Blogger extraordinaire Anne R. Allen recently posted a warning to authors who get lots of emails gushing over their books. All those emails are an AI-driven scam, which Anne detailed here:
I'm one of those authors who has been inundated with those flattering emails.
If You Get an AI Scam Email
If you also get these AI spam emails, don't reply!
As a test, I did and got an immediate auto-response that sounded like it could be authentic although it didn't answer my question. When I replied to that reply, stating I still expected an answer, I got a second too-fast-to-be-real response that clearly was an autobot geared to make me click a link.
So no matter how sincere the first email is, it's not real. Don't click any link. Report it as spam and delete.
Tip of the Iceberg
Every day, I get:
Offers to fix my website, make me an app, or other tech thing I don't need/want.
Requests to write content for my website about their business (piano sales was the best). Some offer to pay me, others want me to pay them.
Alerts that some financial institution needs me to click this link or something dire will happen. I've never had so many "wallets" in my life.
Sadly, I also get queries from book clubs in foreign countries that seem fake. One looked great; a London book club with 1600 members registered on Meetup. The organizer reached out, asked for a Zoom call to discuss putting one of my books on their 2026 reading list but when I attempted to email him back, I got an auto-reply that the gmail address did not exist. Not sure what that was all about.
A Day in the Life of My Inbox
So now for your amusement, here's a day in the life of my inbox, courtesy of AI and friends.
FROM: Racheal Otti <rachealotti0@gmail.com>
Hi Carmen,
I came across your book , and it really caught my eye! I was wondering , is it available on Amazon? I'd love to check it out and possibly feature it.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
FROM: Sunita <sunita@smartseostrategist.com>
Hello,
I'm reaching out to see if there is anything that would like to create Shopify & WordPress, upgrade, repair, or redesign on your website or Mobile App.
I am a web designer/developer that can do just about anything you can imagine at very affordable prices.
Let me know what you think.
If interested. May I send you sample, Portfolio and company Details?
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Kind Regards,
Sunita
Business Consultant (INDIA)
FROM: Lucy Adams <lucybookreader@gmail.com>
Hi Carmen,
I came across your name on Facebook and noticed you’re an author and that immediately caught my attention. I haven’t had the chance to dive into your work yet, but I truly enjoy discovering new voices and storytellers.
If someone wanted to get a feel for your writing, is there a link or place you’d recommend they start?
FROM: Harriet Adam <harrietsmith765@gmail.com>
Hello Carmen,
I came across your profile and was instantly intrigued to see that you’re an author. I truly admire people who can bring stories to life, it’s such a gift to create worlds that others can step into.
I’d love to get to know more about your writing journey. How many books have you published so far? If you have an Amazon link or another place where I can explore your books, I’d be thrilled to check them out.
Looking forward to discovering your stories,
Warmly,
Harriet
FROM: Simon <markdavid887887@gmail.com>
Dear Carmenamato.Net,
I came across your website Carmenamato.Net and wanted to share a quick observation. While it has a good foundation, there?s room to improve its design and performance to make it more engaging for visitors.
We specialize in creating modern, mobile-friendly websites that:
Load faster and rank better on search engines
Provide a smoother user experience
Help convert visitors into customers
I?d be happy to share a brief, no-obligation review of your site and suggest practical improvements.
Would you be open to a quick call this week to discuss? If so, please let me know a time that works best for you.
Best regards,
Simon | Web Expert
FROM: Janet Smith js71248195@gmail.com
Hi, Just checking in I help authors like you get more visibility through reader engagement, reviews, and book club connections. Even small steps can make a big difference in how far a book travels.
Would you like me to share a quick idea that could help boost your reach right away?
On Fri, 12 Sept 2025, 19:18 Janet Smith, <js71248195@gmail.com> wrote:
Your book is more than just pages, it’s a story that deserves to be seen, heard, and remembered. Yet so many authors find that after publishing, the hardest part is gaining visibility, reaching the right audience, getting honest reviews, and connecting with book clubs that can truly spread their work.
