Late crime novelistAnne Perry, dubbed the “queen of Victorian crime,” was widely known for her best-selling murder mysteries until 1994, when her dark and deadly past came back to haunt her and cast a shadow on her success.
By that time, Perry had long published her debut novelThe Cater Street Hangmanin 1979, following up the popular Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series with dozens more books.
Winslet portrayed Perry (known as a girl as Juliet Hulme), while Lynskey played the part of best friend Pauline Parker.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
The Academy Award-nominated film focuses on 15-year-old Perry and 16-year-old Parker, who met at Christchurch Girls' High School in New Zealand and were inseparable.
But in 1954, as soon as they became threatened with the thought of separation (Perry was to move to South Africa following her parents' divorce), the girls fatally bludgeoned Parker’s mother to death with a brick, fearing she would stand in the way of Parker moving with Perry.
The London-born author was sentenced to five years in prison for her part in the murder of Parker’s mother, Honora Rieper, theNew Zealand Heraldpreviously reported.
Perry claimed she feared Parker would take her own life if she didn’t participate in the killing, PEOPLE previously reported. In addition to their prison sentences, both girls were ordered to stay away from each other.
“I was guilty, and it was the right place for me to be,” Perry said of her time incarcerated, while also admitting she “made a profoundly wrong decision,” theHeraldreports.
Speaking withThe Guardianin 2003, Perry said, “I had to give up my past - the hardest thing imaginable - and begin life in my new identity as Anne Perry, knowing even a tiny slip could unravel everything.”
Perry, who went on to sell more than 26 million books worldwideper her website, died at a Los Angeles hospital on Monday at the age of 84, following a December heart attack, her literary agent Meg Davis confirmed according toThe New York Times.
source: people.com
