in a riveting climax.
I devoured the book in two days. You will, too.
Find ALL OUR WARS on Amazon.
Nov 20, 2024 | #EmiliaCruz
Drum roll, please!
Graphic artist Matt Chase has created another signature piece of art for the next book in the Detective Emilia Cruz series, BARRACUDA BAY.
Cover Reveal
The background color was inspired by the cover for PACIFIC REAPER, which both Matt and I love, while ocean tones of blue and green evoke Acapulco Bay. The pop of red adds even more menace to the dark denizen of the deep.
This is the 10th cover Matt has created for the series, fitting it in around his work for major publications including The Washington Post and the New York Times Review of Books.
I hope you love it as much as I do.
Release date
In honor of my mother, who passed away late last month, BARRACUDA BAY will be released on her birthday, 20 February 2025.
She was a huge supporter of my second career as a mystery author. Even after dementia prevented her from reading, she kept a dog-eared copy of CLIFF DIVER in the storage compartment of her walker.
Shout Club
If you’d like to help get the word out about Detective Emilia Cruz’s return, after a nearly 2 year hiatus (while I wrote and published the Galliano Club historical fiction series) I’d love to have you aboard.
You’ll get an Advance Reader Copy of BARRACUDA BAY and a box full of Mexican-themed goodies. In return, be first to share reviews, list the book on Goodreads, and let social media friends know about the book. More to come but if you love books and would like to participate, please drop an email to carmen@carmenamato.net.
Nov 20, 2024 | #EmiliaCruz
Just another day in paradise, except for the dead police lieutenant in the bottom of a speedboat drifting in the still waters of Puerto Marques, the small bay-within-a-bay on the southeastern tip of Acapulco.
That’s really when the story gets rolling for Detective Emilia Cruz in CLIFF DIVER, the first book in the series. I had the opportunity to rewrite the whole shocking day in a blog post for the “Day in the Life” column on on Dru Ann Love’s popular drusbookmusing.com blog.
It’s called This is how it began…Just Another Day in Paradise. Find the post here: https://drusbookmusing.com/emilia-cruz/
As the narrator of the post, Emilia tells the tale of the fateful career-changing day herself.
Here’s a sample:
My partner Rico Portillo squinted up at me as he knelt by the body. “It’s the lieutenant all right,” he said. “This is gonna be bad.”
I knew what he meant.
Lieutenant Inocente was a dirty cop.
Two years ago, he had tried to prevent me from becoming the first female police detective in Acapulco and would have succeeded if Rico hadn’t agreed to partner with me. In retaliation, Rico and I were assigned to minor cases and administrative tasks. Bigger investigations were reserved for favored detectives who generated bribes and kickbacks and shared with the boss.
This is different, because Emilia is not the narrator of the books. From CLIFF DIVER to NARCO NOIR, and BARRACUDA BAY coming in 2025, you the reader experiences the action through Emilia’s deep point of view. That is, you are absorbing what she is thinking and feeling every step of the way, plus getting a dose of the environment that impacts her, from Acapulco’s beach resorts and deluxe hotels to poverty-stricken and gang-riddled streets far from the ocean.
What would you do if your boss suddenly turned up dead and you had to handle the situation? Could you figure out what it takes to survive as an honest (mostly) cop in today’s Mexico?
Here’s that link again: https://drusbookmusing.com/emilia-cruz/
Also, stay up to date with news about BARRACUDA BAY, Detective Emilia Cruz #9 when you join me on Substack: https://mysteryahead.substack.com.
Nov 3, 2024 | #authorlife
My mother passed in October at age 95.
Although she’d been declining for some time and dementia had robbed us of who she really was, the loss still hit like a hammer blow.
Many of my writer friends know that I wrote the Galliano Club series during the pandemic, using the project to get her talking about positive things during our nightly phone call. With some prompting she would tell me about growing up in Rome, NY, in the Italian section known as East Rome. Her recollections fueled the creation of the fictional city of Lido and the East Lido Italian neighborhood.