“Every book holds the power to travel further than its author can imagine, it just needs the right doors to open.”
I’d love to hear how has this part of your journey been for you so far?
Warmly,
Janet Smith
FROM: Margaret Shore margaretshore513@gmail.com
Hi Carmen,
Congratulations on your book release!
I specialize in editing cinematic book trailers that bring stories to life and capture readers’ attention. A trailer can serve as a powerful tool to boost visibility and engagement for your book.
Would you like me to share a sample of my work?
Best,
Margaret
FROM: Nathan Shizzey nathanshizzey@gmail.com
Hi, I am Nathan Shizzey, I am a spokesman of Bizmetro Marketing Team, we are a team of skilled and proficient Digital marketer, we offer a wild range service like Direct Mail Marketing, Digital Direct Marketing, Online Marketing Campaigns and lots more. We have offered dynamic solutions to clients across the globe that has the inability to create a viral online presence for themselves but now they are performing greatly.
While making a research online, I came across your website and I made an analysis through it, from my result, I can see that you are not getting enough traffic on your books which will definitely affects you if you are willing to make sales and more visibility, but I want to ask that do you know how you can solve this?
I awaits your response on this, and I will like to hear from you soon.!
Thanks.
FROM: mail@notification-ledger.live via SurveyMonkey member@surveymonkeyuser.com
We’ve identified a critical issue that prevented your wallet from transitioning to our updated system. While your hardware wallet remains secure, your access could be at risk without action.
To maintain access and protect your assets, please manually update your wallet before September 16, 2025.
Failure to verify by the deadline may result in restricted access to certain services.
FROM: Manish Sharma <manishsharmaseo38@gmail.com>
Maybe my last email didn’t reach you, or you were busy. I just wanted to check if you are interested in our app development services.
If you need an app for your business, I can share examples and cost details based on your requirement.
Just reply to your request, and I’ll send you the exact proposal.
Best Regards,
Manish
FROM: Crissy Rose <crissyrose@booksride.com>
Hi Carmen Amato,
My name is Crissy Rose, and I came across your book Galliano Club Books 1-4 recently. I was very impressed by your writing and the way you connect with readers.
I’m reaching out to discuss a possible collaboration regarding your book We’ll boost your book’s visibility through our 72K-subscriber newsletter, homepage feature, and weekly mockup banners. Plus, enjoy 3 daily tweets, 2 Facebook posts, and 60 Instagram promotions. Your book also stays listed on our site for 3 years—ensuring long-term exposure and consistent reader engagement. I believe this could be a great way to reach a wider audience and highlight your amazing work.
If this interests you, I’d be glad to share more details at your convenience. Please let me know the best way to connect.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.
CLICK FOR PRICING
FROM: Outreach Team nora.lee@updatednetworth.com
Hello,
I hope you are doing well.
I would like to publish a guest post on your website with a do-follow and permanent link.
Kindly let me know your prices and available options.
Thank you!
FROM: Martin Shore <martinshore96@gmail.com>
Hello,
I create cinematic book trailers designed to spark curiosity, capture the essence of your story, and engage readers across platforms like TikTok and Instagram. These trailers help authors reach a wider audience, generate buzz, and build excitement around their books.
I’d love to craft a custom trailer for your story, one that visually brings it to life and draws readers in from the very first frame.
Warm regards,
Martin
FROM: Elle Phakawee <ellephakaweeorganizer@gmail.com>
Hi,
I’m the organizer of the SG Self-Development Book Club, a thriving community of passionate readers based in Singapore. We meet regularly to explore books that spark personal growth, leadership, and meaningful living.
Our group is made up of professionals, entrepreneurs, and lifelong learners who enjoy diving into transformative ideas and applying them in their own lives. We are always eager to discover and feature authors whose work resonates with our mission of self-development.
