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

 

Crime fiction author Carmen Amato, a CIA veteran and creator of the Detective Emilia Cruz series, smiling in a professional portrait.

LATEST RELEASE

Dragon Cartel thriller cover

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.

Explore

3D cover of CLIFF DIVER the 1st Detective Emilia Cruz police procedural

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

3D cover of Murder at the Galliano Club historical fiction thriller

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

Political thriller The Hidden Light of Mexico City by Carmen Amato

STANDALONE THRILLERS

Contemporary thrillers featuring complex plots, unforgettable characters and layers of risk, power, and deception.

Longlist, 2020 Millennium Book Award

Latest Posts

March for the Missing in Acapulco

The road has disappeared under a wave of sorrow and anger. In a case of weather mimicking emotions, it is raining and thousands are unintentionally decorated with multicolored umbrellas. The raingear doesn't hide the posters with faces of the missing. Rather, the...

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How to Make an Informed Reading Choice

With so many books out there, how do you make an informed reading choice? From the author's point of view, it's all about "book discoverability.' But I read more than I write and from the reader's perspective, it's all about knowing the book won't disappoint. How to...

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Where’s a Cheerleader When You Need One?

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I was part of my high school’s cheer team. I was also a member of the band, playing—yes, you read it here—the cymbals. Those cymbals were red hot when we New Yorkers played the Wisconsin fight song. Alas, we could only play the...

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Book Review: Hotel Pastis by Peter Mayle

Up for a trip to southern France, where mirth, mayhem, and Champagne rule? C'est vraiment drole! Translation: keep reading. I not only write mysteries but I love reading them, too. My favorites are the ones that take me to new places and this week it's a trip to...

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