Paperback: In April 2002, wealthy Melbourne socialite Margaret Wales-King and her husband Paul King dined with family and then disappeared into thin air.
Twenty-five days later, after an investigation that dominated the headlines, their bludgeoned bodies were found in a shallow bush grave.
The family's grief was on full public display as speculation raged and rumours about drugs, gambling and financial strife did the rounds.
Then Margaret's youngest son, Matthew, was arrested for the murders and his wife, Maritza, was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
In his confession, Matthew was adamant that he was not after the money.
He felt totally disempowered by his mother and believed he had no choice but to commit one of the most uncommon and unsettling of crimes - matricide.
Each development in this case swamped the press.
Was it their wealth? Or morbid fascination with the enigmatic Maritza's role? Or was it simply that nice men like Matthew aren't meant to kill their mothers?
Melbourne barrister Hilary Bonney has immersed herself in the world of the Wales-Kings, closely following the investigation, the subsequent legal processes and the surrounding media furore.
"Matthew's killings show that even in an 'ideal' family, it is possible for very unattractive characteristics - evil, hate, anger, murderous obsession and frustration - to ferment and erupt with devastating consequences."
Dr Catharine Lumby, Director of the Media and Communications Programme at Sydney University believed that "Matthew's deeds were riveting because they stripped away the public's denial of the level of anxiety, drama and trauma that exists in the nuclear family."
Most fascinating of all, she examines the psychology of a killer whose chilling act rocked a family, a class and a city to its very core.
About the author: Hilary Bonney (LLB(Hons) 1988) is a barrister and crime writer who worked as a prosecuting solicitor for the Office of Public Prosecutions Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. She was a story consultant and associate producer on the ABC's legal drama, Crownies (2011). The Society Murders was published in 2003. Her second true crime book is The Double Life of Herman Rockefeller (2012).
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