MYSTERY AUTHOR | CIA VETERAN
Carmen Amato
A former CIA intelligence officer, Amato brings authenticity and grit to every page.
A must-read for lovers of smart, character-driven crime fiction with a global edge. – Reader’s House
Signature Series
Detective Emilia Cruz
Narcos meets Hawaii 5-0 in this award-winning police series set in Acapulco.
With a fierce, unforgettable female cop who’s looking for Mexico’s missing.
Latest Release
BARRACUDA BAY
Political corruption sends Acapulco’s first female police detective on the run in Washington, DC.
Emilia’s investigation into the murder of the mayor’s sister is interrupted by a second, seemingly unrelated killing. Sent to inform the widow, Emilia becomes a fugitive, hunted by killer disguised as cops.
The only person who can help is a man Emilia once swore to kill . . . her brother.
“A thrilling series.” – NPR
Praise for DETECTIVE Emilia Cruz
Carmen Amato has created a character that deserves to be recognized as an equal alongside well known favorites by created by by Hammett, Larson and Padura. I can’t wait to spend more time with Detective Cruz. – Felix Contreras, host, ALTLatino, National Public Radio
Amato brings her characters to life with her vivid writing style and sets them on the streets of a Mexico steeped in Catholicism and corruption . . . Unique and gripping. – OnlineBookClub.org
Amato weaves an intricate assortment of themes into a vivid tapestry that depicts both the beauty and the ugliness of Acapulco . . . with danger and betrayal never more than a few pages away. -Kirkus Reviews
Explore
DETECTIVE EMILIA CRUZ SERIES
Emilia Cruz is the first female police detective in Acapulco, fighting drug cartels, official corruption and social inequality amid the hunt for Mexico’s missing.
2019, 2020 Outstanding Series Award, CrimeMasters of America
2019 Silver Falchion Award, Killer Nashville
GALLIANO CLUB TRILOGY
Lido, NY. 1926. At the height of Prohibition, an Italian immigrant and a trigger-happy Chicago bootlegger battle for control of the Galliano Club, where trouble is always on tap.
Based on tales told by my late grandfather, a Deputy Sheriff of Oneida County, NY in the 1920’s.
2023 Silver Falchion Award, Killer Nashville
STANDALONE THRILLERS
Contemporary thrillers featuring complex plots, unforgettable characters and layers of risk, power, and deception.
Longlist, 2020 Millennium Book Award
Latest Posts
Book review: RECKONING by Baron Birtcher
New favorite series alert! Sheriff Ty Dawson solves murder and corruption cases in must-read police procedural RECKONING by Baron Birtcher. Dawson joins Walt Longmire and Cork O’Connor as lawmen whose investigations are driven by a personal code of honor and the…
Book Review: GRIMM UP NORTH by David J. Gatward
Now and then, you stumble across a series that is simply captivating and you have to inhale one book right after the other. The DCI Harry Grimm series set in the Yorkshire dales, is that kind of addictive series. GRIMM UP NORTH is the first and a terrific introduction…
Sound of Freedom movie producer wants to be president of Mexico
I guess he won’t have time to star in the film adaptation of my book. Eduardo Verástegui, the impossibly handsome Mexican actor and film producer, announced 8 September on Instagram that he’s running for president of Mexico as an independent candidate. His…
The Galliano Club’s signature Italian Sandwiches
Readers of the Galliano Club historical fiction series have fallen in love with the Italian sandwiches made by bartender Luca Lombardo. And why shouldn’t they? His sandwiches are heaped full of tasty Italian meats and cheeses and topped with an array of…
Winning an Award, Losing My Mother
Murder at the Galliano Club, the first novel in the Galliano Club historical fiction thriller series won the Silver Falchion Award for Best Historical at the 2023 Killer Nashville International Writer’s Conference. I’m still shell-shocked. The Galliano…
A Different Point of View
She Said, He Said A CLIFF DIVER scene from Franco Silvio’s Point of View The Detective Emilia Cruz series is written from Emilia’s point of view as the first female police detective in Acapulco. She’s got some tricky geography to navigate in that position….