About Michael T. De Gaglia
Michael T. De Gaglia is an author, finance practitioner, and professor whose work spans financial thrillers, murder mysteries, standalone fiction, books for younger readers, reflective nonfiction, personal finance, and investment education.
After more than three decades working in global financial markets, Michael brings an unusual depth of real-world experience to his writing. His fiction draws upon firsthand knowledge of financial institutions, trading, securities finance, corporate incentives, and the ways ambition, secrecy, loyalty, and misconduct can shape both markets and lives.
His nonfiction reflects another side of his work. Some books translate complicated financial and economic ideas into clear, practical language. Others explore the deeply personal forces that shape the human experience: love, emotion, fear, passion, family, life, loss, grief, resilience, and the search for meaning.
Across every genre, Michael writes about people facing consequential choices—and what those choices reveal about who they are.
The Stratagem Files
The Stratagem Files are sophisticated financial thrillers built around the hidden machinery of money, power, and institutional deception.
Drawing upon Michael’s firsthand experience in global markets and his observations of real financial misconduct, the series explores the schemes that can hide behind balance sheets, trading systems, corporate structures, and polished executive narratives. At the center of the series are Kelley Stark and Emily Huff, whose intelligence, instincts, and determination lead them into increasingly complicated investigations involving fraud, betrayal, corruption, and international financial intrigue.
Although the financial world provides the setting, these are ultimately human stories. Each mystery examines the people behind the numbers—their ambitions, loyalties, compromises, fears, and the consequences that follow when trust becomes another asset to be manipulated.
The Bellamo Sisters Mysteries
The Bellamo Sisters series blends murder mystery, family drama, atmospheric settings, and the enduring bond between sisters.
Kaitlyn and Ashlyn Bellamo repeatedly find themselves drawn into crimes surrounded by hidden motives, long-buried secrets, and communities where appearances rarely tell the entire story. Each novel presents a distinct mystery and setting while continuing to develop the sisters’ personalities, relationships, and shared determination to uncover the truth.
The series balances suspense and danger with warmth, humor, family loyalty, and the emotional consequences of investigating violent crime. Beneath every mystery is a deeper question: how well do we truly know the people, families, and places we believe we understand?
Standalone Fiction
Michael’s standalone novels move beyond a single continuing series while preserving the emotional and thematic depth found throughout his fiction.
These stories explore mystery, suspense, ambition, betrayal, family, consequence, and the secrets people carry. Some are driven by crime or intrigue; others focus more closely on relationships, personal choices, and the moments that permanently alter a life.
Across genres, Michael’s fiction is grounded in character and in the belief that the most compelling mysteries are not only about what happened, but why someone believed it had to happen—and what the truth ultimately costs the people left behind.
Books for Younger Readers
Michael’s books for younger readers combine imagination, adventure, humor, friendship, and gentle suspense.
Whether a story enters an enchanted forest, follows an unforgettable animal character, or introduces young readers to a mysterious new world, these books are written to encourage curiosity and a lifelong love of storytelling.
The adventures may contain danger, surprises, and difficult choices, but they remain centered on courage, kindness, family, friendship, and the discovery that young people are often more capable than they realize.
Reflective Nonfiction: Love, Life, and Loss
Beyond finance, Michael’s nonfiction explores the emotional experiences that define a human life.
These works examine love in its many forms, the intensity of passion, the vulnerability created by fear, the bonds of family, the pain of loss, and the complicated process of finding meaning after life changes unexpectedly. They reflect upon the emotions people often feel deeply but struggle to explain: longing, devotion, regret, grief, hope, uncertainty, and the desire to be understood.
Rather than offering simple answers to complicated feelings, Michael writes with honesty about the contradictions of being human—the way love can bring both joy and pain, fear can coexist with courage, and loss can change a person without entirely defining them.
These books are personal, reflective, and emotionally grounded. They are written for readers who have loved deeply, lost something important, faced uncertainty, or wondered how the most difficult chapters of life can become part of a larger and more meaningful story.
Financial Nonfiction and Textbooks
Michael’s financial nonfiction reflects decades of experience in global markets, financial services, and higher education.
His books cover personal finance, financial wellness, securities finance, security analysis, portfolio theory, portfolio management, artificial intelligence, and the changing future of work.
Rather than assuming prior expertise, Michael explains difficult subjects in direct, practical language and connects formulas and theories to decisions people must make in the real world. His goal is not merely to tell readers what a financial term means, but to help them understand why it matters, how it works, what can go wrong, and how sound judgment can be developed.
Whether writing for a student, an experienced market professional, or someone simply trying to make better decisions about money, Michael approaches financial education with the same guiding principle: complexity should never be used as an excuse for confusion.
Michael lives and writes in St. Johns, Florida.