BooksChatter: ☀ King Peso: Detective Emilia Cruz [4]

Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for King Peso, a Police Procedural Mystery by Carmen Amato (1 September 2016, Carmen Amato, 364 pages).

This is the fourth book in the Detective Emilia Cruz series. For a copy of the Detective Emilia Cruz Starter Library, visit her website.

Don't miss our interview with author Carmen Amato.

PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis and the Kindle Cloud Reader Preview below.

King Peso is FREE on Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owner's Lending Library.

Author Carmen Amato will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts (☀), interviews (ℚ), reviews (✍) and guest blog posts (✉).

|| Synopsis || Teaser: KCR Preview || The Series || Author Q&A || About the Author || Giveaway & Tour Stops ||

Synopsis

Acapulco detective Emilia Cruz will gamble on her instincts when she's prevented from investigating a cop killer in KING PESO, the fourth novel in the series that takes you inside Mexico's drug war with a fearless style and an unforgettable woman.

Imagine if you were the first and only female police detective in Acapulco, investigating crime in a city both breathtaking and deadly. Mexican drug cartels battle for control and politicians are bought with blood money.

Three cops have been murdered. You worked with them all.

Your partner's wife is killed in a home invasion. Was he the real target?

Are you the next?

More than any other cop in Acapulco, Emilia has reason to be shaken by the execution-style murders of three law enforcement officers in as many weeks. When her partner Franco Silvio's wife is killed, it's obvious to Emilia that the murders are connected and she could be the cop killer's next target.

She expects to join a task force to investigate but Emilia is reassigned instead. Her new police unit is a political time bomb championed by Acapulco's ambitious mayor and overseen by a shady union strongman. Corruption and paranoia rule the day.

Home is no refuge for Emilia; hotel manager Kurt Rucker has a shocking secret that could tear their relationship apart.

A falsified report leads Emilia to conduct a private investigation, even as a fifth victim is left as a stark message on Emilia's doorstep. Unexpected help comes from a frightened attorney and a famous movie star, but each new clue unravels the one before. Meanwhile, Emilia's ongoing hunt for a missing girl leads to the infamous El Pharaoh casino, a place she and Silvio know only too well.

When the chips are down, Emilia has only two choices.

Hold or fold.

Either could cost her life. Which would you choose?

Teaser: KCR Preview

King Peso
Available NOW!

The Series: Detective Emilia Cruz

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Click on the book cover to Look Inside the book on Amazon and read an excerpt.

Cliff Diver [1]

When Acapulco detective Emilia Cruz dives into the murder of a dirty cop, she might hit the rocks instead of the water. CLIFF DIVER is the first novel in the series that takes you inside Mexico's drug wars with a fearless style and an unforgettable woman.

Imagine if you were the first and only female police detective in Acapulco, investigating crime in a city both breathtaking and deadly. Mexican drug cartels battle for control and politicians are bought with blood money.

The detective squadroom reeks of machismo. The lieutenant is a dirty cop who has trapped you into silence.

Unexpectedly put in charge of the investigation when her lieutenant is found dead, Emilia uncovers the lieutenant's sordid sexual past as well as his involvement in a kidnapping and counterfeit money scheme.

Reputations are threatened by her discoveries and truth is for sale. Emilia becomes a pawn in an ugly game of checkmate and corruption played by Acapulco's ambitious mayor and the powerful police union.

Rival police detectives take aim at Emilia's investigation. Their ringleader is a prime suspect. Hotel manager Kurt Rucker has some helpful advice for Emilia but the heat between them is too hot to handle.

Feeling like one of Acapulco's famous cliff divers hoping not to crash on the rocks below, Emilia must choose between truth and survival. But no matter which choice, she won't be ready for the shock of the water.

And neither will you.

[Published 1 January 2011, 300 pages]

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Hat Dance [2]

Emilia Cruz, Acapulco's first and only female police detective, will risk a dance with the devil to catch an arsonist and find a missing girl in HAT DANCE, the second book in the series that takes you inside Mexico's drug war with a fearless style and an unforgettable woman.

Imagine if you were investigating crime in a city both deadly and breathtaking. Mexican drug cartels battle for control and politicians are bought with blood money.

Your partner once vowed to destroy you. Your new lieutenant is a drunk. Your lover might leave Acapulco.

And then the restaurant you just left blows up.

Terrified by her nightmares of the restaurant fire and shaken by norteamericano hotel manager Kurt Rucker's possible move, Emilia must catch a violent firebomber and find a missing girl before the iconic beach city is destroyed.

Neither investigation is easy, because the influence and impact of Mexico's drug war is everywhere, just like the salt breeze coming off the ocean. Emilia's police work is soon hijacked by savage political rivalries, a corrupt Vice cop, and a woman in prison who knows more than she'll say.

As Acapulco screams for an end to the flames, the arsonist evades Emilia's sting operation. Meanwhile, the missing girl's trail leads to Acapulco's famous lucha libre fighters.

Inside the coliseum, the heat of the investigation ignites into an inferno. If Emilia's only chance to survive is to dance with the devil, will she take it?

Would you?

[Published 19 August 2013, 286 pages]

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Diablo Nights [3]

A religious relic leads Acapulco detective Emilia Cruz into a maze of revenge killings and drug smuggling in DIABLO NIGHTS, the third novel in the series that takes you inside Mexico's drug wars with a fearless style and an unforgettable woman.

Imagine if you were the first and only female police detective in Acapulco, investigating crime in a city both breathtaking and deadly. Mexican drug cartels battle for control and politicians are bought with blood money.

The police union wants to control you. Your lover wants to know a secret you can't share.

The morgue is full and you've got another body to add.

When Emilia discovers a human finger, sold as a relic of a famous Mexican martyr, it seems to be evidence of a gruesome kidnapping. It also triggers memories of a painful episode Emilia won't share with gringo hotel manager Kurt Rucker.

Struggling with her past, Emilia is plunged into danger as she uncovers how many times the finger was bought and sold before ending up in a posh store. Meanwhile, a rare type of heroin connects to a cruise ship murder, promising more drug war violence for Acapulco's already blood-soaked streets.

Both investigations move slowly because Emilia has to train a rookie detective. He's in the squadroom because of friends in high places and is more interested in Emilia than in police work, a potentially deadly attitude.

With the rookie in tow, Emilia finds herself in the hills above Mexico's Costa Chica coast south of Acapulco. In a lonely place where vigilante groups have replaced civil authority and the crash of surf competes with gunshots, Emilia will face the biggest challenge of her police detective career.

But it's nothing compared to what's waiting for you back in Acapulco.

[Published 4 October 2014, 310 pages]

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About the Author

Carmen Amato is the author of romantic thrillers and the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco which was recently optioned for film.

Originally from New York, her experiences in Mexico and Central America inspire many of her books.

For a copy of the Detective Emilia Cruz Starter Library, visit her website.

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