So Brilliantly Clever
By Peter Graham
On June 22, 1954, in the depth of a southern winter, teenage friends Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker went for a walk in a park with Pauline’s mother. Half an hour later the girls returned alone. Honorah Parker lay in a sea of blood on a lonely track. She had been savagely murdered. In this mesmerising book, lawyer and true crime writer Peter Graham tells the whole story for the first time, giving a brilliant account of the crime and ensuing trial, dramatic revelations about the fate of Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker after their release from prison and their strange lives today, and a penetrating insight into the crime using modern psychology.
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Reviews, interviews, author events
In this mesmerising book, lawyer and true crime writer Peter Graham tells the whole story for the first time, giving a brilliant account of the crime and ensuing trial, dramatic revelations about the fate of Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker after their release from prison and their strange lives today, and a penetrating insight into the crime using modern psychology.
“This is the most thorough, conscientious and detailed version of the Parker-Hulme affair yet to appear. It could well be definitive.” – Nicholas Reid, Sunday Star Times
“Peter Graham has written a wonderfully gripping read, which takes you into both Parker and Hulme’s ghastly souls…he does it with a fair and honest hand, leaving no stone unturned…[He takes] his reader right into the minutiae of 1950s Christchurch and the societal expectations that these diverse yet emotionally twin-like girls were raised under. His ability to get into their minds and find their motivations was quite extraordinary, as was his ability write them in such a manner that even the novice…can understand.” – Marion, from Cover Me Book Blog
“…not just about a murder and the people involved; it is also as revealing study of the Christchurch of six decades ago, many of its personalities and prevailing social attitudes and practices. It is beautifully written and wryly expressed.” – Willie Young, The Press
So Brilliantly Clever features in The Daily Record.
The New Zealand Herald asks why the Parker-Hulme murder still matters to us.
Listen to a Radio New Zealand documentary in which Ruth Beran travels to the crime scene with author Peter Graham, to discover what echoes of this case remain.
Read all about Peter Graham and his fascination with the case in The New Zealand Listener.
“…very detailed, comprehensive, extensive research, an enjoyable read.” – Vic Evans, The Nelson Mail
Peter Graham talks crime, punishment and New Zealand murders on Radio New Zealand
Radio New Zealand National documentary-maker Ruth Beran travelled back to the crime scene with author Peter Graham, to discover what echoes of this case remain in the buildings, landscape, and people of Christchurch; and what this might reveal about current societal attitudes towards women, lesbianism, crime and punishment. To listen to this documentary click here.
Published: November 2011
Category: True Crime
