"In Humane, Anna Marie Sewell's brings an Indigenous and poetic sensibility to the crime novel, infusing it with imagery and dance as a Métis mother of two works as an unlicensed Private Investigator. Like its Métis characters, Humane straddles two worlds, following the contours of Western-based novel but infusing it with Indigenous storytelling and allegory. It's a wonderful read, a significant addition to the canon of authentic Indigenous crime novel." -Wayne Arthurson, award-winning writer of the Leo Desroches novels.

Who steals a dog from a shelter after receiving a dream message from their grandmother?
Hazel Lesage never expected it to be her. Then again, she didn't plan on becoming an unlicensed PI, helping the 'throwaway people.' However much has changed in Amiskwaciy, the problem of poor Indigenous women and girls being expendable hasn't. Nobody else is going to help the Augusts find out who killed their daughter Nell; so Hazel takes the case. And then she takes the dog.
What follows will force Hazel and her family to confront the question of what it means to be Human, and what it matters to be Humane.

Anna Marie Sewell is an award-winning multi-genre writer/performer, whose career has centred around collaborative multidisciplinary work, including Ancestors & Elders, Reconciling Edmonton (which featured the first ever Round Dance at Edmonton's City Hall), Braidings, Honour Songs and Heart of the Flower. As Edmonton's 4th Poet Laureate, Anna Marie created and curated The PoemCatcher public art installation. She founded and ran Big Sky Theatre, a three year training and performance project producing original Aboriginal (it was the 90s) theatre with urban youth. She is also a founding member of the Stroll of Poets, which has provided an entrée into Edmonton's public poetry community since 1991.

Anna Marie authored two critically-acclaimed (and much-shortlisted) poetry collections, Fifth World Drum (Frontenac House, 2009), and 2018's For the Changing Moon: Poems & Songs (Thistledown Press). Her essays and articles appear in Eighteen Bridges, Alberta Views, New Trail, Write Magazine, Legacy and various scholarly publications. She's even had a recipe published in a cookbook.

Humane is Anna Marie's first novel. She drafted it with support from an Edmonton Artist Trust Fund award, and finished it as part of her tenure as MacEwan University's 2019/20 Writer in Residence, a gig which has also entailed performing with a 24 piece orchestra, co-producing 2 multilingual poetry & song showcases, and collaborating with an array of artists and educators. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

Anna Marie Sewell's profile page

"A riotous mystery set in a mystical city, Humane takes us on a mind-bending journey through Indigenous culture to find love and justice in places we never thought to look. Twisting, turning and diving through and around its mostly female characters, Humane is a smorgasbord of suspense, humour, politics, and culture. A not to be missed original novel that will knock your socks off." -Judy Rebick, writer and activist.

"In Humane, Anna Marie Sewell's brings an Indigenous and poetic sensibility to the crime novel, infusing it with imagery and dance as a Métis mother of two works as an unlicensed Private Investigator. Like its Métis characters, Humane straddles two worlds, following the contours of Western-based novel but infusing it with Indigenous storytelling and allegory. It's a wonderful read, a significant addition to the canon of authentic Indigenous crime novel." -Wayne Arthurson, award-winning writer of the Leo Desroches novels.

An expertly constructed Agatha Christie-like tale, written with the steadfast and humorous pen of a Maria Campbell. Forceful and unflinching, at times painful, but always love-laden and often funny, Humane is a story about family and community; an examination and denunciation of historical injustices, and a relentless search for truth and integrity.