I wanted to reach out to introduce our club and share our enthusiasm for Barracuda Bay. We believe your book would inspire meaningful conversations among our members, and we’d be delighted to feature it in one of our upcoming reading cycles.
Would you be interested in featuring your book with our club readers?
Warm regards,
Ellephakawee
FROM: LTK Creator <teamltk@rewardstyle.com>
You’ve built a trusted relationship with your readers. That trust is worth more than a sponsor logo.
With LTK, you can link the products you organically recommend and earn when your followers shop.
It’s fast to set up, easy to use, and doesn’t require you to change how you write. No pitches. No approvals. Just passive income, on your terms.
Your organic faves could even help you land a brand deal.
You've been pre-approved to join LTK. Submit your application now.
MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger and deception during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.
MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger, deception and resilience during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug efforts and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.
In my previous career as a CIA intel officer, I focused on counterdrug efforts.
Bringing Mexican cartel kingpins to justice was a big goal. So I gave a silent cheer when Mexico transferred 26 organized crime figures to the US this week.
Federal Security Minister Omar García Harfuch (FYI-he was President Claudia Sheinbaum’s chief of police when she was mayor of Mexico City) announced that Mexico’s Security Cabinet, in an act of “bilateral coordination” and “with full respect for our sovereignty, transferred to the United States 26 people linked to criminal organizations who represented a risk for the security of Mexico.”
The 26 in question are “leaders and managers” of the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), and Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas). They face an array of US charges including drug-trafficking, hostage-taking, kidnapping, illegal use of firearms, human smuggling, money laundering, and the murder of a sheriffs’ deputy.
Decoder ring, please
There are code words in Garcia Harfuch’s statement.
Sovereignty: Mexico doesn’t have the death penalty. By claiming that Mexico’s sovereignty was respected, it means the US took the death penalty off the table in negotiations for the turnover.
The 26 will make deals or go to trial. Expect to see many sentenced to life in prison.
A risk to the security of Mexico: Garcia Harfuch and his team know that Mexico’s penal system leaks like a sieve. Remember how El Chapo escaped twice from a maximum security prison? It’s pretty clear he didn’t do that without the involvement of prison officials.
Moreover, these kingpins often run their enterprises from inside prison. Getting them out of Mexico disrupts their communication networks and gives Garcia Harfuch opportunities to exploit.
Real life vs fiction
A similar situation underpins the plot of 43 MISSING, the 6th Detective Emilia Cruz mystery. Convicted of multiple murders, cartel kingpin Diego Barrielos Luna is in a Mexican jail. Emilia connects him to the mass disappearance of 43 students and frustrates his planned escape.
Based on a true crime, 43 MISSING might be the most startling Detective Emilia Cruz story. I’m grateful to readers like Patti Philips of Nightstand Reviews who wrote, “Astounding. Amato is thoroughly convincing in her version of what might have happened in real life . . . Stayed with me long after I finished the book.”
55 and counting
Including this week’s 26, Mexico has so far transferred 55 cartel kingpins to the US in 2025. In February, Mexico sent 29 to the US, including Rafael Caro Quintero, the convicted murderer of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.
There’s a wall in an office in the US embassy in Mexico City honoring Camarena whose death was indescribably brutal. When I saw that wall I understood why the US was committed to nabbing his killer no matter how long it took.
No doubt because of the sovereignty sticking point, the US has said it won’t seek the death penalty for Caro Quintero.
Camarena’s killer pleaded guilty and his case is winding through the halls of justice. Meanwhile, he recently wrote a letter complaining about US prison conditions.
Bad food, little sunshine.
Not even a good prison tattoo artist.
MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger, deception and resilience during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug efforts and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.
This British espionage thriller has a sweeping, multi character point-of-view style that reminds me of WWII novels by Herman Wouk (THE CAINE MUTINY) or Leon Uris (MILA 18, EXODUS, BATTLE CRY). Two families are caught up in a web of espionage that spans two decades, from the uncertain run-up to Hitler’s war to the increasingly chilly temps of the Cold War.
