Parker Hulme Story Unfolds in Tabloid-like Detail

Former Hong Kong lawyer New Zealander Peter Graham’s “compelling read”, Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century, is awarded five out of five stars by reviewer Glen Young for northern Michigan publication, Petoskey News-Review. “Graham is connected by the proverbial six degrees, having worked for the junior lawyer who helped represent Juliet Hulme, though not her co-conspirator Pauline Parker, in the most notable trial in modern New Zealand jurisprudence, tried in 1954 but felt to this day. He served with Brian McClelland, Hulme’s assistant counsel, underscoring his credibility and jumpstarting his examination. Parker, disappointed that her mother did not see her emerging genius, and whittled by childhood disease and economic stress, or so some claim, hatched a plan to launch her plan to be famous. That she enlisted Hulme was easily detectable. Parker’s plan did not include her mother. Parker’s diary entries explained as much. ‘Her mother had it coming,’ Graham explains, attempting to interpret Parker’s penned confessions. ‘Her nagging, her stupidity, her small-mindedness. Parker would never forget the unhappiness of her childhood,’ and Honorah Parker was the source. Drawing parallels to the better known Leopold and Loeb murder case in Chicago, Graham ferrets out rumors and science to unveil conclusions not before offered. To his credit, he does not overstep his expertise, but instead posits that the motivations behind the murder are more complicated than others have suggested. Details about Honorah Parker’s relationship with Parker’s father Bert, and those of Hulme’s famous father and scandalous mother, provide a sordid context to view the case. Indeed, in New Zealand, the story reverberates yet. In 1994 film director Peter Jackson launched his international career with Heavenly Creatures, a feature-length look at the girls’ relationship and the murder. Stocked with memorable characters, including a hanging judge, a manic-depressive prosecutor, and Hulme’s mother’s hapless paramour, the story unfolds in tabloid-like detail.”