I’m Carmen Amato,

turning lessons learned

from 30 years with the CIA

into stories loaded with risk and deception.

 

Mystery Ahead reading journal

"A thrilling series" - National Public Radio

Narco Noir

DETECTIVE EMILIA CRUZ SERIES

Emilia Cruz is the first female police detective in Acapulco, fighting drug cartels, official corruption and Mexican machismo.

If the cartels don't get her, another cop will.

2019, 2020 Outstanding Series award, CrimeMasters of America

2019 Silver Falchion Award, Killer Nashville

CLIFF DIVER | HAT DANCE | DIABLO NIGHTS

KING PESO | PACIFIC REAPER | 43 MISSING

RUSSIAN MOJITO | NARCO NOIR | MADE IN ACAPULCO

"As riveting as Amato’s previous novels set in Mexico. The Roaring Twenties in their uninhibited violence and excitement come alive." - Michael Hogan, author of Women of the Irish Rising

Revenge at the Galliano Club

GALLIANO CLUB SERIES

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

ROAD TO THE GALLIANO CLUB

MURDER AT THE GALLIANO CLUB

BLACKMAIL AT THE GALLIANO CLUB

REVENGE AT THE GALLIANO CLUB

"A rivetingly dramatic tale of politics and corruption . . . Enthralling." - Literary Fiction Review

The Hidden Light of Mexico City thriller cover

Standalone thrillers

Expect complex plots, unforgettable characters and relationships with heat.

THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY

Longlisted for the 2020 Millennium Book Award

AWAKENING MACBETH

"Page-turning paranormal romance" - Kirkus Reviews

#LATEST

#THANKYOU

Once upon a time, a young woman from New York who liked reading, acting in plays and traveling to new places joined the Central Intelligence Agency.

She went to many interesting places and did many interesting things and met quirky people who deserve to be characters in books.

Eventually, her head was crammed so full of information about cartels, corruption, and social inequality that she had to write a political thriller before it burst. “But no one wants a book like yours,” the publishing insider told her. “They want the next Sex and the City.”

“Huh.” The woman shrugged off the advice. After all, she’d already survived three earthquakes, a train derailment and a scuba diving encounter with a lionfish. She wrote more thrillers about the first female police detective in Acapulco and bootleggers during Prohibition and supernatural suspense and created a book journal for fellow mystery lovers. She gave away a Starter Library.

Her books won awards. Reviewers said nice things.

Now, her Mystery Ahead newsletter is read by people all over the globe.

She is immensely grateful to readers like you.

Carmen Amato in Fiji

Circa 1989, somewhere in the South Pacific.

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