Bestselling author Isabella Maldonado once wore a gun and badge of her own. The first Latina to attain the rank of captain in the Fairfax (Va.) County Police Department, which is located just outside D.C., she retired as the commander of Special Investigations and Forensics before turning to a career in the written word. She spoke with PW about how her background informed her craft and how her approach to writing changes series to series.

Having graduated from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, you worked for more than two decades in the police force. How has this helped you as a crime writer?

I use my law enforcement background to give my fictional characters a realistic edge. Female police officers, detectives, and agents are popular in books and on the screen, but few who write those characters do so from a place of experience. I like to give readers a view from the trenches, revealing the grit required to face both internal and external challenges—and the forces at play in the upper ranks. When writing from the villain’s point of view, I draw on my encounters with suspects to portray authentic reactions, feelings, and motivations.

What inspired you to move into writing crime fiction?

From a young age, I knew I wanted to be an author, but I wasn’t sure where my voice would fit in. I was inspired by such legendary crime fiction authors as Jeffery Deaver, J.A. Jance, Michael Connelly, and James Patterson—none of whom were cops, but who wrote police procedurals with an authenticity that rang true. After retiring, I spent five years studying the art and craft of writing. The journey involved having three short stories published and attending conferences before I tackled my first full-length novel, Blood’s Echo, which garnered a three-book deal.

You write series with different protagonists including Agent Nina Guerrera, Detective Veranda Cruz, and Agent Daniela Vega. Can you tell us about your approach to each series?

With each series, I strive to pull the reader into the world of the protagonist with an in-depth portrayal of both law enforcement and ethnic culture. The Veranda Cruz series was my first and involves a major city police detective who pits herself against a crime family for personal reasons she tries to hide from her supervisors.

I used my time at the FBI National Academy in Quantico to write about Nina Guerrera (Spanish for “warrior girl”) who turned early trauma into a driving force to pursue a career as an FBI agent. Nina’s courage resonated with readers around the world, and the first book, The Cipher, is being developed by Netflix for a feature film starring Jennifer Lopez.

Daniela “Dani” Vega is also an FBI agent, but she’s a departure from any character I’ve written. She’s a military-trained codebreaker and former Army Ranger who became an agent with the FBI’s New York Counterterrorism Division. Her stories involve a mystery from her past as well as codes and ciphers, which readers enjoy trying to solve along with her.

Are you planning any new series? What else is on your writing agenda?

After writing three series on my own, I decided to try a collaboration. Fatal Intrusion, co-authored with Jeffery Deaver, hit the shelves on September 1, 2024. Neither of us has ever written a novel with someone else, but we made a leap of faith, and it turned out beautifully. So well, in fact, that we’re currently writing a sequel. The Grief Artist will be published in September 2025.

I’m also putting the finishing touches on the third book in the Dani Vega series, A Killer’s Code, which will be published in January 2025.

While those projects are underway, I’m in the early stages of developing a new series, but I can’t say too much about it yet. I can, however, pass along that my publisher is beyond excited….