Anne Perry


Anne Perry was a British writer and convicted murderer. She was 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 of murder in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1954 when she was fifteen. She and her sixteen-year-old friend Pauline Parker murdered Parker's mother, Honorah. After serving a five-year sentence for the murder, Perry changed her name from Juliet Hulme and returned to the United Kingdom. She was identified by the media following the release of the film Heavenly Creatures, directed by Peter Jackson, which is based on the case.

Early life

Juliet Marion Hulme was born on 28 October 1938 in London, the second child and first daughter of physicist Henry Rainsford Hulme. Hulme 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. 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. A 1948 Auckland Star photograph of Hulme arriving in New Zealand was discovered by Auckland Libraries staff in 2012 and written about in the Heritage et AL blog.

Murder and trial

In June 1954, at the age of 15, Hulme and her best friend Pauline Parker murdered Parker's mother, Honorah Rieper. Hulme's parents were in the process of separating and she was supposed to go to South Africa to stay with a relative. 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.
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.
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. At the time of Perry's death in 2023, Parker and Perry were not believed to have had any contact since the trial.
The events formed the basis for the 1994 film Heavenly Creatures, in which Melanie Lynskey portrayed a teenaged Pauline Parker and Kate Winslet played the teenaged Juliet Hulme. At the time of the film's release, it was not generally known that Anne Perry was Juliet Hulme; her identity was made public after journalists tracked her down some months after the film's release. 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".

Later life

After being released from prison in November 1959, Perry returned to England and became a flight attendant. For a period she lived in the United States, where she joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1968. 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.
Hulme took the name Anne Perry, using her stepfather's surname. Her first novel, The Cater Street Hangman, was published under this name in 1979. 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:
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. In 1998 she was featured by The Times in its list of 100 "masters of crime". 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.
In 2005, Perry appeared on the Trisha show to discuss her murder conviction on a special themed show. A 2009 documentary film, Anne Perry Interiors, gave a snapshot of her life and the people close to her. In 2009 she received a lifetime achievement award at the Agatha Awards. In 2013 and 2020 she was a guest of honour at the Bouchercon mystery fiction convention. At the time of her death in 2023, Perry had published 102 books: 32 novels in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, 6 novels in the Daniel Pitt series, 24 novels in the Monk series, five books in her WWI series, five books in her Elena Standish series, four young adult novels, two fantasy novels, and 22 mystery novellas with Christmas themes, as well as a number of essays and short stories. Her UK publisher, Headline, reported that she had sold 25 million copies. Her works regularly appeared on The New York Times bestseller list.
In 2017, Perry left Scotland and moved to the USA in order to more effectively promote films based on her novels. She had a heart attack in December 2022, and died at a hospital in Los Angeles on 10 April 2023, aged 84. Her novel The Fourth Enemy, the sixth Daniel Pitt novel, was published the day after her death.

Featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt

  1. The Cater Street Hangman
  2. Callander Square
  3. Paragon Walk
  4. Resurrection Row
  5. Rutland Place
  6. Bluegate Fields
  7. Death in the Devil's Acre
  8. Cardington Crescent
  9. Silence in Hanover Close
  10. Bethlehem Road
  11. Highgate Rise
  12. Belgrave Square
  13. Farrier's Lane
  14. The Hyde Park Headsman
  15. Traitors Gate
  16. Pentecost Alley
  17. Ashworth Hall
  18. Brunswick Gardens
  19. Bedford Square
  20. Half Moon Street
  21. The Whitechapel Conspiracy
  22. Southampton Row
  23. Seven Dials
  24. Long Spoon Lane
  25. Buckingham Palace Gardens
  26. Betrayal at Lisson Grove
  27. Dorchester Terrace
  28. Midnight at Marble Arch
  29. Death on Blackheath
  30. The Angel Court Affair
  31. Treachery at Lancaster Gate
  32. ''Murder on the Serpentine''

    Featuring Daniel Pitt

  33. Twenty-One Days
  34. Triple Jeopardy
  35. One Fatal Flaw
  36. Death with a Double Edge
  37. Three Debts Paid
  38. ''The Fourth Enemy''

    Featuring Hester Latterly and William Monk

  39. The Face of a Stranger
  40. A Dangerous Mourning
  41. Defend and Betray
  42. A Sudden, Fearful Death
  43. The Sins of the Wolf
  44. Cain His Brother
  45. Weighed in the Balance
  46. The Silent Cry
  47. A Breach of Promise
  48. The Twisted Root
  49. Slaves of Obsession
  50. A Funeral in Blue
  51. Death of a Stranger
  52. The Shifting Tide
  53. Dark Assassin
  54. Execution Dock
  55. Acceptable Loss
  56. A Sunless Sea
  57. Blind Justice
  58. Blood on the Water
  59. Corridors of the Night
  60. Revenge in a Cold River
  61. An Echo of Murder
  62. ''Dark Tide Rising''

    Featuring Elena Standish

  63. Death in Focus
  64. A Question of Betrayal
  65. A Darker Reality
  66. A Truth To Lie For
  67. ''The Traitor Among Us''

    The World War I series

  68. No Graves As Yet
  69. Shoulder the Sky
  70. Angels in the Gloom
  71. At Some Disputed Barricade
  72. ''We Shall Not Sleep''

    The Christmas stories

  73. A Christmas Journey
  74. A Christmas Visitor
  75. A Christmas Guest
  76. A Christmas Secret
  77. A Christmas Beginning
  78. A Christmas Grace
  79. A Christmas Promise
  80. A Christmas Odyssey
  81. A Christmas Homecoming
  82. A Christmas Garland
  83. A Christmas Hope
  84. A New York Christmas
  85. A Christmas Escape
  86. A Christmas Message
  87. A Christmas Return
  88. A Christmas Revelation
  89. A Christmas Gathering
  90. A Christmas Resolution
  91. A Christmas Legacy
  92. A Christmas Deliverance
  93. ''A Christmas Vanishing''

    The Christmas Collections

  94. An Anne Perry Christmas: Two Holiday Novels – contains A Christmas Journey and A Christmas Visitor
  95. Anne Perry's Christmas Mysteries: Two Holiday Novels – contains A Christmas Guest and A Christmas Secret
  96. Anne Perry's Silent Nights: Two Victorian Christmas Mysteries – contains A Christmas Beginning and A Christmas Grace
  97. Anne Perry's Christmas Vigil: Two Victorian Holiday Mysteries – contains A Christmas Promise and A Christmas Odyssey
  98. Anne Perry's Christmas Crimes: Two Victorian Holiday Mysteries – contains A Christmas Homecoming and A Christmas Garland
  99. Anne Perry's Merry Mysteries: Two Victorian Holiday Novels – contains A Christmas Hope and ''A New York Christmas''

    Fantasy

  100. Tathea
  101. ''Come Armageddon''

    Timepiece series (young adult novels)

  102. Tudor Rose
  103. Rose of No Man's Land
  104. Blood Red Rose
  105. ''Rose Between Two Thorns''