MYSTERY AUTHOR | CIA VETERAN
Carmen Amato
I learned a few things about danger, deception and resilience during a 30-year career with the CIA. As an author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco.
Join me for high-stakes crime fiction fueled by authentic tradecraft and tomorrow's headlines.
"A must-read for lovers of smart, character-driven crime fiction with a global edge." - Reader's House
LATEST RELEASE
DRAGON CARTEL
Acapulco police detective Emilia Cruz is already stretched to the max hunting cartel assassin El Barracuda when she agrees to take on the case of a missing Customs inspector.
At the same time, the interrogation of a mysterious Chinese national turns a local crime into an international puzzle.
A missing inspector. A cartel assassin. And a conspiracy that links Mexico and the United States to China.
DRAGON CARTEL is the 10th mystery in the award-winning Detective Emilia Cruz series. Available at your favorite online book store.
SIGNATURE SERIES
Meet Detective Emilia Cruz, the first female police detective in Acapulco.
Think Narcos meets Hawaii 5-0, as she navgates cartels, corruption and social inequality while hunting for Mexico's missing.
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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
An 80-year-old deception operation has lessons for today
Eighty years ago, a dead British naval officer named Bill Martin washed up on a Spanish beach. He was a landing craft expert with a fiancée named Pam. They'd gone to the theater in London a few days before his plane crashed in the Atlantic with no survivors. Based on...
Could notorious spy and traitor Aldrich Ames defeat AI?
I took multiple polygraph tests during my 30-year career as an intelligence officer with the CIA. The theory behind the poly is that basic bodily functions (breathing, heart rate, etc) react if you lie. Every test followed the same procedure. I sat in a comfortable...
Don’t be Fooled! Decode the News with these Cold War Tips and Tricks
As fallout over the firing of Fox New anchor Tucker Carlson and CNN’s Don Lemon continues to percolate, I recall the Cold War techniques to decode the news used by the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA was never solely about spies meeting in dark alleys. Consider...
Book Review: 10 DAYS by Jule Selbo
This Portland, Maine mystery has it all—a wounded, complicated heroine, a multi-faceted investigation with save-the-world implications, and oodles of atmosphere. Best of all, this is just the first in what promises to be a great new mystery series. Dee Rommel is a...
3 Life Lessons from a Gathering of Strangers
We sometimes learn--or relearn--life lessons in unexpected places. I recently joined 14 women creatives at a gathering hosted by award-winning writer and filmmaker Rebekah Iliff at Free Dreaming Farm in Springfield, TN. The gathering followed the tragic shooting in...
Book Review: SENSE OF GRACE by Richard F. McGonegal
This police procedural offers the best first sentence that I’ve read lately. The overall pace and plotting meet that high bar, making this a fast page-turner. Sheriff Francis Hood of Huhman County, Missouri, is a savvy and compassionate lawman but also a recovering...