Inside my CIA Career: The Analytic Puzzle
First Job My first position with the Central Intelligence Agency was as a political analyst. The official CIA website describes analysis jobs as: “Collaborative. Problem-solvers. Critical thinkers....
What I did in the CIA: Glutinous but not Unflavorful
Blame it on the Swedish meatballs Early in my CIA career, I was having lunch in the cafeteria of the Original Headquarters Building (back when it was the only Headquarters building.) My friend Willa...
Book Review: SNOW by John Banville
SNOW by John Banville got a hearty endorsement from several hard-core mystery reader friends and it lived up to expectations in every way except one. It’s a freezing, snowy winter in 1957. Ireland...
The Big Pivot of 2021
The Big Pivot Do you remember the sofa moving scene in Friends? They guys are doing their best, but it’s too big to get up the stairs. Ross keeps yelling “Pivot, pivot” to no avail. That’s 2020. In...
Best of 2020: Top 10 Book Reviews from the Mystery Ahead Newsletter
Best of 2020 Yes, 2020 had a silver lining. We all stayed home and read more. Every other Sunday, I fed the collective appetite of fellow mystery lovers with the Mystery Ahead newsletter. Readers...
The Face that Launched 1000 Words
Some authors look for visual cues to help create setting and characters. Most call it research. I call it antiques hunting. THE FACE OF THE GALLIANO CLUB To build the Galliano Club series, I have my...
Longlisted for the 2020 Millennium Book Award
10 November 2020 Political thriller THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY has been longlisted for the 2020 Millennium Book Award. The novel features a Mexican attorney who fights an insidious plot to use...
Paranormal Romance Tops BookLife’s October Indie Spotlight
15 October 2020 AWAKENING MACBETH, a romantic thriller with a paranormal twist by Carmen Amato, tops BookLife's Indie Spotlight of paranormal and supernatural offerings for October 2020: ...
Fiction author asks: Why do we fall in love?
True Story I met my husband at a Memorial Day picnic. After burgers and hot dogs, our host hauled out Trivial Pursuit. Teams were assembled and a fierce no-holds-barred game ensued. To my chagrin,...
Virgibooks Publishes Detective Emilia Cruz Stories in Italian
27 September 2020 The Italian translation of MADE IN ACAPULCO was released this week by Italian publisher Virgibooks. Specializing in short stories and novellas, Virgibooks will translate and...
2020 Poison Cup Award from CrimeMasters of America
13 September 2020 The Detective Emilia Cruz police procedural series received the 2020 Poison Cup Award from CrimeMasters of America, the second year in a row that the series has been honored with...
New York to Mexico and Back Again
ONCE UPON A TIME My hometown of Rome, New York, was a close-knit community where almost everyone was Italian, Irish, or Polish and a Roman Catholic. Five hours away from New York City and the Statue...
Book Review: THUNDERSTRUCK by Erik Larson
Non-fiction author Erik Larsen (DEAD WAKE, THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE, etc.) writes true crime with the sweep, suspense, and vocabulary of the best fiction authors....
How to Survive a Pandemic from Polar History’s “Wicked Mate”
I was recently asked if the coronavirus pandemic had changed what readers want from mystery authors. Maybe. Right now, I think readers appreciate a good tale of overcoming the odds. That’s why polar...
7th Detective Emilia Cruz Mystery is Finalist for 2020 Silver Falchion
30 July 2020 RUSSIAN MOJITO, the 7th installment of the Detective Emilia Cruz police procedural series set in Acapulco by Carmen Amato, is a finalist for the 2020 Silver Falchion Award from the...
Book Review: GRAY GHOST MURDERS by Keith McCafferty
I know nothing about fly fishing and have never been to Montana. Nevertheless, the Sean Stranahan mystery series by Keith McCafferty has me hooked. (Sorry, could not resist.) The series has elements...
Book Review: Dublin Trilogy by Caimh McDonnell
Author Vee James gifted me this book and a tip of the hat to him. THE MAN WITH ONE OF THOSE FACES is the first book in McDonnell’s Dublin Trilogy about the very funny, yet seriously intriguing...
How to be an Armchair Traveler
I keep waiting for coronavirus to call a time out but, uh, so far . . . no. It's turning me into an armchair traveler. You, too? I have missed museums. Not that I'm a rabid art hound, but museums...
Announcing the Galliano Club new historical mystery series
What??!! A new historical mystery series? But, but . . . Read on. One of my earliest memories is of my grandfather coming home from Revere Copper and Brass, yelling “Ann!” When my grandmother...
Detective Emilia Cruz Mysteries Released in Spanish
25 June 2020 CLIFF DIVER, the first thriller in the Detective Emilia Cruz series by Carmen Amato has been released in Spanish as LA CLAVADISTA. Emilia Cruz, the first female police detective in...
Mini Masterclass: How to Write a Mystery Series
Did you ever want to write a mystery series? Have an idea for a character but nothing else? Maybe you need a blueprint for finally getting that mystery series written. True Story When I worked for...
Detective Emilia Cruz Box Set Released for Kindle
26 May 2020 The first six books in the award-winning Detective Emilia Cruz police procedural series set in Acapulco are available as a box set for Kindle entitled DEATH IN ACAPULCO: Detective Emilia...
Mystery Author Breaks Down THE 10X RULE at JaneFriedman.Com
May 21, 2020 Mystery author Carmen Amato breaks down the best-selling business book, THE 10X RULE by Grant Cardone, to show how it applies to a writing career. Entitled "What Writers Have to Learn...
NARCO NOIR, 8th in the Detective Emilia Cruz series
16 May 2020 NARCO NOIR, the 8th installment in the Detective Emilia Cruz police procedural series set in Acapulco by Carmen Amato, is now available in ebook and paperback formats from Laurel &...
My Fijian romance and other Unforgettable Taxi Tales
To get in the right mindset for NARCO NOIR, in which Detective Emilia Cruz goes undercover as a taxi driver to catch a killer, friends and I are sharing some outrageously memorable taxi rides. Which...
For Celine, With Love
TRUE STORY On 11 May 1968, when I was 8 years old, I made my First Communion at St. Paul’s Church in Rome NY. My first cousin Celine was next to me, wearing an identical outfit of starched white...
Mexico, Women, Femicide, Fiction
“Women and glass are always in danger.” – Mexican proverb Imagine if Portland, Maine, or Greenville, South Carolina went missing, simply ebbing away like shadows in sunlight over the course of 14...