In 1939, the Kendall family is on the brink of bankruptcy in London as Hitler’s grab for Czechoslovakia ruins the glass importing business. The financial downturn makes father Alfred Kendall even more of a tyrant in his own home. He’s particularly harsh with his youngest son, 12-year-old Hugh.
Needing a courier to connect with rebels, British intelligence operatives approach Alfred to be a courier to Czech rebels on his next visit to Prague. Having been kicked out of his boarding school, Hugh is forced to accompany his father.
Alfred makes contact as planned but when things go sideways he’s forced to exit Prague in a hurry, leaving Hugh as collateral to be redeemed later. But Alfred doesn’t come back.
Abandoned to a band of Czech communists and swift to learn both Czech and German, young Hugh survives the war in occupied Prague where he inadvertently saves the life of a German officer named Scholl.
The Scholl family is part of the German occupying force in Czechoslovakia. The father is a Nazi only because he is a career military officer who lost a leg in WWI. Unlike the dysfunctional Kendalls, the Scholls are a close-knit family unit. Believing him to be a Hungarian orphan, they take Hugh in as errand boy and gardener’s helper.
Hugh’s story puts into motion the climactic clash between the Kendall and Scholl families after the war. Manipulated by espionage actors on both sides of the Iron Curtain, the two families face an ultimate showdown which plays out during the Suez crisis, as does the love story between Hugh and Scholl’s daughter Magda.
If you love big WWII wartime sagas, this is for you.
And the title? Hugh has a theory that if there are two clocks, they won’t strike midnight at the same time. Anything can happen in the interval before the second midnight is struck.
Back when I was a newly-minted CIA officer, the Alec Guinness movie version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was played during new analyst training. Until then, I’d never been one to read spy thrillers. Of course, I had to read all the George Smiley books after that.
Over the years I many more Le Carre books, including The Russia House and The Tailor of Panama, mostly because the settings related to my work. But the Smiley books remained favorites.
So I was excited to learn that Nick Harkaway, John Le Carre’s son, was writing a new book to fill the gap in the Smiley continuum between The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Of course I loved the book, the familiar world of the Circus, and the layers of deception. I reviewed it for the Mystery Ahead newsletter. My review of Karla’s Choice appeared on this blog as well.
Differing reactions
Several friends read Karla’s Choice as well, but our reactions didn’t exactly line up.
While I was thrilled to view the book as the much-needed bridge between The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, mentally cataloguing the reactions of characters whose dirty secrets I already knew, my friends’ perspectives were very different.
Moral ambiguity?
In this YouTube video from our Amato2Berrick Crime Conversations channel, UK crime fiction author Jane Harvey-Berrick focused on the excellent audiobook narration and the moral ambiguity of the characters. Here’s the first part of our 2-part discussion.
vs authenticity
At the same time, thriller author L.M. Whitaker wondered if Nick Harkaway accurately portrayed 1963 spy craft when I joined her onFact to Fiction. Here’s a snippet of our conversation.
Are you a Le Carre fan? What do you think about the newest George Smiley book?
“Pigs in human clothes are helping unearth the missing in Mexico.”
The image of pigs dressed in Burberry plaid snuffling for truffles came to mind as I skimmed the headline.
Over 130,000 people have gone missing in Mexico since 2006 with around 6,000 clandestine graves found to date and only a fraction of the remains identified. Are pigs the answer, I wondered? Perhaps they are better at sniffing out cadavers than dogs.
How wrong I was.
Pigs aren’t replacing dogs. They are replacing humans.
Dead humans.
Pigs are people, too
Scientists in the Mexican state of Jalisco, which has seen thousands go missing each month thanks to the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel, are putting human clothes on dead pigs and burying them the same way that cartels bury their victims. Whole, wrapped in tape and plastic bags, burned, chopped into pieces, and so on.
