– SHOP TALK –
Book Review: GRIMM UP NORTH by David J. Gatward
Now and then, you stumble across a series that is simply captivating and you have to inhale one book right after the other. The DCI Harry Grimm series set in the Yorkshire dales, is that kind of...
Sound of Freedom movie producer wants to be president of Mexico
I guess he won't have time to star in the film adaptation of my book. Eduardo Verástegui, the impossibly handsome Mexican actor and film producer, announced 8 September on Instagram that he’s...
The Galliano Club’s signature Italian Sandwiches
Readers of the Galliano Club historical fiction series have fallen in love with the Italian sandwiches made by bartender Luca Lombardo. And why shouldn't they? His sandwiches are heaped full of...
Winning an Award, Losing My Mother
Murder at the Galliano Club, the first novel in the Galliano Club historical fiction thriller series won the Silver Falchion Award for Best Historical at the 2023 Killer Nashville International...
A Different Point of View
She Said, He Said A CLIFF DIVER scene from Franco Silvio’s Point of View The Detective Emilia Cruz series is written from Emilia's point of view as the first female police detective in Acapulco....
Book Review: THE TWYFORD CODE by Janice Hallett
At first, I was skeptical of a book made entirely of audio transcripts. No, let me back up. At first, I assumed that the audio transcripts were a clever introduction and then the rest of the book...
Sound of Freedom Movie Delivers One Surprise after Another
I saw Sound of Freedom on the 4th of July, grabbing the last seat for the first showing. I knew that it was based on a true story of Tim Ballard (played by Jim Caviezel) and the start of...
Anisette, Biscotti and an Italian Family Memory
Today is Anisette Day. Having missed Limoncello Day, which was 22 June (also National Kissing Day here in the US) today we have an opportunity to repair our collective reputation regarding...
The 2nd coming of Detective Emilia Cruz
The Detective Emilia Cruz novels are getting a facelift!! Starting with CLIFF DIVER, new (2nd) paperback editions of books 1-8 in the Detective Emilia Cruz police procedural mystery series are being...
Book Review: RED KNIFE by William Kent Krueger
RED KNIFE by William Kent Krueger This dramatic addition to the outstanding Cork O’Connor series has it all: a main character firmly grounded in both past and present, intriguing secondary...
Why You Can’t Spy a Lie and What to Do About It
Many years ago, my husband and I bought a single-engine Piper 180 airplane. He’d go out to the small airport 30 minutes from our house, expand his piloting skills and get a break from his...
4 Unputdownable Thrilling Spy Reads
Need Father's Day ideas? How about a couple of thrilling spy reads? As a retired CIA officer, I can vouch for the authenticity of each book on this list. Well-crafted, spine-tingling action,...
25 International Mystery Series to Take You Around the World
A hand-selected list of international mystery series that will take you around the world. How many have you read?AFRICA 1 Precious Ramotswe series by Alexander McCall Smith Main character: Precious...
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...
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...
You Can Decode the News Like a Cold War Warrior
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....
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...
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...
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,...
Jailbirds
While chatting with fellow author Shelley Blanton-Stroud (grab her free book, COPY BOY) for an upcoming episode of Mystery Crew Reviews, she asked if my villainous great-grandfather was the impetus...
Press release: 4-book Galliano Club historical fiction series now available
Press release: Four-book Galliano Club series by Carmen Amato is a must-read for fans of The Godfather, The Untouchables and Boardwalk Empire. The press release just went out! It's a combination new...
Book Review: THE DEAD CERTAIN DOUBT by Jim Nesbitt
THE DEAD CERTAIN DOUBT is a noir gem, peppered with American muscle cars, a hard-drinking hero, and universal life lessons. Ed Earl Burch is a Dallas private eye of a certain age. With an angel on...
New Release! BLACKMAIL AT THE GALLIANO CLUB
New release! Today is release day for BLACKMAIL AT THE GALLIANO CLUB, the second book in the Prohibition-era historical thriller series. Grab a seat at the bar. Big things are happening. Beer and...
Book Review: Family Secrets Come with the House in SQUATTER’S RIGHTS
In SQUATTER’S RIGHTS by Cheril Thomas, compelling family secrets come with the house. The first book in the Eastern Shores Mysteries introduces us to attorney Grace Reagan, who just bought the huge...
The 3 Golden Rules of Lying and Deception
You’ve been granted a tour of the original Central Intelligence Agency headquarters building outside Washington, DC. Pass the statue of Nathan Hale as you walk through the big glass doors of the...
Book review: THE MONOGRAM MURDERS by Sophie Hannah
I love reading a good mystery as much as I love writing them! Here's what I read this week. A new Hercule Poirot mystery Mystery fans can’t get enough of Agatha Christie’s fussy Belgian detective...
Release Update and Excerpt: Blackmail at the Galliano Club
Blackmail BLACKMAIL AT THE GALLIANO CLUB is slated for release on 16 February 2023! The Galliano Club historical fiction thrillers take place in 1926, in a fictional upstate New York city modeled on...
