From my list on criminally good crime writers that you may not have heard of.
Why am I passionate about this?
I read a lot of crime novels but get frustrated by the ones that don’t seem to be grounded in any reality. I get irritated when police procedural novels like any real ‘procedure’, and I find ‘maverick’ cops a tedious trope because it’s rarely done as well as the true originals like Morse. Of course, there’s a lot more freedom with PIs or ‘amateur sleuths’, but I still want the books to have some relation to reality. I’m not keen on too many coincidences either. Perhaps I’ve become hard to please!
Berrick's book list on criminally good crime writers that you may not have heard of
Why Berrick loves this book
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 story was going; nothing was telegraphed, and it was as raw and real as you could wish.
Beautifully written, I wanted more, more, more. I chomped through the next 8 books in the series, and eagerly await book 10.
3 authors picked Cliff Diver as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
Acapulco’s first female police detective dives into an ocean of secrets, lies, and murder when she investigates her own lieutenant’s death.
In this explosive start to the award-winning Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco, Emilia beat the odds to become the resort city's first female police detective. But she lives in a pressure cooker where trust is in short supply.
Her fellow detectives are scheming to push her out. Her lieutenant is a shady character playing both sides of the law. The police department is riddled with corruption and drug cartel influence.
When her lieutenant is murdered, Emilia…
