Katrina Carrasco Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Katrina Carrasco is a published American author of fiction. She identifies as queer and ‘Latinx’. While she has roots in the southern area of the state of California, Seattle, Washington is the place that she calls home. She is the proud owner of two dogs.

She attended Portland State University to study fiction and graduated with her M.F.A. Carrasco also received a scholarship while there as well as an aware in writing graduate fiction from Tom Doulis. She has seen her short stories appear in a variety of publications, including journals such as Quaint, Post Road, and Witness.

Readers that are interested in seeing more of Katrina Carrasco’s work can find more reading in the form of nonfiction at Autostraddle. Carrasco has received a number of writing residencies at Blue Mountain Center, Jentel, I-Park, Yaddo, and Willapa Bay AiR. The author also was able to secure a Grants for Artist Projects award in 2017 thanks to Artist Trust.

Fans first heard of Carrasco thanks to the 2018 publication of her debut novel. Titled The Best Bad Things, this book has garnered a lot of positive attention and reviews. ‘Gods of Gotham’ author Lyndsay Faye said that the work will leave readers wanting more, and praises the ‘historical thrill ride’ as being packed to the brim with characters that are unforgettable.

The Best Bad Things is a historical crime fictional book from a fantastic new voice in fiction, Katrina Carrasco. If you enjoy any type of crime fiction, then be sure to check out this stunning novel that will have you turning pages until the very end.

Vivid and sensual, this debut novel introduces readers to the main character of Alma Rosales. Although she may be a woman from the 19th century, she is unprecedented in her boldness. Described as bold and fiery, this woman is many things. Among the many identities that she is able to assume, some of them include smuggler, detective, and yes, spy.

The century may be different, but the fast pace of action and thrills included in this story are sure to pull you in. The year is 1887. Alma is in full swing and as preoccupied as ever. This time, she’s doing whatever she can to track down a supply of opium that’s been stolen. The opium is valuable, and there’s no question that someone wanted to take the drugs and abscond with a hefty profit in the process.

Alma Rosales is a woman that is well qualified to take on the case. She did go through training thanks to the Pinkerton Detective Agency, receiving a full education in what it takes to practice espionage. She was, however, dismissed from the agency thanks to her penchant for acting up. Besides the bad behavior contributing to her exit, they also did not take kindly to her habit of dressing up as a man to go undercover.

That’s all water under the bridge now, as Alma learned enough training to be able to take her skills on the road. She soon found employment, although perhaps not in the most above the law type of way. The unique individual now finds that she is working for a woman named Delphine Beaumond. She also happens to be the top pin and masterfully runs a smuggling ring located on the West Coast.

Things start to pick up when it is discovered that some of their opium is not accounted for. The ring’s outpost in Washington Territory is where this product has mysteriously disappeared. Naturally, Delphine is keen to track the supply down and figure out who it was that took the opium in the first place. It is now Alma’s job to go out into the world, recover the missing product, and track down the person that stole it.

Alma figures that this should not be too hard. She even decides that she’s going to go undercover as a man, as is her habit. Her alias will be Jack Camp, and she’ll be doing her work disguised as this man who works at the docks. Just a piece of cake, right? All that Alma has to do in order to get somewhere will be to get into a different organization tasked locally, get the boss and his crew there to trust her, and figure out who the thief is so that she can continue on with the plan.

In the meantime, she must skillfully maintain her alias as Jack and do what she can to keep everyone else from finding out anything about her true identity or the reason that she is there. On top of this, she’s going to be sending out dispatches in cold to Pinkerton agents. The agents are on the outside and are looking for any reason to close in on this local organization.

It may not end up being too easy after all, but if anyone was made to take on this job, it was Alma. As a woman who has no problem with danger and seems born to spy, she is in fine form as she navigates a risky game. Between holding onto a false identity and avoiding being double crossed and stabbed in the back, she’s doing whatever she can to figure out who the thief is.

There’s also a fair amount of incentive involved in her work. If she can pull this off, she’ll not only be eligible for a promotion, she may just be invited to share a bed with Delphine. However, even though there’s more than enough motivation in place for Alma to finish the job, it’s getting increasingly difficult to try and manage the many threads that are her cover stories.

Even more difficult than that is figuring out who she can really trust, if anyone. She’s in enemy territory, and just one thing going wrong means that it could all come tumbling down. The last thing that she needs is to be revealed for the spy (or woman) that she really is by the wrong people. Stuck in the middle of a snake’s den, will Rosales be able to pull her mission off? Check out The Best Bad Things to find out!