Kaitlyn Wolfe Crown Attorney
Jacqui Morrison
Lachesis Publishing, Jul 2008, $14.95
ISBN: 1897370148

Kaitlyn Wolfe's police officer father was murdered in the line of duty when she was a child; the case was never solved. Growing up as a First Nations child, Kaitlyn was the victim of racial bullies who assaulted her physically and verbally for having a different skin color. One incident as a teen taught her much about societal abuse; she nearly died from a racial drugging, but the culprit only received a slap on the wrist probation. Lesson learned is skin color is a major determination when it comes to not so color blind justice.

She vows these and other perpetrators of de facto racism should pay for the cost they cause to their victims. Thus she becomes a crown attorney prosecutor in Vaughan, Ontario. Kaitlyn is working two cases in which the defense attorney is Maxine "Barracuda" Swayman, who kept the person who almost killed her as a teen out of jail. They argue in court over a murder case and a armed robbery case when a link to her father's homicide surfaces.

KAITLYN WOLFE CROWN ATTORNEY is an intriguing well written Canadian legal thriller that in many ways is a character study of a young woman overcoming much to be a success. The story line purposely uses coincidence to test the heroine's conflicting resolve as she must decide between a not color blind justice system and her personal values; additionally Jacqui Morrison takes a strong stance, at times overwhelmingly in the reader's face, re the harm racism does to everyone. Fans will appreciate the heroic Kaitlyn Wolfe who constantly strives to overcome inequality and de facto racism to be the fairest Canadian crown attorney.

Harriet Klausner