Kiss of Death

As the pandemic cuts a swathe through the Wellington legal profession, Lorna McDougal is one of the few lawyers still standing. The Attorney-General appears to have no choice but to swallow his pride and appoint a woman as Crown prosecutor in the resultant murder trial. 

Lorna relishes the chance to prove what a “mere woman” is capable of, but her life is thrown into chaos when her sapphist (lesbian) friends are subjected to a homophobic private prosecution. Meanwhile, the Law Society take umbrage at her new status and redouble their efforts to cull the only woman in their ranks. Lorna must save her friends, find justice for a murder victim, and earn the respect of a hostile profession.

Set in Wellington, New Zealand against the backdrop of the Spanish flu, Kiss of Death is a historical legal thriller with LGBT+ themes. It is a story of love and friendship, prejudice and sexism, and the courage of a woman fighting for justice in a patriarchal world.