Anne Perry, crime novelist with her own murder record, dies at 84

[brooklynite]

Source: Washington Post

Anne Perry, a popular British-born crime novelist who once served five years in prison for a grisly murder she helped commit as a teenager, died in Los Angeles on April 10. She was 84.

...snip...

Ms. Perry, a prolific writer who sold more than 26 million books worldwide, had already become well established as a novelist when her sinister past was exposed in 1994, just before the release of Peter Jackson’s film “Heavenly Creatures.”

The movie, based on a chilling matricide in New Zealand some four decades earlier in which a Christchurch woman was bludgeoned to death in a park by her daughter and Ms. Perry — then 15 years old and known as Juliet Hulme — rekindled media interest in the case. The author, who had relocated years earlier to Scotland and changed her name, was tracked down by journalists.

Ms. Perry’s character in the film, played by Kate Winslet, strikes up an intense relationship with her best friend, Pauline Parker, that Juliet’s parents view as “unwholesome.” When Juliet’s parents split and make plans to send her to South Africa, the girls concoct a plan to murder Pauline’s mother — who apparently objected to her joining Juliet abroad.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/04/13/anne-perry-death-murder-crime-books/

[Demsrule86]

1. I found that out years ago; it was shocking...she and her friend killed her friends mother...as I

recall the Mother was moving to Australia (they were in England) and the girls did not want to be separated...both were incarcerated but unlike here where teens are often given adult sentences with no parole, they were eventually released.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

4. I had to write a little blurb about a signing she did in Phoenix 15 years ago or so

Reading her past, my first thought was "This sounds like that movie Heavenly Creatures," then, "Holy shit, it IS that movie Heavenly Creatures."
She was a regular at signings in Phoenix, 2-3 times a year. I always kind of wanted to interview her, but I figured that she wouldn't want to talk about the most interesting part of her backstory.

[unc70]

5. They were in NZ, not England

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. It did take place in New Zealand, like the movie

Originally from Britain (though Wikipedia says Juliet/Anne had already been sent to the Caribbean and South Africa for a better climate when she was suffering (pre-antibiotics) from TB, before they were all in New Zealand. The parents, on their separation, planned to send Juliet/Anne to South Africa again - but not with either of them, just to relatives.

[justhanginon]

2. Did not know that. Wow, that is a shocker to me. One of my favorite

mystery authors. Read a lot of her books. Talk about skeletons in one's closet. That is a doozey!

[rickford66]

3. My wife grew up in the house which was closest to the murder scene.

Dyers Pass Road. My wife showed me the spot where it happened on one of our many walks in the park. Sadly the house which was built by her Grandfather was sold thirty years or so ago. What a beautiful spot with a view of Southern Alps on one side and Christchurch on the other.

[KPN]

7. Fascinating ... thanbks for sharing.

[vanlassie]

8. I'm reading one of her recent books at the moment.

😢

[Rhiannon12866]

10. She was one of my very favorite authors, too.

I especially enjoy historical mysteries and hers were excellent.

[murielm99]

9. When I learned this years ago,

I stopped reading her books. She seemed unrepentant.

[Joinfortmill]

11. Me too.

[catrose]

12. Also

[obamanut2012]

16. She is/was

And, became a wingnut Mormon.

Parker did show remorse to quite a few people, unlike Juliet Hulme, and:

"Following her release from prison, Parker was given a new identity as Hilary Nathan,[9] and spent some time in New Zealand under close surveillance before being allowed to leave for England. From at least 1992, she was living in the small village of Hoo, near Strood, Kent, and running a children's riding school.[10] As an adult, she became a devout Roman Catholic. While she has never spoken to the press, in a 1996 statement released through her sister she expressed strong remorse for having killed her mother. Her sister further stated that "[Pauline] committed the most terrible crime and has spent 40 years repaying it by keeping away from people and doing her own little thing ... After it happened, she was very sorry about it. It took her about five years to realise what she had done."

[question everything]

13. I read many of her Charlotte and Thomas Pitts as well as Monk mysteries and liked

them.

But as with many series, eventually I lost interest in the characters and I thought she or her editors got sloppy.

Both series take place in Victorian England and the life of upper class is contrasted with the misery of the poor the sick, the homeless that the characters are trying to help.

R.I. P

[leftyladyfrommo]

14. I read a lot of her books. nt

[obamanut2012]

15. Unlike her accomplice Pauline Parker, Juliet Hulme never showed real remorse

Ever. And became a wingnut Mormon who denied she had a same-sex relationship, even though she did.

Following her release from prison, Parker was given a new identity as Hilary Nathan, and spent some time in New Zealand under close surveillance before being allowed to leave for England. From at least 1992, she was living in the small village of Hoo, near Strood, Kent, and running a children's riding school. As an adult, she became a devout Roman Catholic. While she has never spoken to the press, in a 1996 statement released through her sister she expressed strong remorse for having killed her mother. Her sister further stated that "[Pauline] committed the most terrible crime and has spent 40 years repaying it by keeping away from people and doing her own little thing ... After it happened, she was very sorry about it. It took her about five years to realise what she had done."

Hulme never made any such statement, and her parents' lofty position in society allowed them to shield her until they could destroy her journals and other evidence. Parker, who was blue collar, did not have that protection.

Watch Heavenly Creatures. It is very accurate, down to Parker's journals being read as narration, and the young Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynsky are so good! Peter Jackson directed and wrote it. I saw it in the theatre -- so good.