newest Detective Emilia Cruz audiobook
PACIFIC REAPER
Has Acapulco’s first female police detective been cursed by Santa Muerte, Mexico’s feared and forbidden saint of death?
Emilia Cruz, the first female police detective in Acapulco, takes on a voodoo-like cult in an effort to stop a range war between rival cartel gangs. But when she does, everyone close to her has a brush with death.
Now it’s her turn . . . Will Emilia be the next victim when she goes undercover on the eve of the Day of the Dead?
Listen to the audiobook, narrated by Leanne Maksin in a compelling, award-worthy performance.
Mystery Author
Carmen Amato
There’s a piece of my 30-year CIA career in everything I write.
In the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series, you'll go on a gripping journey through Mexico's drug war. Based on my own counterdrug experience, it's a place where loyalty is for sale but violence comes cheap.
There’s more action and drama in my standalone contemporary thrillers and the historical Galliano Club trilogy, inspired by my grandfather who was a deputy sheriff in New York during Prohibition.
Thanks for being on this journey with me!
I spy mystery ahead
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Praise for Detective Emilia Cruz
Read the Reviews
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
Astounding . . . a haunting page-turner . . . The tragedy of decent members of society caught in the crossfire stayed with me long after I finished the book. – Nightstand Book Reviews
The story is full of nonstop action and suspense, but what really got to me in this book is the range of strong emotions I’ve felt while reading it . . . Emilia is a character that is close to my heart. – MysterySequels
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
A real page-turner . . . Detective Cruz is a fully fleshed out character. Tough, but not above shedding a few tears, she bears the scars of a violent past while handling being the first and only female detective in Acapulco. – BookLife Prize
Amato weaves a vivid tapestry that depicts both the beauty and ugliness of Acapulco. Her attention to clothing, food, and other details of the cityscape bring life to her characters . . . with danger and betrayal never more than a few pages away. – Kirkus Reviews
Danger and Deception
Books by Carmen
DETECTIVE EMILIA CRUZ SERIES
Emilia Cruz is the first female police detective in Acapulco, fighting drug cartels, official corruption and Mexican machismo.
2019, 2020 Outstanding Series award, CrimeMasters of America
2019 Silver Falchion Award, Killer Nashville
CLIFF DIVER | HAT DANCE | DIABLO NIGHTS
KING PESO | PACIFIC REAPER | 43 MISSING
RUSSIAN MOJITO | NARCO NOIR |BARRACUDA BAY
MADE IN ACAPULCO
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
ROAD TO THE GALLIANO CLUB
MURDER AT THE GALLIANO CLUB
BLACKMAIL AT THE GALLIANO CLUB
REVENGE AT THE GALLIANO CLUB
STANDALONE THRILLERS
Contemporary thrillers featuring complex plots, unforgettable characters and layers of risk, power, and deception.
Longlist, 2020 Millennium Book Award
Progress report
Working on
- DRAGON CARTEL: Detective Emilia Cruz #10 60%
- MOSCOW SYNDROME (contribution) 95%
Events
Coming Up
28 Nov Better on Draft podcast guest appearance
The Shop Talk Blog
Follow Along
Best Prohibition-era Reading
A tall frosty glass of Prohibition, ballplayers and mobsters? I drank up a dozen books while researching 1926 for the Galliano Club thriller series. Now that MURDER AT THE GALLIANO CLUB has hit your favorite bookstore, I highly recommend the following: SCARFACE AND...
New Release! MURDER AT THE GALLIANO CLUB
New release MURDER AT THE GALLIANO CLUB is now available in Kindle and paperback editions. The first novel in the Galliano Club thriller series debuted in the Number 2 spot on Amazon’s Italian Literature category. Thank you to so many early readers! Join bootlegger...
Release Dates for the Galliano Club series
Release dates! All three full-length novels in the Prohibition-era Galliano Club series are scheduled for release: 20 October 2022: MURDER AT THE GALLIANO CLUB 16 February 2023: BLACKMAIL AT THE GALLIANO CLUB 30 March 2023: REVENGE AT THE GALLIANO CLUB...
Arrests made in the next chapter of 43 MISSING
Mexico’s Truth Commission investigating the mass disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College may finally solve the 8 year old crime that inspired the Detective Emilia Cruz novel 43 MISSING. As more details are uncovered, it appears that...
Killer Nashville’s success story
There is a success story behind the Killer Nashville International Mystery Writer’s Conference. The weekend among my fellow writers always inspires and recharges. This was my 4th time attending. The schedule is geared to help attendees connect with other authors as...
Book Review: THE GUILTY DIE TWICE by Don Hartshorn
THE GUILTY DIE TWICE offers a memorable cast of characters, two pivotal crimes, lots of deliciously grubby political machinations, and both sides of the death penalty argument. The writing is both fluid and precise, without (thankfully) lots of legal jargon. The...