King Peso: A Detective Emilia Cruz Novel

Is Acapulco's first female police detective the next target of a ruthless cop killer? It's a serial killer thriller with a spicy Mexican twist.

"A thrilling series." -- National Public Radio

Someone is killing law enforcement officers who worked with Detective Emilia Cruz. When her partner's wife becomes the victim of a brutal home invasion, Emilia suspects that her partner was the intended target of the notorious El Trio killer.

Instead of leading the investigation, Emilia is unexpectedly reassigned to the mayor's pet project. The new all-female patrol unit is a disorganized disaster that Emilia must whip into shape, forcing her to watch from the sidelines as the police fumble the El Trio investigation and send her partner to jail.

Amid the chaos, Emilia begins to question everything she thought she knew, including her police career and future with boyfriend Kurt Rucker.

In a beautiful city driven to its knees by drug lords, corruption and rampant violence, Emilia will gamble it all to find the truth.

Her courage will be tested like never before.

Yours, too.

After a 30 year career as a CIA intelligence officer, Carmen Amato writes mystery crime fiction loaded with intrigue and action. Readers who love police drama books by Ian Rankin, Jo Nesbo, Ann Cleeves, Peter May, as well as the Department Q murder mystery series and Don Winslow's cartel and border thrillers set in Mexico, also love Detective Emilia Cruz's complex plots, fast action, pulse-pounding suspense, and exotic location.

With unflinching authenticity drawn from the author's own counterdrug experiences in Mexico and Central America, this is a female police detective mystery series like no other.

2019 and 2020 Outstanding Series award -- CrimeMasters of America

"Danger and betrayal never more than a few pages away." -- Kirkus Reviews