Enter the DRAGON. I think Bruce would approve.

Today is the official release of DRAGON CARTEL, the new Detective Emilia Cruz mystery

The ebook edition of DRAGON CARTEL is out and available on all platforms, including Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org and lending platforms.

Bruce Lee, courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes

In DRAGON CARTEL, Emilia is already stretched to the max hunting the cartel assassin El Barracuda when she agrees to take on the case of a missing Customs inspector.

The only clue to his disappearance is a list of commercial shipping containers.

During an operation to find El Barracuda, Emilia finds an identical list. Is there a connection between the cartel killer and the missing Customs inspector?

At the same time, she crosses paths with a Chinese national with all the hallmarks of a spy including multiple passports and communication devices. (Yes, Bruce Lee was the role model for a certain character.)

A missing inspector. A cartel assassin. And a conspiracy that links Mexico and the United States to China.

The ebook includes a note about the background research, a recipe from a meal eaten in the book, and sample chapters from Detective Emilia Cruz books 1-9 in case you’re new to the series.

The paperback edition will release at the end of the month, with the audiobook to follow later this year.

If you love gritty crime fiction, sharp female leads, and plots ripped straight from real-world intelligence headlines, this is the ride you’ve been waiting for.

To all who have been waiting so patiently for Emilia’s next adventure, all I can say is here it is and thank you so much for sticking by her in thick and thin!

All the best, Carmen

PS: A percentage of book sales and affiliate links go to support veterans and first responder organizations. When you buy a book, invite me on a podcast or recommend this newsletter, you help me help others. Thank you.

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MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger, deception and resilience during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.

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