BARRACUDA BAY: Cover reveal and Release Date

BARRACUDA BAY: Cover reveal and Release Date

Drum roll, please!

Graphic artist Matt Chase has created another signature piece of art for the next book in the Detective Emilia Cruz series, BARRACUDA BAY.

Cover Reveal

The background color was inspired by the cover for PACIFIC REAPER, which both Matt and I love, while ocean tones of blue and green evoke Acapulco Bay. The pop of red adds even more menace to the dark denizen of the deep.

This is the 10th cover Matt has created for the series, fitting it in around his work for major publications including The Washington Post and the New York Times Review of Books.

I hope you love it as much as I do.

Barracuda Bay A Detective Emilia Cruz novel

Release date

In honor of my mother, who passed away late last month, BARRACUDA BAY will be released on her birthday, 20 February 2025.

My mother Jean, early 2000s

She was a huge supporter of my second career as a mystery author. Even after dementia prevented her from reading, she kept a dog-eared copy of CLIFF DIVER in the storage compartment of her walker.

Shout Club

If you’d like to help get the word out about Detective Emilia Cruz’s return, after a nearly 2 year hiatus (while I wrote and published the Galliano Club historical fiction series) I’d love to have you aboard.

You’ll get an Advance Reader Copy of BARRACUDA BAY and a box full of Mexican-themed goodies. In return, be first to share reviews, list the book on Goodreads, and let social media friends know about the book. More to come but if you love books and would like to participate, please drop an email to carmen@carmenamato.net.

Countdown to RUSSIAN MOJITO: Detective Emilia Cruz Book 7

Countdown to RUSSIAN MOJITO: Detective Emilia Cruz Book 7

Cue the drum roll!

RUSSIAN MOJITO, Detective Emilia Cruz Book 7, will be available soon. Mark your calendar:

  • 23 May: Kindle pre-order
  • 6 June: Kindle release
  • 23 June: Paperback release

About RUSSIAN MOJITO

RUSSIAN MOJITO takes up where 43 MISSING left off. Emilia was the sole survivor of an attack on a extradition convoy taking cartel kingpin Diego Barrielos Luna from Mexico to the United States to stand trial. Barrielos Luna escaped, but not before promising Emilia that he’d be in touch.

Now back in Acapulco attempting to repair all her broken relationships, Emilia sees his shadow around every corner. But when her mother’s husband is kidnapped and a Russian journalist is murdered in the Palacio Real hotel managed by boyfriend Kurt Rucker, Emilia suddenly has other things on her mind.

Add a vicious attack on two more Russians and a touch of espionage gone wrong. Emilia is soon looking for answers in unusual places.

Her long-time partner Franco Silvio is a lieutenant now and the chief of detectives for the Acapulco police department. He’s busy navigating miles of red tape, union demands, and thieving baggage handlers at the airport. Is there a connection between the kidnapping, dead Russians, and airport thieves?

RUSSIAN MOJITO is the most complex Detective Emilia Cruz mystery yet. Relationships are at the heart of the novel. Some can still be salvaged, while others remain a mystery. Still more revolve around the shifting axis of mutual distrust and paranoia.

As always, my goal is to bring the reader shoulder-to-shoulder with Emilia, hearing her heart pound and helping her calculate the odds of survival.

COVER ART

The cover is another inspired illustration by Matt Chase. The cover is the 8th design the talented artist has created for the Detective Emilia Cruz series. His work can be seen in numerous national-level publications, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, and The Atlantic.

The illustration is a hint at the first murder . . .

Cocktails, anyone?

Russian Mojito cover

Need to catch up?

If you need to catch up, check out 43 MISSING and the rest of the Detective Emilia Cruz books on Amazon. For other stores, check out my Books page.

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Mystery Ahead subscribers got to read selected chapters of RUSSIAN MOJITO that I didn’t share ANYWHERE else . . . were you one of them?

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russian mojito

CARMEN AMATO

Mystery and thriller author. Retired Central Intelligence Agency intel officer. Dog mom to Hazel and Dutch. Recovering Italian handbag addict.

 

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