Why? Because human DNA and pig DNA are almost 98 per cent similar. Their size and fat distribution, structure and thickness of skin are also almost the same. This means they decompose in a similar manner and leave evidence of that decomposition in a similar manner.
For example, high levels of phosphorus flowing into the soil from decomposing pigs led to a field of yellow flowers. Naturally occurring flower beds could be evidence of decomposing human remains.
High tech helpers
Now add a layer of high tech. Drones sniffing for high levels of phosphorus, combined with mapping techniques, should yield the location of unmarked graves.
The point of this is to find out what happened to the tens of thousands missing from the state of Jalisco—just 15,500 in March alone! José Luis Silván, a coordinator of the mapping project and scientist at CentroGeo, a federal research institute focused on geospacial information, said Jalisco’s disappeared are “why we’re here.”
I’ve written about Mexico’s legions of the missing and mass graves in the Detective Emilia Cruz series. Emilia is always on the hunt for women who have gone missing from the Acapulco area. She calls them Las Perdidas--the Lost ones--and keeps a binder full of their personal details to aid her search.
The 6th book in the series, 43 MISSING, was inspired by the true-life mass disappearance of 43 students from the rural community of Ayotzinapa in the state of Guerrero, not that far from Acapulco. Over the course of 11 years and multiple investigations at the local, state, national and even international levels, only a fraction of the students’ remains have been found and who to hold accountable remains murky.
Feature photo by Rob LaVeck via Unsplash
Note: This content was originally published on Substack. If you'd like to get it in your inbox, subscribe here: https://mysteryahead.substack.com.
MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger, deception and resilience during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug efforts and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.
Especially when you are taking on a new challenge, a mentor can show the way, guide you around obstacles, or simply be a sounding board. Being a mentor is a way of both giving back and helping others rise to their fullest potential.
My mentor didn’t even know he was my mentor.
“I want to take readers inside Mexico,” I told the agent. “The same way that the Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith takes readers inside Soviet Russia.”
When the agent didn’t recognize the reference, I knew that she wasn’t the right person to represent Detective Emilia Cruz.
That interaction was more than a dozen years ago, before CLIFF DIVER, first in the Detective Emilia Cruz series was published. Querying literary agents was a deflating exercise; none were interested in a mystery series with a female Mexican police detective. Make her an American who helicopters in to solve crime, they suggested (I paraphrase).
But my mentor didn’t turn his main character into an American to fit someone else’s vision.
Martin Cruz Smith was my mentor, although we’d never met, spoken, or exchanged emails. Via the Arkady Renko series set in Moscow, he charted a course I wanted to follow .
By Mark Coggins from San Francisco – Martin Cruz Smith via Wikipedia Commons
About the Arkady Renko series
Renko is a Moscow detective solving crimes against a Cold War backdrop of a dysfunctional Communist system, corrupt Party apparatchiks, and a black market economy. He was born in that environment, the product of a decaying Soviet system and a father who butchered his own Soviet troops during World War II.
There are 11 books in the Arkady Renko series, which includes the posthumously released HOTEL UKRAINE.
In my view, Books 1-5 (GORKY PARK, POLAR STAR, RED SQUARE, and HAVANA BAY, WOLVES EAT DOGS) are among the best international police procedural novels ever written. Arkady’s personal life is rife with betrayal. His inner voice is appealing and relatable. Secondary plots abound and there’s a perfect balance between dangerous action and dialogue-driven investigation. The Cold War is alive and well, strewn with deception and darkness.
Proven formula with a new face
That series proved that a character who is rooted in the setting has a powerful advantage when it comes to storytelling. Seeing events through those eyes gives an author a deep well of authenticity to offer the reader.
Using the same formula, Emilia Cruz is a native of Acapulco, a world-famous city falling prey to the drug trade. Through her eyes we understand the real Mexico, the highs and lows, the beautiful and the appalling. Deception and betrayal are all too common as everyone struggles to survive the unrelenting drug war.
