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Tory Travers and David Alvarez #1
Engineered For Murder
Widowed Tory Travers is threatened with both financial and personal disaster when the son-in-law of a major subcontractor for the new, under-construction football stadium absconds with the lab records, and a control technician is murdered. Her company will be blamed if the stadium collapses, and she could be held criminally liable. Unearthing the underlying chicanery not only saves her business, but her life, as well."An enjoyable read that gets an unhesitant nod " -- Deadly Pleasures
- GenresMystery
328 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
15 people want to read
About the author
Aileen Schumacher
11 books9 followersBorn 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.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 21, 2022
I should have cast this book aside after reading the desperately-trying-to-be-dramatic, yet completely undramatic and trite prologue. It was a large clue that I acknowledged, yet I pushed past, hoping the story got better.
I have the bad habit of reading a book from cover to cover, even if the book stinks. This year, I've vowed to read at least one hundred pages before I make a judgement. If I'm still not hooked, not enthused or come across too many mistakes and outlandish plot twists, the book goes on the donate pile. However, despite the prologue, I pushed past my 100-word limit. This was mainly because, having not reached my reading goals in the past few years, I am one determined sonofabitch reader who WILL reach my reading goal this year! So, as painful as reading this book was, I soldiered through simply to add to my completed book total.
Here's some problems with Engineered for Murder.
* The murder doesn't happen until around page 100. Too far in for me.
* The chapters are too long.
* There are slight racist undertones sprinkled around. Just whiffs of hints but I feel they are there.
* Details are not credible such as New Mexico State building a 70,000 seat football stadium and most egregiously, the action that happens near the end involving a crane.
* The author wastes too much time and space explaining the complexities of engineering instead of giving the space to the story. Instead of being a murder mystery with an engineering-based setting and plot, it’s a book that wants to explain engineering - with a mystery thrown in.
* The above goes hand-in-hand with the fact that the author does not trust her readers. The book could be cut by a third.
* The ending is ridiculous. The ending is a crash landing. Too rushed, too implausible and too trite.
What's good about this book (Every story has some good points)
* Characters are individual and Tory Travers is strongly written. She’s often unlikeable or does unlikeable things, but she has to because she’s a woman carving out a spot in the traditional man’s world of engineering.
* Save for the crashed ending, the story does get better after the first third of it.
* This book has helped me increase my reading speed because I wanted to get to the end much quicker than I normally do.
If you happen to find a copy of this book in someone's carefully constructed Little Library, take it out and deposit in the nearest recycling bin. While that might sound cruel, it will actually save you and others precious time you won't get back while helping reduce clutter.
I have the bad habit of reading a book from cover to cover, even if the book stinks. This year, I've vowed to read at least one hundred pages before I make a judgement. If I'm still not hooked, not enthused or come across too many mistakes and outlandish plot twists, the book goes on the donate pile. However, despite the prologue, I pushed past my 100-word limit. This was mainly because, having not reached my reading goals in the past few years, I am one determined sonofabitch reader who WILL reach my reading goal this year! So, as painful as reading this book was, I soldiered through simply to add to my completed book total.
Here's some problems with Engineered for Murder.
* The murder doesn't happen until around page 100. Too far in for me.
* The chapters are too long.
* There are slight racist undertones sprinkled around. Just whiffs of hints but I feel they are there.
* Details are not credible such as New Mexico State building a 70,000 seat football stadium and most egregiously, the action that happens near the end involving a crane.
* The author wastes too much time and space explaining the complexities of engineering instead of giving the space to the story. Instead of being a murder mystery with an engineering-based setting and plot, it’s a book that wants to explain engineering - with a mystery thrown in.
* The above goes hand-in-hand with the fact that the author does not trust her readers. The book could be cut by a third.
* The ending is ridiculous. The ending is a crash landing. Too rushed, too implausible and too trite.
What's good about this book (Every story has some good points)
* Characters are individual and Tory Travers is strongly written. She’s often unlikeable or does unlikeable things, but she has to because she’s a woman carving out a spot in the traditional man’s world of engineering.
* Save for the crashed ending, the story does get better after the first third of it.
* This book has helped me increase my reading speed because I wanted to get to the end much quicker than I normally do.
If you happen to find a copy of this book in someone's carefully constructed Little Library, take it out and deposit in the nearest recycling bin. While that might sound cruel, it will actually save you and others precious time you won't get back while helping reduce clutter.
March 11, 2017
PROTAGONIST: Tory Travers, engineer, and Detec. David Alvarez
SETTING: New Mexico
SERIES: #1 of 4
RATING: 3.75
WHY: Tory Travers' engineering firm has been hired to inspect the construction of a university sports stadium. They find a problem with one of the columns, which means major expense for the company who precast the concrete and deadline issues for the school. One of their employees has aspirations to be a writer and lets Tory know he plans to reveal a scandal from her past, 18 years earlier. When he is found murdered, Tory tries to obtain the company's records about the concrete pour and finds herself under suspicion. Her brusque manner puts her at odds with the detective on the case, David Alvarez. For me, the book was marred by things heading in the direction of a romance. But the engineering aspects of the book were very well presented, and the character of Tory was unique.
SETTING: New Mexico
SERIES: #1 of 4
RATING: 3.75
WHY: Tory Travers' engineering firm has been hired to inspect the construction of a university sports stadium. They find a problem with one of the columns, which means major expense for the company who precast the concrete and deadline issues for the school. One of their employees has aspirations to be a writer and lets Tory know he plans to reveal a scandal from her past, 18 years earlier. When he is found murdered, Tory tries to obtain the company's records about the concrete pour and finds herself under suspicion. Her brusque manner puts her at odds with the detective on the case, David Alvarez. For me, the book was marred by things heading in the direction of a romance. But the engineering aspects of the book were very well presented, and the character of Tory was unique.
January 20, 2012
Aileen was a kindergarten classmate of mine. I am so impressed with her skills as a mystery writer.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews