Imagine if you were the first and only female police detective in Acapulco. Drug money is everywhere. Corruption is as common as the salt breeze off the ocean. 
 
Three cops have been murdered. You worked with them all. 
 
Your partner's wife is killed in a home invasion. Was he the real target?
 
Are you the next?
 
Detective Emilia Cruz is still reeling from the death of Franco Silvio's wife and a shakeup in the detectives squadroom when she's reassigned. Her new police unit is a political time bomb championed by Acapulco's ambitious mayor and overseen by a shady union strongman. 
 
Despite the new job, Emilia is determined to crack the so-called El Trio murders before the cop killer strikes again. Unexpected help comes from a frightened attorney and a famous movie star, but each new clue unravels the one before. 
 
Meanwhile, Emilia's ongoing hunt for a missing girl from her own neighborhood leads to the infamous El Pharaoh casino. Emilia and Silvio have been there before. 
 
They weren't lucky. Certain people want to make sure they won't be this time, either. 
 
Emilia doesn't have a winning hand, and her gamble to save her old partner results in a shocking Mexican standoff. 
 
Hold or fold.
 
Which would you choose?
 
"Amato weaves an intricate assortment of themes into a vivid tapestry that depicts both the beauty and ugliness of Acapulco . . . The investigative pace holds steady, with danger and betrayal never more than a few pages away." — KIRKUS REVIEWS
 
Get all the DETECTIVE EMILIA CRUZ books:

Cliff Diver
Hat Dance
Diablo Nights
King Peso
Pacific Reaper
43 Missing
Made in Acapulco