The Search for Anne Perry: The Hidden Life of a Bestselling Crime Writer

It wasn't until last year that I had any inkling about Anne Perry's past life. Then I read about it in a blurb for the Vancouver Writer's Fest and was intrigued that she not only wrote about murder but had actually been involved in one in the past. Until I read Drayton's book I was unaware that the news broke in 1994. I think that the most shocking thing for me was not that the author had helped to murder someone, but that I didn't find out until 2013.

Joanne Drayton has written a very readable biography in which she tells the story of the 1954 murder and aftermath and with the breaking of the story in 1994 and its aftermath. She shows how the ideas behind Perry's many novels come from her knowledge of the realities of the social show more upheaval caused by her actions. Drayton skillfully interweaves Perry's novel plots throughout the book to prove her points and to show the philosophical depths that are revealed through Perry's novels.

I have read quite a few of Anne Perry's novels in the past and, after reading Drayton's book I definitely have the desire to read more of Perry's novels, especially some of those I hadn't heard of before. With the next Perry book that I read I will have an eye out for the intellectual and philosophical points that Perry is trying to convey. show less

Finally...a book that gets inside the head of author Anne Perry in which Perry herself explains what was in her head when she, along with another teen girl, brutally beat that girl's mother to death with a stocking-enclosed piece of brick.

Because I've been wondering for years about Perry's rather strange decision to make her living as a murder mystery writer after having been convicted of committing one of the more horrible murders in the history of New Zealand, I had high hopes that "The Search for Anne Perry" would answer some of my questions and doubts about Perry. What I did not expect was to come away with much sympathy for Anne Perry - but even that happened.

Joanne Drayton managed to get the full cooperation of Anne Perry for show more this biography despite the fact that Drayton is from New Zealand and that the book would first be published there (the U.S. edition is new but was, I think, published in New Zealand in 2012). For that reason, "Search" is filled with Anne Perry quotes that help explain how such a terrible murder ever happened, how Perry survived five years in harsh prisons, how her Mormon faith allowed her to move on with the rest of her life, and why she believes today that she should be forgiven of her crime. Drayton offers her on analysis, too, often by quoting characters from Perry's books in which it seems that Perry is speaking through those characters.

My only complaint - and I did find it irritating - is that Drayton, in the process of quoting those characters often insists on going through much more plot detail than is necessary to make her points about Perry. She sometimes even includes spoilers (unnecessarily, in my opinion) that Anne Perry readers probably would rather not learn. But that's a minor quibble. This book ultimately delivered the goods for me, and for that reason, I am recommending it to others who might still be wondering about Anne Perry's murder conviction and how she kept her past hidden (even from her agents and publishers) for as long as she managed. show less

An sympathetic treatment of the life story of the mystery author Anne Perry who was famously revealed to be Juliet Hulme, one of the teenage murderers whose story was told in the Peter Jackson film Heavenly Creatures. Anne's life challenges to look at how we treat someone who has committed a horrendous crime but who spends their subsequent life in expiation and attempting to be "good". A little too much description of the books, however I see how this is used to emphasise the themes of redemption and expiation. An interesting read.

Made me think of this exchange from Dorothy Sayer's Gaudy Night:

Miss Burrows : Excuse my saying so, Miss Vane, but given your own terrible experience, I wonder that you should still decide to write the sort show more of books you do.

Harriet Vane : You're saying that anyone with proper feelings would rather scrub floors for a living? Well, I should scrub floors very badly, and I write mysteries rather well. show less

I've been a fan of Anne Perry's Victorian murder mysteries for a long,long time, and I was shocked to discover in the late 1990's that she was one of the "heavenly Creatures" in Peter Jackson's film about obsessive teenage friendship and matricide in New Zealand in the 1950's. This book tells Anne's story - not only of the crime and her time in prison, but also of her carving out a new life for herself after her release.

The story of the crime and Anne's personal journey in search of redemption is fascinating, but the author spends way too much time analyzing each and every one of Ms. Perry's books and this makes the book way too long. Perry is not a good enough writer for her biographer to devout so many pages to what, after all is just show more genre fiction. I found myself skipping these pages altogether as the book went on.

