As the case's prosecutor, Montgomery's "bias" is obvious, but his concern goes well beyond his disgust at a confessed killer's ultimate light sentence to a more generalized lament about how the Canadian Court System has seemingly placed the "rights" of the accused, particularly "young offenders," significantly ahead of those of the victims. Readers are allowed to draw their own conclusions as Montgomery chronologically presents the book's contents principally via court records. The inclusion of a great deal of "conversation" makes the work read quickly, and it sometimes feel like fiction, rather than fact. This misperception, however, can be quickly reversed by the reader's turning to the eight pages of black and white photographs, three of them containing four police pictures of Ruby's body, taken at the crime scene. While possibly quite disturbing to some readers, these photographs were just some of those shown to the jury, and they serve to bring home the enormity of the crime, something that often seemed overlooked in the ritualized behaviour of the Court.

      While She Was Only 3 will likely have its greatest readership amongst adults, mature adolescents should have the opportunity to confront the issues the book raises.

Highly recommended.