The best-selling crime novelist who served time for a teenage murder in New Zealand

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Before she was a prolific author of historical mysteries, Anne Perry was Juliet Hulme, a teenager convicted of a brutal 1954 murder. Her hidden past remained a secret for decades, only surfacing after a film dramatized the crime, forcing her to reconcile her new life with a dark, forgotten history.

Born in London in 1938, Juliet Hulme moved to New Zealand as a child for her health. By 1954, at age 15, she and her friend Pauline Parker had developed an intense, obsessive bond. When Hulme’s parents separated and planned to send her away, the girls conspired to kill Parker’s mother, Honorah Rieper. On 22 June 1954, in a Christchurch park, they carried out the murder using a brick wrapped in a stocking. Both were convicted in August 1954 and served five years in prison, as they were too young for the death penalty.

After her release in 1959, Hulme changed her name to Anne Perry and eventually built a successful career as a crime writer. She published her first novel, The Cater Street Hangman, in 1979 and went on to write over 100 books, including the popular Thomas and Charlotte Pitt and William Monk series. Her publisher reported that she sold 25 million copies, and her work frequently appeared on The New York Times bestseller list. Her identity as Hulme was only revealed in 1994, following the release of the film Heavenly Creatures, which depicted the case.

The revelation caused Perry significant distress, as she felt her life was being interpreted by others without her input. Despite the media scrutiny, she continued to write, receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Agatha Awards in 2009. She remained a prominent figure in the mystery genre until her death in 2023 at age 84. Her legacy remains complex, bridging the gap between her celebrated literary success and the violent act that defined her youth.

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