Vile Crimes: The Timaru Poisonings

(Paperback)

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Description

On a drizzly Monday morning, 16 August 1886, the inhabitants of Timaru woke to astounding news. Tom Hall junior, a well-known local businessman and man about town, nephew of former New Zealand Premier Sir John Hall, had been arrested for attempting to murder his wife, Kitty, by poisoning. Also charged was Margaret Houston, Kitty Hall's lady-help. It was without doubt the most extraordinary thing that had ever happened in Timaru, if not the whole colony...So begins Vile Crimes, a riveting and fast-paced examination of one of New Zealand's most sensational court cases.

Author Bio

Peter Graham has spent 30 years in Hong Kong as Crown Counsel and a barrister in private practice. Having returned to his native Canterbury Plains, he now grows apples, supervises a few pigs, reads a lot of history and mulls over the past. This is his first book and, with other subjects in mind, he hopes it will not be his last.