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Carmen Amato
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Feliz Navidad From Acapulco: A Detective Emilia Cruz Christmas Novella Kindle Edition

by Carmen Amato (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 81 ratings
See all formats and editions
Acapulco's first female police detective brings her own brand of justice--and some unexpected humor--to the holiday season.

In this companion Christmas story to the award-winning police procedural series, Detective Emilia Cruz and her perpetually cranky partner Franco Silvio go undercover during the holiday season to crack a drug smuggling case.

Santa's Workshop inside the Liverpool department store in Acapulco gets a big surprise in the form of a box of smuggled drugs disguised as Christmas tree ornaments. Emilia and Silvi wait for the intended recipient.

The trap is set. The fix is in.
What could go wrong?
Nearly everything.
But with a little Christmas ingenuity, Emilia will get her man.

Feliz Navidad and Happy New Year to all of the readers who have taken Emilia Cruz, boyfriend Kurt Rucker and even Franco Silvio to their hearts. This is for you.

Acapulco, the fabled resort city known for nightclubs and cliff divers, is also the city with the highest homicide rate in Mexico. For Emilia Cruz, it’s never a walk on the beach.

After 30 years as a CIA intelligence officer, Carmen Amato writes mysteries and thrillers loaded with intrigue and action. The Detective Emilia Cruz series is perfect for lovers of detective fiction by Ian Rankin, Jo Nesbo, Ann Cleeves, Louise Penny and Peter May, as well as Don Winslow’s Mexican cartel and border thrillers.

”A thrilling series” -- National Public Radio

2019 Poison Cup award, Outstanding Series -- CrimeMasters of America

Previous page
  1. Print length
    140 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    November 23, 2019
  5. File size
    2921 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Not Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B081XHSGRJ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Laurel & Croton (November 23, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 23, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2921 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 140 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 81 ratings

About the author

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Carmen Amato

Carmen Amato

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Carmen Amato turns a 30 year career with the Central Intelligence Agency into fiction loaded with danger and deception.

Beginning with Cliff Diver, the Detective Emilia Cruz police procedural mystery series pits the first female police detective in Acapulco against Mexico's cartels, corruption, and social inequality. Optioned for television, it’s a two-time winner of the Outstanding Series award from CrimeMasters of America as well as a Silver Falchion award from Killer Nashville.

Standalone books include political espionage thriller The Hidden Light of Mexico City, which was longlisted for the 2020 Millennium Book Award.

Her new Galliano Club historical fiction series was inspired by her grandfather, a deputy sheriff during Prohibition.

From upstate New York, Carmen holds degrees from Le Moyne College and the University of Virginia, plus certificates from Institut Catholique, Paris, and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She is a recipient of both the National Intelligence Award and the Career Intelligence Medal.

Carmen’s popular Mystery Ahead newsletter unlocks her top secrets with exclusive content and reviews. Check it out at https://carmenamato.net.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
81 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Ellen Oceanside
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2023
Verified Purchase
Plenty of mayhem especially at Christmas time, when Detective Cruz
and her partner go undercover at a department store. Dressed as Santa and his elf.
With all the festive things to buy, boxes with ornaments unusual design catches the
Detective eye that they weren’t what one would think.
Delightful, funny and enjoyable to read.
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent story
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2022
Verified Purchase
Emilia and her partner are trying to solve a mystery of who sent boxes of gold Christmas ornaments which really coke. The investigation leads to a crime family. Great reading thanks
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Becky
5.0 out of 5 stars A great seasonal novella from author Carmen Amato!
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2019
Verified Purchase
I loved this novella! More adventures of Detective Emilia Cruz and the people in her world. This one has the intricate plot, action scenes, and romance found in all the Amato books, and this one adds a healthy dose of seasonal humor. If you like Amato's other books, you'll love this one. If you are new to Amato's writing, you'll immediately want to read the others.
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Emilia being Emilia...
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2020
Verified Purchase
Emilia on another great adventure. Ms. Amado and Emilia continue to keep me entertained..
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JMB
5.0 out of 5 stars Too short!
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2019
Verified Purchase
As usual, the Emilia Cruz books always have a deep plot & I’m usually wrapped up in them. This was a very short novella about the drug cartels trying to move their drugs north to the US. There wasn’t much of a plot, but was a quick view of Christmas in Acapulco. Of course there was some shooting & bad guys against the good guys.
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🎉customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Light, ultra-short read
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
This is a light, short story. It’s just 35 pages long (the remaining pages in the book are unrelated to the story). The story stars a twenty-something, female detective in the Acapulco police force. She’s one of the few females in the force. She also happens to be living with her boyfriend who is the general manager of a 5-star beach resort. The story takes place just before Christmas and involves a package of Christmas ornaments which are discovered to be made of coca paste (from which cocaine is made). The police are called in to investigate. The story makes clear that most of these types of crime are never solved due to the wiliness and violence of the cartels which control the distribution of drugs in Mexico. The detective doesn’t feel much hope this crime will be solved, but she and her partner still try. They end up dressing up as Santa and his elf in an effort to find out who sent the ornaments.

The story is well-written and the characters are well-described. The issue of cartel violence is mentioned in the story but is not featured. There are a few Spanish words sprinkled throughout, and thankfully there is a glossary at the end which explains them all (although a reader could probably figure most of them out from the context).

It was a cute story, not a great story. I can’t honestly recommend paying today’s price of $1.99 for it. There are a lot of great stories available for that price and less. I give the story itself almost 4 stars, but -1 star for the price-to-value ratio.
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AnnetteZS
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting story
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2019
Verified Purchase
I have enjoyed all the books by this author and will continue to follow her. It is always something to think about and keep you guessing. The characters are well defined and believable. You will enjoy this book and others by this author.
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Michelle H
5.0 out of 5 stars Adventurous
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2021
Verified Purchase
This was a fun read. I enjoyed the characters and suspense. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
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