Aileen Schumacher

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AILEEN SCHUMACHER

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US Police Procedural

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Aileen Schumacher

Born in Texas, Aileen Schumacher is a registered professional engineer and since 1982 owns as well as manages an engineering consulting firm together with her husband, Richard Blum. She actually graduated in biology as desert study field technician but later switched to civil/environmental engineering. Schumacher has also written A Guide to Hazardous Materials and has formed a technical supply company that supplies equipment and materials worldwide. She lives in Florida with her husband and two children. Her first mystery, Engineered for Murder, introduced her characters Tory Travers, an engineer, and Detective David Alvarez. The series is based at El Paso. Schumacher states that the reason for writing this novel was to promote the visibility of females in non-traditional careers.

LITERARY CRITICISM

The Travers-Alvarez series is exciting and well written thanks also to a few elements that can appeal to all readers. Firstly, Tory Travers is a structural engineer, consequently working in the building sector a field that is traditionally associated with men, but despite being determined and very good at her job, she does not lose her femininity (finally we have real women and not stereotypes!). Secondly, the EPPD detectives, like all good detective duos, are two complementary characters. Thirdly the dialogue is sharp, witty, sparkling and funny. When its between Tory and David it is particularly enjoyable, perhaps due to the attraction between them. Sometimes however it looks like the author gets carried away thus the characters lose a little bit of credibility. Lastly the secondary characters are not just roles created to fill in gaps but each have their importance. Certainly a quality series with a future.

TRAVERS-ALVAREZ SERIES

ENGINEERED FOR MURDER

Tory Travers is a young, widowed structural engineer, living with her son on the outskirts of a campus town in New Mexico. Her life changes when a scandal erupts regarding the structural problems of the new football stadium. Tory's business is financially threatened if she carries out her duties as inspector. Things escalate when a person and lab records disappear and someone is found murdered. Enter Detective Alvarez, who discovers Tory's connection to the death. When Tory starts receiving death threats, the two work together to solve the mysteries.

FRAMEWORK FOR DEATH (Read A Review)

The Underground Railroad is active again, but this time it's been set up by terrified mothers and fathers to spirit their endangered children away from the other threatening parent. When one mother's flight goes haywire, David Alvarez is called in to investigate - putting him in touch with a past love, engineer Tory Travers.

AFFIRMATIVE REACTION

Disturbed by the city's rejection of her engineering report, Tory Travers revisits an abandoned housing project to check out its storm sewer system. There, she discovers the body of the bigoted city employee responsible for the property's condemnation years earlier - and perhaps for the related death of the project's Hispanic contractor. Tory calls in the attractive detective with whom she has partnered in the past, and the two begin gathering clues - including connections to their last case.

ROSEWOOD'S ASHES

On New Year's Day, 1923, Rosewood, Florida had its own school, a baseball field, a Masonic Hall, a train station, and three churches. In less than one week it was burned to the ground. Inspired by the true story of one town's destruction at the hands of hate and intolerance, ROSEWOOD'S ASHES is a driven mystery, as well as unique perspective on historical injustice. Returning to Florida to visit her coma-stricken father, Tory Travers prepares herself for the demons of her past, the sordid reputation she'd suffered as a senator's daughter. Accompanying her for moral support is David Alvarez - devoted friend, infrequent lover, and detective with the El Paso Police Department. But before the pair have a chance to confront Tory's troubled past, they are confronted with a more immediate tragedy in the vehicular manslaughter of a young woman they just met on the plane. A young woman who had told them about Rosewood and of the senator's involvement in research concerning the events that led to the town's destruction. Soon, another corpse turns up, a man well known to Tory, and Alvarez takes a personal interest in unearthing the truth about Rosewood, before Tory herself becomes a suspect - or a victim.