She's the first female police detective in Acapulco.
Detective Emilia
Cruz Book 9
by Carmen Amato
Genre: Mystery,
Thriller, Female Detective
Political corruption turns Acapulco’s first female police detective into a fugitive on the run . . . in Washington DC.
"A
thrilling series" -- National Public Radio
In a derelict building for sale, Acapulco police detective Emilia Cruz stumbles
on the body of a woman brutally shot to death. Incredibly, the victim was the
sister of Acapulco’s ambitious mayor, who is running for re-election against an
opponent with deep pockets.
Emilia’s investigation is immediately under pressure for a fast result. The
victim’s ex-boyfriend has a suspiciously weak alibi but is the crime scene the
key to finding the murderer? The building was once used for a secret Mexican
government operation targeting a ruthless drug lord.
Meanwhile, there’s a conspiracy within the police department to force Emilia
out.
Before Emilia can save her job or arrest her prime suspect, she’s sent on an
errand of mercy to Washington, DC.
There she becomes a fugitive hunted by killers masquerading as cops. Alone,
desperate and on the run, Emilia turns for help to a man she once vowed to
murder.
He's her only chance to survive a deadly game of political intrigue on the
wrong side of the border.
From Acapulco’s beaches to the streets of Washington, DC, the stakes couldn’t
be higher in this electrifying, page-turning thriller.
2019 and 2020 Poison Cup award, Outstanding Series - CrimeMasters of
America
"Emilia is a character who is close to my heart" -
MysterySequels
"Amato brings her characters to life with her vivid writing style
and sets them on the streets of a Mexico steeped in Catholicism and
corruption" - OnlineBookClub.org
With unflinching authenticity from the author's own espionage and counterdrug
experience in Mexico and Central America, this is a female detective mystery
series like no other.
The Emilia Cruz series is for fans of international mystery and crime by Ian
Rankin, Jo Nesbo, Ann Cleeves, Donna Leon and Liza Marklund, plus the
Department Q series by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Fans of Don Winslow's cartel and
border thrillers set in Mexico love the plots torn from the headlines of the
Detective Emilia Cruz police series set in Acapulco.
From Spy to Mystery Author
Now a mystery and thriller author, I was an intelligence
officer for 30 years with the Central Intelligence Agency. Most of that time, I
dealt with technical intelligence collection and counterdrug issues. I also
spent a great deal of time overseas, finishing as the head of one of the US
national intelligence schools.
I poured my experiences into the 9-book Detective Emilia
Cruz series (BARRACUDA BAY, CLIFF DIVER, NARCO NOIR, etc.) Traveling at night
through a strange country, with only my passport for protection? Check.
Getting stalked through a store by a thief? Check.
Being told by a colleague that he didn’t want to work
with a woman? Check.
The Detective Emilia Cruz books are loaded with danger,
deception, and authenticity. She’s the first female police detective in
Acapulco, taking on official corruption, drug cartels, and Mexico’s social
inequalities. The series won the 2019 and 2020 Poison Cup award for Outstanding
Series from Crime Masters of America, the 2019 Silver Falchion from Killer
Nashville, and was optioned for television.
One particular experience motivated me to begin the
series when an armed drug addict came into our church in Mexico City during
midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. No one was hurt, but it was a
wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee moment. I turned to fiction to show what was
happening not so very far from home.
Fiction doesn’t get more authentic than BARRACUDA BAY and
the rest of the Detective Emilia Cruz series.
Casa de Plata
looked just the same except for the yellow crime scene tape proclaiming
PROHIBIDO EL PASO zigzagging across the massive front entrance. Emilia peeled
it back on one side and unlocked the door.
The huge
echoing foyer was the same as well. Emilia didn’t bother to turn on the
chandelier. She wasn’t there to gaze upward.
The crime
scene techs had come and gone but she combed the entire building, checking for
door locks that looked to have been jimmied open and finding nothing. She even
studied the balconies from all angles and concluded that the only way someone
could have accessed a balcony from the outside would be to swing Tarzan-style
over the razor-topped perimeter wall.
Each of the
two ground floor apartments had a French door that opened to a patio running
the full width of the rear of the building. In Casa de Plata’s heyday, the
doors would have allowed for a beautiful view of gracious living. Now all that
remained were paving stones choked with weeds, shards of half a dozen
terracotta planters, and an abandoned wrought iron table slowly turning into a
heap of rust.
