Crime author Ruth Rendell dies at 85

Crime writer Ruth Rendell, who created the character Inspector Wexford that inspired a successful TV series, has died. She was 85.
Rendell, who suffered a stroke in January, passed away here on Saturday morning, according to her publisher Penguin Random House, reported BBC News.
"We are devastated by the loss of one of our best-loved authors," the publisher said in a statement.
Rendell wrote more than 60 novels in a career spanning 50 years. She also wrote under the pen-name Barbara Vine.
Born in Essex, she is credited with bringing a social and psychological dimension to crime fiction.
Rendell's first Wexford book, "From Doon with Death", was published in 1964, beginning a series of more than 20 starring Inspector Reginald Wexford, played in the TV series, "The Ruth Rendell Mysteries" by George Baker.

Many of her works were translated into more than 20 languages and adapted for cinema and TV, attracting worldwide sales of 60 million.

She was the author of more than 20 standalone novels, whose protagonists were often on the margins of society, and was awarded the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for excellence in crime writing.
Her final novel, "Dark Corners", is due to be published in October.
Rendell, whose writing brought her considerable wealth, was made a Labour life peer in 1997 and is reputed to have given generously to charity. She was a vocal campaigner against female genital mutilation.