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
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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
Researching Prohibition at the West End Brewery #bestjobever
Researching the 1920’s for the Galliano Club books naturally means I have to research beer. Yes, beer. Notably beer in upstate New York, the setting for the Galliano Club series. Beer is a hot commodity in 1926. Prohibition forbids it. The Galliano Club wants it….
Book Review: A NEAPOLITAN INTRIGUE by Kate McVaugh
Past and present collide in this clever thriller that moves between present-day Naples, Italy, and Berkeley, California in 1969. A NEAPOLITAN INTRIGUE deals with serious topics with a smooth prose and a dab of humor at the right moments. I read it in one day, and…
Could Gas Prices Make You a Victim of Fuel Thieves?
A month ago, the catalytic converter was hacked out of my daughter’s car as it was parked on a street in Chicago. Apparently, thieves troll at night for older cars with catalytic converters because the precious metals inside–palladium, rhodium, and platinum—now…
Spying on Elon Musk?
Elon Musk hardly needs an introduction these days, but here goes. He’s the richest man in the world, has a droll sense of humor, is a naturalized US citizen (born in South Africa) and has 7 children. Founder of blazing-into-the-future companies Tesla and SpaceX, on 30…
President Trump vs Mexican drug cartel labs
Mark Esper has written about his stint as secretary of defense during the last year of President Donald Trump’s administration in A SACRED OATH. Before the book came out this month, excerpts published in the New York Times revealed that President Trump, frustrated by…
How a Real Cliff Diver Tames Her Fears
Ellie Smart is a professional cliff diver, but not an adrenaline junkie. Riiiight. A native of Missouri and former collegiate diver at UC Berkeley, with a Masters degree in sports and exercise science, Smart is the only American woman with a permanent billet on the…