Anne Perry
Anne Perry was a highly successful author of historical detective novels that have sold over 26 million copies worldwide. Many of her books are historical murder mysteries. She published over 60 novels and 11 novellas.
She was born in Blackheath, London, England, on October 28, 1938. In 1968, she converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes casually called the Mormon Church.
One has only to glance at the date and location of Anne's birth to realize that her early years were unsettled. Germany invaded Poland in 1939, and Great Britain entered World War II by declaring war on Germany in September of that year. For months during 1940 the Germans bombed England, and especially London, intensely.
Perry faced other challenges. By age six she was seriously ill and near death with tuberculosis. She lingered on in ill health and was sent to the Bahamas with a foster family to recover in a more favorable climate. Perry attributes the relocation for saving her life. The family moved to New Zealand, and there Perry rejoined her family who had also immigrated to New Zealand. Due to her illness and frequent moves, Perry missed several years of schooling and had to catch up. She had learned to read at age four and loved books. This was a help to her, especially since she became ill again at age thirteen.
When Anne left New Zealand, she spent 5 years in California, where she found the Church of Jesus Christ and was baptized.
Perry was always drawn to writing and was encouraged by her father. She was in her twenties and living back in England when she tried to fashion a first novel. She was in her late thirties when her first book was accepted for publication. To support herself she took various jobs, including clerical work and work as a flight attendant. Perry began writing mysteries set in Victorian London, a place and time full of opposites, especially in the juxtaposition of glamor and squalor. London had great energy at the time, as the largest city in the world, with goods and people of all sorts passing through. Her first novel accepted for publication was The Cater Street Hangman, released in 1979.
Anne lived in Scotland until 2017 when she moved to Los Angeles, California, to promote film adaptations of her works. She died there on April 10, 2023, at the age of 84.
She also wrote two fantasy books, Tathea, and Come Armageddon, which reflect her philosophies and beliefs. One can see her belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ in these works.
Perry received a good deal of recognition for her work and became an international and New York Times best-selling writer. She also received the following awards:
- Edgar Awards Recipient (2000): Heroes, the precursor to the hugely poplar WW1 series.
- Herodotus Lifetime Achievement Award
- Selected by the London Times as one of the twentieth century’s 100 Masters of Crime
- Lifetime achievement award at the Agatha Awards in 2009
