Cliff Diver: An Emilia Cruz Novel

by Carmen Amato

Overview

Acapulco's first female police detective dives into an ocean of secrets, lies, and murder when she investigates her own lieutenant's death.

In this explosive start to the award-winning Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco, Emilia beat the odds to become the resort city's first female police detective. But she lives in a pressure cooker where trust is in short supply.

Her fellow detectives are scheming to push her out. Her lieutenant is a shady character playing both sides of the law. The police department is riddled with corruption and drug cartel influence.

When her lieutenant is murdered, Emilia is assigned to lead the investigation. Soon the man's sordid sex life, money laundering, and involvement in a kidnapping double-cross combine to create an ugly mess no one wants exposed. The high profile murder case could wreck Emilia's career.

When Emilia's worst enemy in the squadroom emerges as the prime suspect, keeping her job might be the least of her worries.

"A thrilling series" -- National Public Radio

"Consistently exciting" -- Kirkus Reviews

"A wonderful crime mystery" -- MysterySequels.com

2020 Poison Cup award, Outstanding Series -- CrimeMasters of America

Author Carmen Amato uses her own counterdrug and espionage experiences from a 30-year career in national intelligence to craft intrigue-filled crime fiction. She keeps you guessing until the very end!

Amato is a recipient of both the National Intelligence Award and the Career Intelligence Medal.

Readers who love international mystery series crime fighters including Armand Gamache, Harry Hole, Guido Brunetti, and the Department Q series will also love Detective Emilia Cruz's complex plots, pulse-pounding suspense, and exotic location.

Perfect for lovers of detective fiction by Ian Rankin, Jo Nesbo, and Peter May, as well as Don Winslow's Mexican cartel and border thrillers.


BOOKS BY CARMEN AMATO

The Detective Emilia Cruz series
CLIFF DIVER
HAT DANCE
DIABLO NIGHTS
KING PESO
PACIFIC REAPER
43 MISSING
RUSSIAN MOJITO
NARCO NOIR
MADE IN ACAPULCO

Suspense
THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY
AWAKENING MACBETH

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781482308044
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	01/30/2013
Series:	Detective Emilia Cruz , #1
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.68(d)

About the Author

Carmen Amato was born in New York and educated there as well as Virginia and Paris, France. Her family tree includes a mayor, a Mensa genius, and the first homicide in the state of Connecticut with an automatic weapon. The perpetrator, her great-grandfather, eluded a state-wide manhunt after killing two people-one of whom was his wife-and was never brought to justice.

Carmen is the author of the Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco including Cliff Diver, Hat Dance, Diablo Nights, as well as several romantic suspense novels and the monthly Mystery Ahead webzine. Visit her website at carmenamato.net and follow her on Twitter @CarmenConnects.

Editorial Reviews

Emilia Cruz, Acapulco's first-ever female detective, investigates a police lieutenant's murder and tracks down counterfeit bills in the second installment of Amato's (Made In Acapulco, 2012) mystery series. Cruz, a junior detective in the Mexican tourist town, spends her days responding to dispatch calls and navigating the corrupt, sexist world of the Mexican police force. After a seemingly routine assignment explodes into a dangerous cliffside car chase and firefight, Emilia's life begins to unravel. Her lieutenant is mysteriously and brutally murdered on his own speedboat, and an intimidating, black-suited man from the police union suddenly promotes her to acting lieutenant--and informs her she'll be reporting only to him. As she desperately tries to piece together the shattered remnants of various cases--a child rescued from a horrific kidnapping, a counterfeit money scheme, cartel drug wars--the mayor's office pressures the department to solve the lieutenant's murder. Meanwhile, Emilia's personal problems include a delusional mother and a handsome American hotel manager whom she's scared to let herself fall in love with. The danger escalates as every one of her colleagues becomes a suspect. The author has a good sense of when to pause the action to let the reader take in the scenic beauty of Acapulco and effectively provides the flavor of the city. A finely tuned mix of Spanish vocabulary peppers the text, which devotes special attention to authentic Mexican food and fashion, adding an enjoyable layer to the fast-moving plot. While the prose isn't groundbreaking or particularly inventive, the author places her characters in a consistently exciting, though very plausible plot. Although a few relationships remain underdeveloped, readers will likely close the book satisfied by a well-told story. A clever Mexican detective tale that will leave readers eager for the series' next installment.

Kirkus Reviews