Book Review: The Dominici affair: Murder and mystery in Provence

• Date: 01 March 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567719863834
• Published date: 01 March 2021
• Author: Michael Goodier
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Through Sports” to show the role of sport in American Indian communities. She argues that sports

provide an opportunity for higher education, promote culture, enhance sovereignty, and build

positive Indigenous identity through endurance, adaptation, and negotiation. Indian American’s

involvement in sports is marked by negative stereotypes and misconceptions about race, ethnicity,

and the family structure as affecting their success or failure. Yet, they are resilient and sometimes

resist colonial assimilative practices that prevent social justice.

The last collection on Community Re sponses centers on Indigenous co llective initiatives at

counteracting crime and social injustice resulting from political, educational, legal, and economic

marginalization. The chapters demonstrate how Indian Americans use the law to contest pro-

sovereignty and discriminatory laws that limit Indian Americans’ authority on issues about their

own communities and lives. Luna-Gordinier’s account on Stalking in Indian Country looks at the

historical development in laws and policies. Among other things, her chapter illustrates that, while

laws especially the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, the Violence Against Women Act of 2013

and policies invoked by American Indians, historical legislation, and government policies limit their

efforts at preventing criminal acts. These coupled with inadequate resources for meeting enforce-

ment prerequisites limit attempts at creating and enforcing culturally desirable laws concerning

stalking. Hiraldo’s chapter highlights the legal disparity between state-recognized and federally

recognized tribes regarding child welfare. She points out that, while Native nations and states have

historically been at odds with one another, state-recognized tribes identify, negotiate, and collabo-

rate with government officials for preferred child placement. The last chapter by Luna-Firebaugh

and Luna-Gordinier uses juveni le justice programs in Arizona and Ao tearoa, New Zealand, to

demonstrate that while laws may limit sovereignty, Indigenous groups assert thei r authority by

involving and incorporating cultural principles into juvenile justice programs.

Most of the chapters are referential rather than original. Some of the chapters are also silent on the

methods of data collection. The extensive use of historical laws and policies in some chapters make

the book difficult to read and to grasp the details at times. However, the book uses simple and clear

language and is divided into parts that help easy transition from one theme to the other. The strength

of the book lies in its ability to make Indigenous Indians visible and to show the difference between

Indigenous justice and justice in America. The focus on Indigenous Indian American voices does not

detract from global comparisons as some of the critical pieces do a global analysis. It also provides a

useful account of the structure–agency interaction in the criminal justice institution.

Overall, the book demonstrates that efforts at understanding I ndigenous interaction with the

criminal justice system require an in-depth understanding of the historical conditions that shape

interactions. Academics and readers around the globe would find this piece useful for understanding

and assessing concepts such as gender, Indigenous identity, sovereignty, resilience, and resistance to

social and criminal justice in colonial settings.

Kitchen, M. (2017).

The Dominici affair: Murder and mystery in Provence. Lincoln, NE: Potomac Books, 360 pp. $34.95,

ISBN: 987-1-61234-945-9.

Reviewed by: Michael Goodier , George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

DOI: 10.1177/1057567719863834

Despite the exotic nature of the title, which conjures up images of the outlandish and wildly

entertaining espionage thriller films of the 1960s, Martin Kitchen’s The Dominici Affair is a

90 International Criminal Justice Review 31(1)