She went back
inside and unlocked the door to the apartment where Monica had been killed. She
stood in the silent dining room. The crime scene techs had taken the armchair
away, presumably for forensic study, but Emilia was more interested in the
faint streaks it left on the terrazzo floor.
“You were
sitting here,” Emilia muttered as she squatted by the chair. Dust motes swirled
gently in the air, illuminated by sunlight filtered through the grimy windows.
“Eating all sorts of different tapas. There must have been lots of small plates
or takeout boxes.”
Certainly
Monica had not been there by herself. No, someone else sat across from the
woman, sharing an impromptu but elegant picnic complete with linens and
champagne.
Until
something spooked her. Monica pushed herself away from the table hard enough to
leave skid marks on the floor. Raised her hands to ward off danger. The killer
had faced her, with the table between them. Two shots, one through each hand.
She
straightened up, looking at the clean tabletop and mute row of chairs on the
other side. A tablecloth would have prevented fingerprints and made cleanup
easy. No extra bullets that missed the target and hit the wall or chair. No
wasted energy. The nerve to shoot a defenseless woman while staring straight at
her.
“Her date was
either lucky or a pro,” Emilia said, thinking aloud. “He shoots her. Takes her
purse and cell phone, then gathers up the tablecloth with all the leftovers and
walks out.”
Either way,
the killer was someone Monica knew and trusted. Was comfortable eating and
drinking with them.
But why here?
Why Casa de Plata? Was there a federale
angle to this? Lieutenant Campos rose up in her mind’s eye. He was slick and
trendy. Not at all the somber federale
officer of public imagination.
Help me.
An invisible
hand touched Emilia’s cheek. She flinched so hard that her feet went out from
under her.
Her hip hit
the floor first, then her right shoulder. Emilia twisted to keep her head from
cracking like an egg against the terrazzo. She was instantly dazzled by sparks
of pain shooting from thigh to neck.
Her phone
rang. Breathing hard, Emilia managed to roll onto her stomach and extract it
from the back pocket of her jeans.
“Where the
hell are you?” Silvio thundered. He didn’t wait for an answer. “Never mind.
Meet me downtown. We found Monica Montoya’s car.”
Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DSTY1ZCT
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/barracuda-bay-a-detective-emilia-cruz-novel-by-carmen-amato
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223520438-barracuda-bay
**Don’t miss
the rest of the Detective Emilia Cruz Series!**
Find out more on
the Author’s Website!
https://carmenamato.net/detective-emilia-cruz-series/
About the author
A 30-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency, Carmen Amato writes the contemporary Detective Emilia Cruz series pitting the first female police detective in Acapulco against Mexico's cartels, corruption, and social inequality. Beginning with Cliff Diver, it’s a 2-time winner of the Outstanding Series award from CrimeMasters of America and a 4-time finalist for the Silver Falchion award, lauded by Kirkus Reviews as “Danger and betrayal never more than a few pages away.”
Carmen Amato is also the 2023 winner of the Silver
Falchion Award for Best Historical for Murder at the Galliano Club,
inspired by her grandfather’s experiences as a deputy sheriff during
Prohibition. Her standalone thrillers include The Hidden Light of Mexico
City, which was longlisted for the 2020 Millennium Book Award.
Carmen is a recipient of both the National Intelligence
Award and the Career Intelligence Medal. She has been a judge for the BookLife
Prize and Killer Nashville’s Claymore Award. Her work has appeared in Huffpost,
Criminal Element, Publishers Weekly, and other national publications.
Originally from upstate New York, after years of
globe-trotting she and her husband enjoy life in Tennessee.
Website * Facebook * X * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads
Author Links
Website: https://carmenamato.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorcarmenamato
X: https://x.com/carmenconnects
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/authorcarmenamato
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/carmen-amato
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Carmen-Amato/author/B007UA1J8U
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6154479.Carmen_Amato
Giveaway
Enter to win a Swag
Pack with a signed copy of the book, a mini poster with a Frida Kahlo quote, a
seasoning mix to make the recipe in the book and a Detective Emilia Cruz book
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OR $15 Amazon
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– 1 winner each!
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Love the cover art. Looks great. Sounds like a good read.
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds very intriguing. I love the bold, colourful cover.
ReplyDelete