{"id":32857,"date":"2025-09-20T07:14:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T07:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/32857\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T07:14:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T07:14:15","slug":"murder-mystery-writer-pens-killer-poem-to-sell-her-2-85m-home-all-things-property-under-oneroof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/32857\/","title":{"rendered":"Murder mystery writer pens killer poem to sell her $2.85m home, All things property, under OneRoof"},"content":{"rendered":"

– Author Virginia Innes-Jones, known as Hinemura Ellison, wrote a poem to sell her St Heliers home.<\/p>\n

– She and partner Darin Dance renovated the house after purchasing it for $1.9m.<\/p>\n

– Innes-Jones is selling to support her elderly parents but plans to stay in Auckland.<\/p>\n

A Kiwi writer best known for her political thrillers has turned to poetry to sell her beachside home.<\/p>\n

Virginia Innes-Jones, who writes under the pseudonym Hinemura Ellison, penned a 22-line poem highlighting all the things that she loves about the four-bedroom house at 9 Lombard Street, in St Heliers, Auckland<\/a>, which is for sale for $2.85 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the poem just sums up what it\u2019s like. Everything is there \u2013 the city, the beach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lines from the poem include:<\/p>\n

An authentically adorable Kiwi bach<\/p>\n

Everything you need – a brilliant catch<\/p>\n

With a magical entrance, light and bright<\/p>\n

And leadlight lantern guiding you home at night<\/p>\n

Stylish and homely, yet discreet,<\/p>\n

It could even be a writer\u2019s retreat<\/p>\n

Innes-Jones and her writer partner Darin Dance bought the \u201cbach\u201d less than a year ago for $1.9m.<\/p>\n

She told OneRoof that fate led her to the property. The 1980s house had been vacant for several years after the previous owner died. \u201cShe [the house] was just crumbling, and she talked to me and said \u2018you\u2019ve got to get me and bring me back to life\u2019,\u201d Innes-Jones said.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Darin Dance and Virginia Innes-Jones, who write under pseudonyms Hinemura Ellison and Ted Hughes, with their novels. Photo \/ David Haxton<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The home has been renovated and upgraded since the vendors bought it at the end of last year. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Innes-Jones made an offer the same day she saw it. \u201cI couldn\u2019t dither. I had to make an offer that night. It was like, I can\u2019t muck around on this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of fell in love with the story about the house and the old man who had lived there. It just reminded me of baches down in Akaroa, in the South Island, where I\u2019ve spent a lot of holidays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Innes-Jones and Dance spent a solid six months renovating the house. \u201cThere were Jack and the Beanstalk-style weeds going through the joinery, and the windows were hanging off their latches. It really needed to be sealed and painted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Discover more:<\/p>\n

– Family sells heritage mansion for less than $3m after quitting NZ<\/a><\/p>\n

– Revealed: What went down after comedian Mike King sold his house<\/a><\/p>\n

– House prices fall hard in Auckland’s ‘bullet-proof’ suburbs<\/a><\/p>\n

When the couple ripped up the old carpet, they made an interesting discovery: old coins that had been left there for good luck and eternal health. Before laying a plush new carpet, Innes-Jones replaced the coins and added a couple of her own for good measure.<\/p>\n

Innes-Jones has had publishing success with her trilogy of murder mystery books written with Dance, who goes under the pen name Ted Hughes. With Sharks With Lipstick, Snakes In Suits and Scorpions In Stilettos behind her, she is now focused on an anthology work in collaboration with other writers and poets.<\/p>\n

She told OneRoof that the house had been an inspiration for her writing, noting that she would often sit on the Juliette balcony and the poems would pour out of her. \u201cIt\u2019s a magical house. So, I\u2019m doing the heroine\u2019s journey. I feel like Sleeping Beauty looking out at the Sky Tower and the boats,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The leadlight lantern at the front door is mentioned in the poem as a guiding light for the homeowner. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The view from the balcony has been an inspiration for Innes-Jones\u2019 writing. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a fairytale \u2013 you feel like you are in England when you sit there, like a little seaside fishing village.\u201d<\/p>\n

Innes-Jones said she had hoped to spend longer in the \u201cmagical home\u201d, but was selling up to help her elderly parents, who need residential care.<\/p>\n

She said she planned to stay in Auckland, but was unsure what her next house would look like. \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to be next. I might just drive down some road. I\u2019ve always wanted to get a church or a lighthouse \u2013 I might suddenly find something else which is much, much cheaper than I can afford and needs much less TLC.\u201d<\/p>\n

– 9 Lombard Street, in Saint Heliers, Auckland City, has an asking price of $2.85m<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"– Author Virginia Innes-Jones, known as Hinemura Ellison, wrote a poem to sell her St Heliers home. –…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1258,111,43,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-32857","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-latest-news","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}