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British author Anne Perry died on April 10, aged 84, it was confirmed today by her agent. The writer – who was born Juliet Marion Hulme – was best known for her Pitt and Monk detective novel series, and had penned dozens of books since her debut novel, The Cater Street Hangman, which hit shelves in 1979. Perry was perhaps best known, however, for being the inspiration behind one of the most gruesome real-crime murder movies ever made: Heavenly Creatures.
Heavenly Creatures was helmed by The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and starred Titanic’s Kate Winslet as Hulme.
The picture told the story of two teenage girls who killed one of their mothers in cold blood.
This was based on the real-life story of Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme (Anne Perry) who murdered Parker’s mother in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1954. The friends were obsessed with one another and conspired to kill Parker’s mother – Honorah Rieper – after Hulme’s mother planned to move her away to South Africa. The girls did not “want to be split up” so beat Rieper to death with a brick in Victoria Park in Christchurch on June 22, 1954.
Perry was just 15-years-old at the time of the murder and was convicted soon thereafter. As they were both minors, they could not be considered for the death penalty, so they were both sentenced to prison. They were both released five years later, separately.
After Hulme’s release she returned to the UK and changed her name to Anne Perry. In 1979 she began releasing novels under her new pen name.
In 1994, after the release of Heavenly Creatures, Perry’s identity was revealed.
The film focused somewhat on the assumed lesbian relationship between Hulme and Parker. In 2006, Perry stated that, while their relationship was obsessive, they were “never lesbians”.
At the time of her death, Perry was not believed to have had any contact with Parker since the trial in 1954.
Perry’s publishers, Ki Agency, said: “Anne was a loyal and loving friend, and her writing was driven by her fierce commitment to raising awareness around social injustice. Many readers have been moved by her empathy for people backed into impossible situations, or overwhelmed by the difficulties of life.”
Ki Agency went on: “Her characters inspired much love among her fans, and comforted many readers who were going through tough times themselves.”
Before Perry’s death, she was working on more books in the Pitt and Monk series.
