Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Alma Boucher is talking with Carmen Amato, author of Dragon Cartel: A Detective Emilia Cruz Novel.

FQ: Emilia Cruz is already under considerable pressure when DRAGON CARTEL begins. What inspired you to place her in this particular situation?

AMATO: Emilia is the first female police detective in Acapulco. The police department never wanted a female detective and they still don’t. She’s always juggling that tenuous position with the suspicion in inherent in a corrupt system lubricated with drug cartel cash. She never knows who can be trusted.

In DRAGON CARTEL she’s looking for a teenaged assassin who calls himself El Barracuda. He killed several US diplomats and shot her boss in the previous book, BARRACUDA BAY. So she already has her hands full when she’s asked to look for a missing Customs inspector.

Each book reads like a standalone, although they reflect a series arc.

FQ: El Barracuda is a particularly dangerous antagonist. What did you want readers to understand about him, and what makes him such a formidable threat to Emilia?

AMATO: El Barracuda is the nephew of an El Chapo-like drug cartel kingpin who escaped police custody and is a fugitive outside Acapulco. The kingpin has a simmering interest in Emilia that occasionally boils over.

The nephew is the anointed heir but wants to break free from his uncle’s control and make a name for himself in underworld circles. He thinks if he kills Emilia, his uncle will finally respect him.

FQ: The shipping container lists become an important clue in the investigation. What drew you to the world of ports, customs, and commercial shipping in the story?

AMATO: The initial inspiration for DRAGON CARTEL was a shocking statistic: an increase of more than 8000% in the number of Chinese nationals coming over the US-Mexico border during the Biden administration. I also wanted to write a missing persons story but it had to tie into the Chinese angle. Commercial shipping gave me a way to do that.

FQ: The novel introduces a mysterious Chinese national with multiple passports and encrypted communication devices. What attracted you to the idea of bringing international espionage into Emilia's investigation?

AMATO: A 30-year veteran of the CIA, I understand how China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) works and how deeply it is integrated into all of China’s overseas activities.

Pitting Emilia against an MSS agent, when he has the full picture and she just sees a sliver, made for a great catch-me-if-you-can plot element.

FQ: Acapulco plays a significant role in the novel. How important is the city itself to the Detective Emilia Cruz series, and what aspects of Acapulco did you particularly want to capture for readers?

AMATO: Acapulco is a great place for a mystery series. Beaches, resorts, restaurants, glamor and nightclubs. It is the ultimate vacation destination.

Outside the tourist zone, however, Acapulco’s high poverty rates, abandoned buildings, and cartel violence are starkly evident.

Emilia Cruz has to navigate both the highs and lows of Acapulco. She’s from a poor neighborhood but now lives in a luxury hotel with her boyfriend, the hotel manager. Her job as a female police detective takes her into places where life is cheap and loyalty is for sale.

FQ: What research did you undertake into cartel operations, Mexican law enforcement, customs procedures, and international crime while writing DRAGON CARTEL?

AMATO: Besides my own experiences in Mexico and Central America for so many years, I’m a newshound. I read the news coming out of the region every day and keep a file of events that I can use. Google Earth, real estate listings, maps and YouTube are my go-to sources for incidental details.

FQ: How do you balance the procedural elements of Emilia's investigations with personal development of the protagonist?

AMATO: Every Detective Emilia Cruz thriller has 3 core elements: the main crime, a secondary crime and a personal issue that keeps Emilia up at night. In DRAGON CARTEL, she’s dealing with the hunt for El Barracuda, assisted by a DEA agent working out of the US consulate in Acapulco. Then she takes on the hunt for the missing Customs inspector, only to find a link between the two cases.

At the same time, she has canceled her wedding plans and is unsure about marriage. Emilia is a tenacious detective but terrible at emotional commitment.

FQ: Your novel brings together cartel crime, a missing person, organized corruption, and international intrigue. How do you keep multiple storylines manageable while maintaining suspense?

AMATO: I plot each book using color coded notes to keep all the threads organized. I aim to give the reader an exciting escape into the world of Detective Emilia Cruz, complete with vibrant characters, twisty storylines and situations that connect on an emotional level.

The color coded outline helps me create cliffhanger chapters, big action scenes, and a page-turning pace.

When you put down an Emilia Cruz book, I want your heartrate to slowly go back to normal as you think, “If Emilia can do hard things, so can I.”

FQ: For readers who are discovering the Detective Emilia Cruz series with this book, what would you like them to know about Emilia and her world?

AMATO: Think Hawaii 5-0 meets Narcos, with the character depth of Vera.

If you’re discovering Emilia Cruz for the first time, you’ll quickly find out that she’s a strong, compelling woman navigating cartel crime and corruption in contemporary Acapulco. Her survival is a daily battle of wits and resilience.

Surrounded by bad actors, she holds onto her own moral compass with both hands yet being a good liar is one of her best weapons.

Her journey unfolds over 10 books and counting, so if you love international crime fiction by Ann Cleeves, Jo Nesbo, and Ian Rankin, you’ll love the Detective Emilia Cruz series, too.

For more information about Dragon Cartel: A Detective Emilia Cruz Novel, please visit the author's website at: carmenamato.net/

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