Will I love Cliff Diver?

I was interested that the book was set in Mexico and with a female protagonist, so I was happy to give a new-to-me author a chance.

From the very first description of the detectives’ office in Acapulco police station, there was a level of detail that made me think, ‘this author is writing from real life’. Carmen Amato was a CIA analyst who lived in Mexico for many years. She knows what she’s talking about, from police corruption to cartel crime, and the blatant misogyny of people who should be on the same side. 

I had no idea where the… show more.

Set in modern-day Acapulco, a small team of detectives wade through the increasing violence of gangs and cartels, where every night another two or three people lose their lives, widows pray in church while their sons are recruited to crime, their daughters are kidnapped and sold as sex slaves, and orphans wear plastic bottles around their necks, a drop of glue at the bottom, the fumes a way to ward off hunger.
Emilia Cruz is the newest detective on the team – the first and only woman. The welcome mat is deployed only to try and trip her up as… show more.

As a reader I simply couldn’t have one book without the other. Detective Cruz is the first female detective in Acapulco and fights for every inch of respect in a police department rife with corruption and misogyny in a country where Mexicans don’t trust the police, feeling that no one cares. But Det. Cruz cares. The recurring theme of so many girls gone missing is her passion which occasionally rises up during other investigations throughout the series. As a writer I enjoyed suspense and danger. Carmen Amato makes you feel the heat and taste the food of Acapulco. Best ever… show more.