Anne Perry is well known for two historical mystery/crime series, both set in Victorian London. She has a delectable grasp of the finer details of life in Victorian England, and quickly brings her characters to life with plots that are anything but predictable. Her first book, The Cater Street Hangman, published in 1979, introduced fans to policeman Thomas Pitt and his wife Charlotte, a society-woman who married for love not social stature. Since then, Perry has added 24 more books to the series, all named for historical places in London, with her latest book, Buckingham Palace Gardens, published in 2008.

William Monk, a private detective who suffers from amnesia as a result of an accident in 1856, is the primary character in Perry’s second series of mysteries, introduced in 1990 in her book The Face of a Stranger. He forms an unlikely partnership with Hester Latterly, a fiercely independent nurse who served in the Crimean War, and, over time, these two wounded individuals help to heal each other as they solve cases together.

Perry herself possesses a dark side, much like William Monk. She was born in London in 1938, as Juliet Hulme, daughter of a physicist, Dr. Henry Hulme. She lived for many years as a child with tuberculosis in the Caribbean and South Africa, in hopes that the warmer temperatures would help her condition. In 1951, at the age of 13, she moved with her family to New Zealand, where she became friends with Pauline Parker. In 1954, the two teenagers murdered Pauline Parker’s mother and were imprisoned, being too young for the death penalty. They were released in 1959, and have not seen or had contact with each other since. This time in her life was portrayed in the 1994 film Heavenly Creatures, with Kate Winslett playing the role of Juliet Hulme.

She took the name Anne Perry after her release from prison, and went on to succeed in a scientific career before turning to writing. She has published over 47 novels, and won an Edgar award in 2000 for her short story "Heroes". Still going strong at 71, Perry is working on more Pitt and Monk novels to delight her followers (see her complete list of mysteries in the Modern Fiction Lists section). Visit Anne Perry’s official website.