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.
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
The Best and Other Interview Questions to Ask a Mystery Writer
There are certain interview questions to ask someone who has just published a novel in a mystery series. And other questions that are sort of odd. Here are the ones I’ve been asked lately. 1. Why did you write it? I wrote Cliff Diver: An Emilia Cruz Novel because...
Friday Fiesta: An Artist, An Astronaut and the Unexpected in Nepal and on Kilimanjaro
As the author of a mystery series I love to weave unique cultural gems into the plot. Most of the time I draw on my own world travels and experiences living in Mexico and Central America. In these Friday Fiesta posts I highlight cultural stories worth celebrating. The...
3 Latinas Who Inspired Fiction’s Newest Crimefighter
Police detective Emilia Cruz is the main character in CLIFF DIVER, the first novel in my new mystery series set in Acapulco. She’s the first and only female police detective in Acapulco, a strong Latina woman who knows the value of family, how to fight for what she...
The mysterious case of 4 Jars of Inspiration
Ready to sweeten life? Throw out a sour mindset?As the author of a mystery series--a relatively solitary occupation--I can’t afford to let my inspiration ebb away. I’m constantly looking for new sources of motivation, the confidence to tackle new projects, an trying...
The Friday Fiesta: From Guatemala to Antarctica, with Museums and Manners, too
As a fiction author I love to weave unique cultural gems into the plot. Most of the time I draw on my own world travels and experiences living in Mexico and Central America.In these Friday Fiesta posts I highlight cultural stories worth celebrating. The unique, the...
Lost in Mexico has nothing to do with translation
In CLIFF DIVER, the first full-length book in my new mystery series, Acapulco police detective Emilia Cruz keeps a log of women who have gone missing. For her they are las perdidas, the lost ones, and sometimes it seems as if she’s the only who still cares.I’d like to...