Prosecutor turns to (fictitious) crime

0 Comments | USA TODAY, March, 2005 | by Carol Memmott

For eight years, Michele Martinez hung out with criminals. As a federal prosecutor in New York City, she battled Mexican cocaine cartels smuggling drug money out of the country, fought Burmese warlords secreting hundreds of kilos of heroin into the USA and got the upper hand on crack dealers operating in American cities.

Now, she's mixed up with mayhem of a different sort: criminals created in her imagination.

Martinez's first crime novel, Most Wanted (William Morrow, $23.95), is getting lots of attention. Aside from being chosen by the Literary Guild, Doubleday and Mystery Guild book clubs, it's also the BookSense Pick for March by the American Booksellers Association.

Martinez's new life as a published author gives her entrance into an exclusive club: women...