Anne Perry | |
|---|---|
 Perry in 2012 | |
| Born | Juliet Marion Hulme 28 October 1938 London, England |
| Died | 10 April 2023 (aged 84) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Author |
| Notable work | Thomas and Charlotte Pitt and William Monk novels |
| Parent |
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| Website | anneperry |
Anne Perry (born Juliet Marion Hulme; 28 October 1938 – 10 April 2023) was a British writer best known as the author of the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt and William Monk series of historical detective fiction.
In 1994, it became public knowledge that Perry had been convicted for murder as a teenager while living in Christchurch, New Zealand. In 1954, at the age of fifteen, she and her 16-year-old friend Pauline Parker murdered Parker's mother, Honorah Rieper. After serving a five-year sentence for the murder, she changed her name and returned to the United Kingdom. She was identified by journalists following the release of the movie Heavenly Creatures, directed by Peter Jackson, in which Kate Winslet portrays Hulme (Perry).
Born in London, the daughter of physicist Henry Rainsford Hulme, Perry was diagnosed with tuberculosis as a child and sent to the Caribbean, South Africa, and New Zealand in hopes that a warmer climate would improve her health.[1] She rejoined her family after her father took a position as rector of Canterbury University College in New Zealand. She attended Christchurch Girls' High School, located in what became the Cranmer Centre.[2][1] A 1948 Auckland Star photograph of Juliet arriving in New Zealand was discovered by Auckland Libraries staff in 2012 and written about in the Heritage et AL blog.[3]
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Main article: Parker–Hulme murder case |
In June 1954, at the age of 15, Hulme and her best friend Pauline Parker murdered Parker's mother, Honorah Rieper.[4][5] Hulme's parents were in the process of separating and she was supposed to go to South Africa to stay with a relative.[6] The two teenage friends, who had created a complicated fantasy life together populated with celebrities such as Mario Lanza and James Mason, did not want to be separated.[1][7]
On 22 June 1954, the girls and Rieper went for a walk in Victoria Park in the Port Hills of Christchurch. On an isolated path, Hulme dropped an ornamental stone so that Rieper would lean over to retrieve it. Parker had planned to hit her mother with half a brick wrapped in a stocking. The girls presumed that one blow would kill her but it took more than 20.[6]
Parker and Hulme stood trial in Christchurch in 1954 and were found guilty on 28 August. As they were too young to be considered for the death penalty under New Zealand law at the time, they were convicted and sentenced to be "detained at Her Majesty's pleasure". They were released separately five years later.[8] At the time of Hulme's death in 2023, Parker and Hulme were not believed to have had any contact since the trial.[9][10]
The events formed the basis for the 1994 film Heavenly Creatures, in which Melanie Lynskey portrayed a teenage Pauline Parker and Kate Winslet the teenaged Juliet Hulme. At the time of the film's release, it was not generally known that mystery author Anne Perry was Juliet Hulme; her identity was made public after journalists tracked her down some months after the film's release.[11] Although some presumed Hulme and Parker's relationship to be sexual, Perry stated in 2006 that, while the relationship was obsessive, the two "were never lesbians".[10][12]
After being released from prison in November 1959, Hulme returned to England and became a flight attendant.[13] For a period she lived in the United States, where she joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1968.[14] She later settled in the Scottish village of Portmahomack, where she lived with her mother. Her father had a distinguished scientific career, heading the British hydrogen bomb programme.[15]
Hulme took the name Anne Perry, using her stepfather's surname.[9] Her first novel, The Cater Street Hangman, was published under this name in 1979.[9] Her works generally fall into one of several categories of genre fiction, including historical murder mysteries and detective fiction. Many feature recurring characters, most importantly Thomas and Charlotte Pitt, who appeared in her first novel, and amnesiac private investigator William Monk, who first appeared in her 1990 novel The Face of a Stranger.
After Perry's identity as Hulme was revealed in 1994, she said:[12]
It seemed so unfair. Everything I had worked to achieve as a decent member of society was threatened. And once again my life was being interpreted by someone else. It had happened in court when, as a minor, I wasn't allowed to speak and I heard all these lies being told. And now there was a film, but nobody had bothered to talk to me. I knew nothing about it until the day before release. All I could think of was that my life would fall apart and that it might kill my mother.
She continued writing and said that she was surprised that her friends stuck by her despite the revelation of her identity and the ensuing media attention.[12] In 1998 she was featured by The Times in its list of 100 "masters of crime".[1] Her story "Heroes", which first appeared in the 1999 anthology Murder and Obsession, edited by Otto Penzler, won the 2000 Edgar Award for Best Short Story.[1]
In 2005, Perry appeared on the Trisha show to discuss her murder conviction on a special themed show.[16] A 2009 documentary film, Anne Perry Interiors, gave a snapshot of her life and the people close to her.[17] In 2009 she received a lifetime achievement award at the Agatha Awards.[18][19] In 2013 and 2020 she was a guest of honour at the Bouchercon mystery fiction convention.[1] As of 2014[update], Perry had published 29 novels in the Pitt series, 20 novels in the Monk series, ten other novels for adults, three young adult novels and 11 mystery novellas with Christmas themes.[20] Publishers Weekly noted that her sales at that time exceeded 10 million copies and that her works regularly appeared on The New York Times bestseller list.[20]
In 2017, Perry left Scotland and moved to Los Angeles in order to more effectively promote films based on her novels.[21] She had a heart attack in December 2022, and died at a hospital in Los Angeles on 10 April 2023, aged 84.[1][22] Her novel The Fourth Enemy was published the day after her death.[9]
