Анна Перри: от убийства к литературной славе

the politicianEnglish author (1938–2023)

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.

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. At the time of Hulme's death in 2023, Parker and Hulme 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 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. 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".

After being released from prison in November 1959, Hulme 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. 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. 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. 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 was published the day after her death. Perry's two main series each feature a male and a female protagonist. Thomas Pitt is matched with his wife Charlotte, while William Monk is matched with Hester Latterly, a Crimean War nurse. The Monk mysteries are set earlier in the Victorian era (1850s–1860s) than the Pitt books (1880s–1890s).

Drayton J. (2012) The Search for Anne Perry, HarperCollins. Graham P. (2011). So Brilliantly Clever: Parker, Hulme and the murder that shocked the world. Awa Press. ; re issued in 2013 as Graham P. (2013) Anne perry and the murder of the century. Skyhorse Pub.