She’s the first female detective and the last honest cop in Acapulco
Detective Emilia Cruz Series
“A thrilling series” – National Public Radio
2019 & 2020 Poison Cup award, Outstanding Series – CrimeMasters of America
2019 Silver Falchion Award, Best Short Story
In the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series, you’ll go on a gripping journey through Mexico’s drug war through the eyes of the first female police detective in Acapulco. Based on author Carmen Amato’s own counterdrug experience as an intelligence officer with the CIA, it’s a place where loyalty is for sale but violence comes cheap.
The series is a 2-time winner of the Outstanding Series Award from CrimeMasters of America and a Silver Falchion Award from Killer Nashville. Kirkus Reviews said, “Danger and deception never more than a few pages away while NPR dubbed it “A thrilling series.” Huffpost featured Emilia’s origin story in Rita Wilson’s curated Fiction50 showcase.
Acapulco is an iconic city, famed for night life, sports, and Old Hollywood glamour.
But Acapulco has fallen on hard times, thanks to the drug trade. With one of the highest homicide rates in the Western Hemisphere, Acapulco is a prize being fought over by rival drug cartels. Their fight spills over into official corruption, making the police department a stew of deception and dirty money.
Settle in for plot elements straight out of the headlines, an authentic dive into one of the most beautiful settings on earth, and a little salsa fresca from Carmen’s years in Mexico and Central America.
Novels
Emilia investigates the death of a dirty cop in Detective Emilia Cruz Book 1.
Emilia hunts for a violent arsonist and a missing girl in Detective Emilia Cruz Book 2.
A rookie cop puts Emilia’s life in danger in Detective Emilia Cruz Book 3.
Emilia gambles it all to save her partner in Detective Emilia Cruz Book 4.
Emiia goes undercover as a worshipper of Santa Muerte, Mexico’s forbidden saint in Book #5.
Emilia confronts a mass disappearance that is Mexico’s most notorious true crime in Book #6.
Can Emilia deliver a dose of Mexican justice to a Russian killer in Book #7?
Emilia plays both a taxi driver and a movie star in the undercover role of a lifetime in Book #8.
Emilia investigates the bizarre murder of the mayor’s sister in Book #9.
Short Reads & Collections
This prequel collection of short stories captures Emilia’s first years as a detective.
Emilia and her partner go undercover in this very unexpected Christmas murder mystery novella.
Emilia discovers a list that could be payments to dirty cops. Or is it something much more sinster?
The first 6 Emilia Cruz novels, plus exclusive bonus content. Kindle format only.
Spanish editions
This bilingual edition of a prequel short story won the 2019 Silver Falchion award for Best Short Story/Collection.
This bilingual edition of a prequel short story won the 2019 Silver Falchion award for Best Short Story/Collection.
This bilingual edition of a prequel short story won the 2019 Silver Falchion award for Best Short Story/Collection.
Extras
Gallery
A gallery of photos of Acapulco, plus check out these posts about the setting for the series:
Why Acapulco is the perfect setting for a mystery series
Reshaping the Acapulco skyline in DIABLO NIGHTS
The hotels that inspired Kurt Rucker’s Palacio Real
Acapulco at night, seen from the east side of the bay.
Sinfonia del Mar amphitheater, the best place to watch Acapulco’s fabled sunsets
Credit: panza.rayada [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Skyscrapers along Acapulco’s main road a round the bay, the Costera Miguel Alemán Credit: Eneas De Troya from Mexico City, México (Acapulco) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Catedral de Nuestra Señora de La Soledad Credit: Andrew in Raleigh [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Fuerte de San Diego on the western side of Acapulco Bay Credit: Enrique Galindo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Caleta Beach Credit: Miguel Angel Alvarez Bernardo from Madrid, Spain (La playa de la caletilla por la mañana) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Map of Acapulco
Courtesy maps-of-mexico.com
Get the Cookbook
Get a PDF copy of the Detective Emilia Cruz cookbook featuring recipes for Mexican dishes featured in the books.
CLICK HERE for the Cookbook page.
Cover artist Matt Chase
Find out more about cover artist Matt Chase’s design inspiration and the signature look he’s created for the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series.
The Dreamcast
If Detective Emilia Cruz and company ever (finally) make it to the silver screen, I think it would be a cross between Hawaii 5-0 and Netflix’s Narcos.
Could this be the dreamcast? Let me know!
From Silvio's point of view
As an experiment, here is the first major confrontation between Emilia and rival Franco Silvio, written from his point of view.
The scene takes place in the first book, CLIFF DIVER, which is all from Emilia’s point of view.
#EmiliaCruz updates
The Ayotzinapa tragedy 4 years later
My most recent book, 43 MISSING: Detective Emilia Cruz Book 6, was inspired by the events of September 2014 when 43 students from a teacher's college in the town of Ayotzinapa, near Acapulco in Mexico's state of Guerrero, disappeared in the nearby town of...
Read the first chapter of 43 MISSING
For most authors, the final draft of a mystery novel is markedly different than the first. In fact, the first chapter of 43 MISSING was rewritten a dozen times. Nothing really clicked until the book was done. Then I went back and wrote it with a hint of premonition....
The real story behind 43 MISSING
43 MISSING, the latest Detective Emilia Cruz novel, is fiction but is based on a true, unsolved crime. A big, terrible, words-fail-me unsolved crime. 43 Missing In September 2014, forty-three students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School disappeared while in...
Gripping Audible Mystery Series Flies You to Acapulco
The first four books in the Detective Emilia Cruz series set in Acapulco are all available on Audible from Tantor Media! The books are narrated by the fabulous Johanna Parker, who also voiced the Sookie Stackhouse series. Johanna has really...
New Release! PACIFIC REAPER, the New Detective Emilia Cruz Novel
New release! Detective Emilia Cruz goes up against the cult of Santa Muerte, Mexico's forbidden saint of death in PACIFIC REAPER, the 5th novel in the series set in Acapulco. Without giving anything away, early reviews say REAPER is the most powerful Emilia Cruz...
When Detective Emilia Cruz Meets Santa Muerte
Every Detective Emilia Cruz novel uses unique aspects of Mexican culture to create crimes and situations that would not be possible anywhere else. In PACIFIC REAPER, Emilia confronts the cult of Santa Muerte, the saint of death embraced by drug cartels. Someone is...