The Society Murders: The true story of the Wales-King murders by Hilary Bonney | Goodreads
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The Society Murders: The true story of the Wales-King murders

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The story of the 'society murders' that rocked a family, a class and a city to its very core.

258 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

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Hilary Bonney

4 books3 followers

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5 stars
33 (29%)
4 stars
45 (40%)
3 stars
27 (24%)
2 stars
2 (1%)
1 star
4 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Karen.
1,882 reviews108 followers
February 24, 2012
Why was Melbourne so fascinated by the Wales-King murders. For the longest time, reporters went absolutely berserk, almost stalking the family for pictures and quotations. From the time the Margaret Wales-King and her husband Paul King went missing, the rumour mill went into overdrive and every utterance of anyone even remotely connected with the case was plastered all over the pages of every newspaper in town.

The reason I wanted to read this book is to see if Hilary Bonney answered this question, and ultimately, she asked the same question. As the author states in the conclusion to the book, there are 340 murders in Australia (on average). Twelve of these victims are parents killed by their children, of these, five are mothers.
At the same time that the Wales-King case was being plastered all over the newspapers, a nearly identical set of circumstances were being played out in Altona, when a 39-year old fitter and turner killed his Italian born mother and father, again for money. No major headlines, no intense media interest and no "walking tours of their Altona" as there were of Wales-King Armadale.

Makes you wonder about us doesn't it.
Profile Image for Anne Homeschooling-Mama.
24 reviews1 follower
July 11, 2010
Once I started I couldn't put this one down.
I felt nothing but pity for Maritza. She didn't deserve what happened to her and her treatment at the hands of the Wales family was shocking.
Matthew was clearly a sick boy, and the mother a master manipulator.
Goes to show what can happen when something seriously goes awry in a family dynamic.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews

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