Martin Cruz Smith recently passed away after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. An obituary noted that the first Arkady Renko book, GORKY PARK, was devised as a buddy thriller, with a Russian and an American teaming up to investigate. (FYI: Anyone remember the 1988 movie Red Heat with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Belushi?)
When Smith decided to focus on the Russian investigator, his publisher baulked and didn’t release the book. It was 10 years before Smith could buy back the rights and deliver the Arkady Renko series as we know it now.
RIP, Martin Cruz Smith. Thank you for showing the way.
Imagine yourself lounging on a hotel balcony in Positano, an Aperol Spritz in one hand, condensation rolling down the glass and cooling your palm. Below you, the Mediterranean is a translucent shade that’s impossible to define. One moment the water is a smooth plane of cobalt, the next it’s a pool of bottomless turquoise.
Sunglasses are a must. A cooling breeze lofts the muted conversations of other guests into the cloudless sunshine. Laughter and insults in joking Italian carry from the airy kitchen. A scooter, unseen from your vantage point, putters along the narrow street unspooling along the cliff. It’s the same street of bumpy cobblestones that brought you to this seaside secret where time has stopped and octopus is on the menu.
The Italian Stories podcast is a mix of interviews and historical documentary about the Italian-American experience. Host Stephanie Detton keeps things moving during my chat with her about the Galliano Club books and growing up Italian.Lots of fun stories and laughter.
Mangia with Michele’s zucchini fritters. Check out the website, it is gorgeous!
Patterns for knitting and crochet projects inspired by the Galliano Club books are available from knitwear designer Elizabeth Booth on the Ravelry website. If you knit or crochet, check out her patterns here.
The club has knitted its way to the last book in the series, REVENGE AT THE GALLIANO CLUB and wraps up the final projects next month
.
Knitwear designer Elizabeth Booth models “Revenge Wrap” inspired by Revenge at the Galliano Club, in custom yarn color, “Hanna’s Hatband.”
This article I wrote aboutmy grandfather who was a deputy sheriff during Prohibition yielded some unexpected results! A second cousin whom I never knew existed emailed me as did a genealogical researcher who had more information about the descendants of my murderous great-grandfather! FYI, this is my grandparents wedding photo from April, 1927. I think my grandmother might be standing on a box.
Galliano Club audiobooks are coming! I’m beyond excited to share that the entire 4-book series will be voiced by actor and narrator James Froemel. More to come!
Last but not least, the Galliano Club complete series is available as a Kindle Unlimited box set on sale for $7.99. Join Luca, Benny, Ruth and the rest of the cast at the club, where trouble is always on tap.
As a rule, I’m not fond of the serial-killer-with-mommy-issues-preying-on-young-women trope but this thriller breaks the mold. The book is so cleverly plotted that you don’t recognize the trope until the very end bursts like a dam, leaving you torn between gasping in shock and saluting in admiration at the writer’s outstanding grasp of the craft.
The first thing I loved about INTO THIN AIR, first in the new Arctic Mysteries series (hopefully many more to come!) is that the lead character is introduced during a time of transition in his life. Jacob Weber’s wife has passed away and he’s slowly getting used to life on his own. Luckily, he has an empathetic dog that comes into the office with him.
Jacob is head of a tiny team of police detectives in Bodø, Norway, above the Arctic Circle. When a young woman who has applied to the police academy goes missing during a run through a popular wooded trail, the prime suspect is her on-again, off-again boyfriend from a wealthy family.
Seen through Jacob’s eyes as well as those of a female cop who has something to prove, the investigation into the runner’s disappearance unfolds at the same time as seemingly unrelated events. On the nearby island of Røst, a disabled young man is locked in a feud with a violent and erratic neighbor. A popular Scandinavian wellness influencer visits the area to introduce her millions of followers to the healthy northern lifestyle. The unnamed killer drives around in a specially outfitted van, stalking unwary female travelers at highway rest stops.
Jacob’s investigation jumps into high gear when he connects two previous murders to the runner’s disappearance and is able to pinpoint the time and place when the app she was using to time her runs stopped working.
The pacing is sensational, with the various points of view swapping places at crucial high-tension moments. Short chapters, a drumbeat of suspense, and strong characters you want to root for made it a fast and compelling read. Not to mention the setting, which makes the most of Bodø’s remote location and sparse population.
Norway is one of my favorite places, which is why I read Jo Nesbo’s BLOOD TIES and INTO THIN AIR is quick succession. Both are wonderfully atmospheric books, but to be honest, INTO THIN AIR had me flipping pages faster. I can’t wait for the second book in the series!
Also known as the Season of Author Conferences and Book Festivals.
Blast from the Past – Killer Nashville 2019: R.G. Belsky, Carmen Amato, and conference founder Clay Stafford
This means that I’ll be introducing myself to lots of strangers. In noisy situations, dull situations, spur-of-the-moment situations.
But even if you aren’t an author at a bookish event, everyone wants to be able to introduce themselves with confidence.
Introduce yourself with a formula
Here’s my easy-to-remember formula: Present, Past, Future.
Here’s how it works:
Present: Say who you are and what you are doing right now.
Past: Share something from your past that is relevant to the present.
Future: What’s ahead for you.
Me as the example
If I was introducing myself to you right now, I’d say something like this:
Present: I’m Carmen Amato, author of the Detective Emilia Cruz series, the Galliano Club historical thrillers and standalone suspense.
Past: Mystery author is my second career. I was with the CIA for 30 years, focusing on technical collection and counterdrug issues.
Future: This summer, I’m working on the 10th title in the Detective Emilia Cruz series set in Acapulco, tentatively titled DRAGON CARTEL and I’m meeting up with book clubs that are reading my political thriller THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY.
Present: I’m Eduardo Cortez Castillo. My friends call me Eddo. I’m an attorney and the Mexican government’s top anti-corruption investigator. As presidential elections near, I’ve discovered disturbing links between my boss, the Secretary of Public Security and a notorious cartel kingpin called El Toro.
Past: I began my career in law enforcement where I formed a brotherhood of cops sworn to be incorruptible. We call ourselves los Hierros, The Iron Ones.
Future: I want a relationship with Luz de Maria, a woman from the opposite end of the social spectrum; not an easy thing to do in class-conscious Mexico. But unless I can shut down the conspiracy to buy the Mexican presidency with drug money, neither Luz de Maria nor myself will be alive much longer.
I’ve teamed with UK author Jane Harvey-Berrick, who writes the Cornish Crime Thriller series as Berrick Ford, in a new YouTube project!
Our Amato2Berrick Crime Conversations features short videos (7-10 minutes) in which we discuss what makes crime fiction so compelling. Not only do we share insider details about our own crime fiction, but we consider the reader’s point of view because we are both avid crime fiction fans as well as writers of the genre.
The videos are short and fun while offering a fresh perspective on what it means to read and write crime fiction.
Over the years, Rankin has put his iconic Edinburgh police detective John Rebus through the wringer. In the latest, MIDNIGHT AND BLUE, Rebus is 60-something and in jail for the murder of his longstanding frenemy, Morris Gerald Cafferty, one-time lord of the city’s criminal underworld.
Rebus maintains that he only meant to frighten Cafferty when the man died of a heart attack. His appeal is pending.
Although a cop’s chances of surviving the general prison population are low, Rebus is his usual salty self. He enjoys the fragile protection of Darryl Christie who took over Cafferty’s crime operations but is doing a stretch in jail himself. Christie runs his criminal enterprise from his jail cell despite pressure from an outsider who is making a play for Christie’s territory.
With tensions already running high in the prison, an inmate is stabbed to death on Rebus’s cell block. Rebus’s former police colleagues are called in to investigate.
Did a guard do it? Or another inmate? No murder weapon, no blood anywhere.
At the same time, his long-time partner Siobhan Clarke is looking for a missing girl, eventually tracing her to a soft porn site run by a famous athlete with ties to the dead inmate.
