Anne Perry has died: The British crime writer, whose murderous role was the subject of the film Heavenly Creatures, was 84

Anne Perry, whose crime fiction was overshadowed by her role in Murder Spotlight in Peter Jackson’s 1994 film, celestial beings, died at the age of 84.

Perry died at a Los Angeles hospital, her agent Meg Davis confirmed. Her condition has steadily worsened since suffering a heart attack in December, Davis said.

The author served five years in prison starting at the age of 15 for punching Honoah Mary Parker, her best friend’s mother. She was then known as Juliet Hulme and adopted a pseudonym later in her writing career. The crime took place in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1954 and the two friends planned the murder. The details were later discovered in magazines found by the police.

Perry’s first novel The Hangman of Cater Street, arrived in 1979. This was the beginning of a career in which she published more than 100 crime and thriller novels and sold more than 26 million copies worldwide. She won an Edgar Award in 2000 and was named one of the 100 Masters of Crime by the Times of London.

Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey (both making their film debuts) played the teenage killers in Jackson’s 1994 drama. The film explored the teenagers’ relationship and culminated in the murder in 1954.

The film won the Silver Lion at the Venice International Film Festival in 1994. It was later nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Information on Perry’s survivors was not immediately available.