Acapulco’s acclaimed female police detective dives into an ocean of secrets, lies, and murder when she investigates her own lieutenant’s death.“Consistently exciting” – Kirkus ReviewsIn this explosive start to the award-winning mystery series set in Acapulco, Emilia Cruz beat the odds to become the city’s first woman police detective. Now she lives in a pressure cooker of danger and distrust.Famous for beaches, resorts and nightlife, Acapulco is ground zero for the war on drugs. Drug cartels fight over smuggling routes into the United States for fentanyl and cocaine. Human trafficking is on the rise. Missing persons are never found. Homicide rates are exploding and every murder is an unsolved mystery.Even worse, the police department is riddled with corruption.No one is more corrupt than Emilia’s own lieutenant.When he's murdered, Emilia is assigned to lead the investigation and uncovers an ugly mess no one wants exposed. Both the mayor and the head of the police union pressure her to close the case. Their reasons have nothing to do with justice.Meanwhile, another detective is her prime suspect.Feeling like one of Acapulco’s famous cliff divers praying not to smash into the rocks below, Emilia must choose between truth and survival. Either way, she won’t be ready for the impact.Neither will you.Optioned for television, the Detective Emilia Cruz police drama books set in Acapulco are inspired by author Carmen Amato’s real-life counterdrug and espionage experiences during a 30-year career in national intelligence. Every Detective Emilia Cruz police procedural mystery brims with authenticity and intrigue."A thrilling series" -- National Public Radio"A wonderful crime mystery" -- MysterySequels.comReaders who love international mystery series crime fighters including Armand Gamache, Harry Hole, Guido Brunetti, and the Department Q series will also love Detective Emilia Cruz’s complex plots, pulse-pounding suspense, and exotic location.Perfect for lovers of international detective and crime fiction by Ian Rankin, Jo Nesbo, and Peter May, as well as Don Winslow’s Mexican cartel and border thrillers.MEET DETECTIVE EMILIA CRUZEmilia Cruz is the first and only female police detective in Acapulco. She's a good liar, a fast thinker, and a mean kickboxer in a department that didn’t want her and is still trying to break her. Even as she fights to keep what she’s earned, Emilia keeps a record of women who have gone missing--casualties of Mexico’s drug violence--and is always searching for them.The one thing Emilia doesn’t know how to handle is Kurt Rucker, the manager of a luxury hotel in Acapulco. A former US Marine, he has the confidence and leadership qualities she admires. A triathlete, he’s calm under pressure and knows what he wants. But does Emilia?

Not all clutter is visible to the human eye… Professional organizer Crystal Ward’s latest client, her neighbor Roscoe Tremaine, is changing his will, an announcement that sets off an explosive reaction within his family. That same night, a gas leak ignites, destroying his house, killing him, and rocking the Ward family at its foundation.Her husband, Rick, is injured in the blast, so Crys hires Roscoe’s former caregiver, Wink Keller, to help him recover after surgery. But trouble is just beginning. Both Crys and Wink are beneficiaries in Roscoe’s will, and their alliance sends accusations flying from the Tremaines’ side of the fence.Crys has her hands full dealing with her client’s not-so-grieving relatives, a teenaged girl stalking Wink, and a suspicious fire inspector. But when threatening “gifts” left on the Wards’ doorstep escalate, Crys is forced to sort through a tangled web of relationships, including her own, to keep her family safe.Was Roscoe’s death just an accident, or is there a killer close to home?

For fans of Nora Roberts and Danielle Steel, beloved storyteller Fern Michaels blends mystery, drama, and a touch of romance for the fourth in her #1 bestselling Lost & Found series, as a shoebox of mementoes found in a childhood dresser becomes the catalyst for a search into Luna’s own past…Even though Luna and her brother Cullen seem like complete opposites, they’re identical in two ways: they’ll never let injustice stand and they always have each other’s back... Sometimes, two very different pieces of furniture just pair perfectly together. Brother and sister Cullen and Luna Bodman work much the same way. While practical-minded Cullen Bodman focuses on their family’s antiques restoration business, his sister Luna’s next-door Namaste Café brings in new clientele. As a thank you to his sister, Cullen retrieves Luna’s childhood dresser from storage and refinishes it. A delighted Luna rummages through the drawers and discovers a shoebox full of mementos of her friend Brendan, reviving memories of love and a broken heart. But a flurry of emails and texts leads to a very brief death notice: Born. Died. Nothing else. Beyond Luna’s sadness is her uncanny intuition that something about the announcement is off, a feeling that intensifies when she later glimpses a person who seems to be Brendan’s doppelganger. His laugh, his walk—Luna remembers both so well. Is her old friend really alive? And if so, who faked his death, and why? It’s not the first time an item of furniture has spurred Luna to solve a fascinating puzzle. But this time, the mystery is much more personal, and the stakes infinitely higher . . .