Still, Perry's story is compelling and this was well worth the read. show less

The Search for Anne Perry by Joanne Drayton is a 2014 Arcade Publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I remember distinctly having a conversation with a friend on a popular book club site about how much we enjoyed the work of Anne Perry. Another member added that while her books were entertaining enough, Anne's personal history was what really peaked his interest. I had no idea what he referring to, so he began to elaborate. Like many people in this book, my initial reaction was that this man must have been confused. Of course I got onto the web and searched for "Anne Perry". I was shocked to learn that I was the once that was confused. I had never heard anything at show more all about this murder conviction. As I continued to research the story I finally put it together that Anne Perry was one of the girls that killed a woman in New Zealand. I had heard the story before, but I never put it together that one of my favorite historical mystery authors as in reality Juliett Hulme. The on line discussion about Anne's books had become heated by the time I checked back in to the book club. Some folks swore they would never read a book by Anne Perry, others felt she had paid her debt and was now leading a productive life. Still others waffled on whether or not she had really paid her debt because she only spent five years in prison. The debate may still be going on for all I know. I will confess to having some mixed feelings myself. By the time I discovered Anne's history I had developed a bond with Thomas and Charlotte Pitt and was also a fan of Anne's Christmas stories. So, since I had read so many of her books and really enjoyed them, I decided I was going to continue to read them.
When I saw this book listed on Edelweiss I couldn't pass it up. I wanted to know more about Anne as an adult and hopefully away from her crime. How did she manage to hide her true identity for long ? How did she get started writing novels? Why, with her history did she write murder mysteries? Had she ever married, did she date, have close friends? I couldn't wait to dive into this one. At this time I should tell anyone that is looking for a standard biography that this book isn't like that, really. Thankfully, the author didn't make the book about Anne's past by going over the crime itself. Instead, the author starts with the period in Anne's life when a film was being made about her crime and it sparked the interest of the media. For Anne this meant that she was finally "outed" as the infamous Juliett Hulme. What would her publisher think? What about her fans and readers?
It seems that while there were those that took the news hard, most people went right about their business and didn't really give it a great deal of thought. The books continued to sell and Anne continued to write and publishers continue to publish them. But what of those years after Anne was released from prison? Well, it seems Anne joined the Mormon church and lived by the strictures of the religion. She did have some relationships with men, but they usually ended after the truth came out and Anne always felt like she needed to be honest about that if the relationship began to grow serious. She did have close friends and later she became closer with her younger brother who even helped her with research for her books.
My impression of Anne is that she was a little eccentric at times, but she had learned to channel her imagination into a productive career and was basically a regular person constantly doing battle with her past. Most of those in Anne's inner circle were quite fond of her and always spoke highly of her. Yet, it is apparent that Anne still lived a very isolated life.
Did the author tone down the absolute horror of the crime Anne committed? Yes and no. Yes, she did because she failed to delve into it in detail and no, because it was at the heart of everything Anne did as an adult. Her life in prison was touched on and we do get the impression her time there was far more brutal than one might think.
The author also spent a lot of time giving the reader insight into Anne's books. From the Pitt series to the Monk series and various themes Anne touched on in these novels that could suggest a certain allegory between Anne's history and the characters in her books. This was interesting and could have been true to some extent. Some have been critical of the time spent talking about the books, but that is what Anne does for a living. It is huge part of her life I thought it should have been included.
Did I feel like I really learned anything about Anne personally? No, not really. I didn't really come away feeling I knew her any better than before. I learned some interesting facts about her, I learned a little about the publishing business and I gained some new insight into her books, but I don't feel like I got a real handle on who Anne Perry really is. By all accounts she is a very nice woman, still loyal to the Mormon church and still active in writing. She has lived a relatively normal and quiet life keeping a few people close to her and everyone else at arm's length.
I did get the feeling that there was a great deal of information left out of the book and yes, there was the impression that perhaps the author smoothed something over or gave into pressure and left out anything that could be construed as unflattering. This is an interesting read, but I wish it could have gone into some areas in more detail and I don't mean the murder. I'm not sure if anyone really gets too close to Anne or if anyone will ever get a handle on who she really is . We will probably never get a look at Anne in a deeply personal sense. So, it would seem that Anne will remain a mystery to most of us.
Overall I will give this one a C or 3 stars. show less

I hate to say this, but this book was practically unreadable. The author spent most of her time describing the plot lines of Anne Perry's books. At not in an insightful or reflective manner. Every once in a while she would throw in a paragraph saying that the novel showed some parallels to Anne's crime or psyche. Overall, a bust!