“Will you do it?”

In the summer of 1974, Alexandra (Alex) Houston was 24 years old, and feeling like her career was at a standstill. She was already a city police officer in a large Canadian city, but perennially assigned to routine administrative- and traffic duties that didn’t fit the Hollywood vision of policing that she had developed.

Alex’s life soon changes drastically, beginning with an unexpected meeting with an Assistant Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Wondering what she could possibly have messed-up so badly that it had caught the notice of our national police force, she is surprised to find herself in a job interview. The RCMP is about to begin training female police officers and is about to begin with a trial pilot project in which a single woman is trained. Based on the learnings from the pilot project, a first full troop of women will be trained after that.

As Assistant Commissioner George MacLeod explains to her, the pilot project must succeed so it can pave the way for generations of women Mounties to follow. He’s decided on Alex and asks “Will you do it?”

Alex jumps at the opportunity and is sent for training (or, retraining as she thinks of it) at the RCMP’s Depot Division training centre in Regina, where some people find her to be an inconvenient addition to an all-male force. Following her graduation as the first woman Mountie, Alex is posted to a small town in very northern Saskatchewan where, according to her new boss “nothing interesting ever happens.” Her boss is incredibly wrong, however, and it turns out that Alex’s real adventures are only just beginning.

What People Are Saying

“I have read the first seven Mountie novels by Laurie Schramm. As a collector of Mountie books over 60 years, Laurie is now my favorite Mountie author. I can't wait for number eight and beyond.”

Staff Sergeant Al Lund, RCMP (Ret'd); author of “Mounties on the Cover”

“An Inconvenient Mountie and An Inconspicuous Mountie are great reads!  They are very well written, and very engaging, with lots of interesting details that I found particularly engaging.”

Assistant Commissioner Dawson Hovey, RCMP (Ret’d.)

“Anyone who enjoys a moving story with an intriguing plot should read these books. I would recommend serving and retired Members [of the RCMP] to read them, as it will rekindle memories of friendships and camaraderie that have been eroded with the passage of time.”

Chief Superintendent William Schramm, RCMP (Ret’d.)