She was a huge supporter of my second career as a mystery author, arranging me to speak to a woman’s club she belonged to and invited everyone she knew when I was inducted into the Rome Arts Hall of Fame in 2019. Even after dementia prevented her from reading, she kept a dog-eared copy of CLIFF DIVER in the storage compartment of her walker.
It fell to me to write her obituary. It started this way:
Marietta Jean (Sestito) Booton of Rome, known to all as Jean, passed in her 96th year. She leaves an enduring legacy of personal strength, steadfast perseverance, loyal friendships, and love of family.
There are many things I could say about my mother. That she was terrible at telling jokes, hated fast food, always set her table with cloth napkins, was the Class Treasurer of the Rome Free Academy Class of ’46 and enabled class reunions for 70 years. A single mother of 4 at a time when few women were. A financial whiz, an accomplished pianist, a standard shift driver who once owned a Corvair.
She insisted that we all go to college and we did. Three of us have advanced degrees.
She was firmly anchored in her home town of Rome, but loved to travel. When I was in college in Paris, she spent several weeks with me. When my spring break rolled around we took a bus tour through Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria. She kept a record of the trip, which has sadly disappeared.
I particularly recall getting off the bus in Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber, a picturesque medieval walled village in West Germany (before the wall came down). An outdoor beer garden was right in front of us, so of course we had to absorb culture—as in have a beer right there and then. Having slaked our thirst we found our hotel. My mother made a beeline for the closet housing the toilet. She came out two minutes later giggling hysterically.
Apparently, the cubicle had a wooden board over the plumbing, set into the wall in a frame. Drunk on a single beer, my mother thought it was a mirror and couldn’t figure out why she looked so plain.
We staggered around the hotel room together, laughing until we cried.
I’ve lost my mother, but oh, how lucky I am.
My mother jean, around age 18.
Jean getting ready for her wedding, age 21.
Jean and children circa 1963. I’m the youngest in red.
Oct 23, 2024 | #reviews
DEAD WATER is a deep dive into a British police investigation, set against the beautiful light and harsh seas of the Cornwall coast. First in Berrick Ford’s new Cornish Crime series, the compelling atmosphere and relatable characters make it a fast, page-turning read. In short, a great start to a new British mystery series.
Tamsyn Poldhu, whose Cornish last name translates to “Blackpool,” reports for her first day as a police officer trainee and is immediately plunged into a murder investigation. Robert Rego is a Detective Inspector who accepted a transfer from Manchester to Cornwall as a way to burnish his already significant career credentials but the urban cop immediately finds himself out of his element in the harbors around Penzance where fishermen still struggle to make a living from the sea.
The narrative moves easily between the two points of view, which offers a nice contrast between the wide-eyed Tamsyn doing her best in a new and highly-charged situation, and Rego who knows procedure inside and out. He’s also smarting from a run-in with an Albanian drug kingpin, basically the one that got away.
An unidentified body of a woman with her tongue cut out starts gets the story rolling. Who was she, where did the body come from, what resources does Rego have in his new job to track down a killer? Suspense and questionable relationships abound as her identity is pieced together.
I liked the pace of clues and progress on the case; nothing comes easy, just as it should in a good whodunit.
Tamsyn’s inner voice is the real driver of the book and we can’t help but walk in her shoes, especially in the riveting climax. By becoming a cop, she risks alienating friends and worrying her grandparents, the only family she has left. She’s learning on the job but circumstances have arranged themselves so that she’s drinking from a firehose and dealing with a new boss no one really knows.
The book is frontloaded with British police procedures and departmental acronyms, giving it an unquestioned authenticity. The momentum picks up after that and stays consistent, building to a strong climax.
By the time I finished the book, I was totally invested in Tamsyn’s police career and immediately downloaded the next in the series. DEAD MAN’S DIVE has such a great first chapter I can’t wait to jump into it!
If you like British mystery series, add the Cornish Crime thrillers to your TBR list now.
Get DEAD WATER on Amazon
P.S. if you have seen the television show Doc Martin, you can easily imagine the setting for DEAD WATER. If not, here’s a guide to locations in Cornwall. https://www.thegeographicalcure.com/post/doc-martin-filming-locations-in-cornwall-england