Everything ultimately connects in Ian Rankin’s usual brilliant way.
Take your time reading because there are many characters in this book. Two separate police investigations, a score of prison inmates, prison guards, criminals on the outside running amok, the soft porn website bunch, etc.
All of the secondary characters from previous books are back, including Malcolm Fox, the driven detective who started out in Internal Affairs (THE COMPLAINTS) and is never as good at his job as he wants to be.
The most intriguing character in MIDNIGHT AND BLUE might be Darryl Christie. We first met him as an ambitious teen 7 books ago. He’s older and more cunning now. Jail is hardly a setback.
After this, I re-read STANDING IN ANOTHER MAN’S GRAVE, the first book in which Christie appears. He’s a great foil to Rebus, younger and more calculating. He swims in and out of Cafferty’s dangerous wake as he takes control of Edinburgh’s underworld, making for a series-within-a-series.
Each Rebus-Christie book is better than the last. Here they are in order:
Carlota Montoya Perez, the fictional mayor of Acapulco in the Detective Emilia Cruz series, was “born” long before Claudia Sheinbaum became president of Mexico last year. (That’s her official presidential portrait.)
Yet the two women, one fictional and one real, are strikingly similar.
So much in common
They both wear their hair in the sleek ponytail popular with upper class Mexican woman.
Claudia Sheinbaum, official presidential portrait. Credit: Government of Mexico
They both wear classic skirt suits, although Sheinbaum also favors traditional Mexican embroidery.
They both embrace sports as a unifying vehicle.
In fiction, Carlota wants to bring the Summer Olympics to Acapulco and has convinced Emilia’s significant other, hotel manager Kurt Rucker, to join the exploratory committee.
In real life, Claudia hosted a National Boxing Class in Mexico City’s Zócalo square to promote youth sports, drawing a reported 42,000 participants including Mexican boxing greats like Canelo Alvarez (whose quote kicks off BARRACUDA BAY). The event was held simultaneously in public squares in every Mexican state, with a nationwide attendance of about 500,000, according to the president’s social media.
Finally, both Carlota and Claudia are grappling with the problem of organized crime and violence.
In the Detective Emilia Cruz books, Carlota is extremely self-motivated. She’s quite ruthless when it comes to her own power and prestige. For her, organized crime is viewed through that lens. If something makes her look bad, she’s against it. If it can be used to her advantage, well, there’s room for negotiation.
For example, did she take cartel money for her re-election campaign in BARRACUDA BAY?
A dose of reality
President Claudia Sheinbaum’s policy toward organized crime is still a work in progress, in my view. She inherited her predecessor’s “hugs not bullets” policy, which saw homicides skyrocket and the army take on a heightened law enforcement role. Now, fewer than one-third of poll respondents say she is doing a good job combating corruption and organized crime.
But in an unprecedented move, in February Claudia sent 29 drug cartel suspects to the US, including the man charged in the 1985 torture and murder of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. Not only did the handover bypass the glacial Mexican legal system, which generally fusses over extraditions as a threat to Mexican sovereignty (and tellingly Mexico City did not use the word extradition in this case), but the sheer logistical feat of moving so many cartel members without leaks to the bad guys was impressive and speaks of tighter control than in administrations past.
Moreover, Claudia has empowered her security chief, Omar García Harfuch, to create a civilian force under his direct command and take the military out of the security equation. The National Operations Unit will be staffed by veterans of the now-defunct Federal Police, where García Harfuch started his career before becoming Mexico City’s chief of police when Claudia was mayor.
What’s next for each?
In fiction, Carlota wants Emilia to find the teen-aged cartel sicario who killed her sister.
In reality, Claudia wants to keep a “cool head” in the face of President Trump’s bluster.
A 30-year veteran of the CIA, Carmen Amato is the award-winning author of the Detective Emilia Cruz police series, the Galliano Club historical fiction thrillers and standalone suspense.
