Acapulco police detective Emilia Cruz joins John Rebus, Harry Hole, Arkady Renko, and Guido Brunetti as international fiction's most memorable crime fighters. With hot nights on the beach and suspense straight out of the headlines, the Emilia Cruz mystery series goes inside Mexico's drug war with a fearless style and a woman who'll be hard to forget.THE DEATH OF A DIRTY COPWhen Emilia Cruz, Acapulco's first and only female police detective, dives into the investigation of a dirty cop's death, she might just hit the rocks instead of the water. Forced to lead the murder investigation into the death of her shady lieutenant, Emilia faces resentment from the other detectives as well as a blood-spattered crime scene, no witnesses, and the shadow of counterfeit ransom money.The dead lieutenant led a double life in Acapulco full of illicit sex and financial manipulation, all of which would be either red herrings or keys to the murder investigation. Missing police files, the lieutenant's involvement with a past kidnapping, and a possible link to a gang working for a drug cartel further combine to make this a messy case with too many loose ends. A GAME OF MONEY AND POWERExpecting to become a target herself because of her own brush with the lieutenant's counterfeit scheme, Emilia must move quickly to find the killer. But as she pieces together the lieutenant's last hours, she becomes a pawn in an ugly game of corruption, money, and power being played by the Pacific resort city's ambitious mayor and a police union strongman with questionable motives. Luxury hotel manager Kurt Rucker has some advice for Emilia but the heat between them quickly becomes a complicating factor. Under pressure from politicians, other cops, and the powerful union, Emilia feels like Acapulco's famous cliff divers, plunging into suspense and praying not to crash on the rocks below. She'll follow her instincts but will she survive if she uncovers the truth?