TRIBUTES have been paid to the best-selling crime writer Ruth Rendell following her death at the age of 85.
Rendell, who suffered a stroke in January, passed away in London at yesterday morning.
During a prolific career, she penned more than 60 best-sellers, including the Inspector Wexford novels, which were turned into a TV series starring George Baker in the title role.
Her publishers Penguin Random House said: "We are devastated by the loss of one of our best-loved authors.
"Ruth has been published by Hutchinson since 1964 and under her pen name Barbara Vine, she wrote 14 novels for Penguin.
"Ruth was very much part of our publishing family and a friend to many at Penguin Random House. We will miss her enormously. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time."
Baroness Gail Rebuck, chair of Penguin Random House UK, said: "Ruth was much admired by the whole publishing industry for her brilliant body of work.
"An insightful and elegant observer of society, many of her award-winning thrillers and psychological murder mysteries highlighted the causes she cared so deeply about.
"Ruth also became one of the first New Labour working peers, continuing to effect change through the House of Lords, most particularly on the issue of FGM (female genital mutilation).
"Ruth was a great writer, a campaigner for social justice, a proud mother and grandmother, a generous and loyal friend and probably the best read person I have ever met.
"Her many close friends in publishing and the House of Lords will greatly miss her wonderful company and her truly unique contribution to our lives."
Susan Sandon, managing director of Cornerstone Publishing, said: "Ruth was beloved as an author and a friend - to me, and to so many of us.
"Her writing and her company enriched all our lives. Erudite, wise and endlessly entertaining, she will be so greatly missed."
Rendell's most recent publication was The Girl Next Door, which came out last year, along with a 50th anniversary edition of her debut novel, From Doon With Death.
Her Wexford books were dramatised for TV for more than a decade as The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, with Baker in the lead role.
She has also published a number of books under the pen name Barbara Vine, as well as many psychological crime thrillers.
Rendell began her career as a local newspaper journalist, but resigned after covering a tennis club annual dinner and failing to mention the death of the after-dinner speaker.
She was made a life peer in 1997, a year after being awarded a CBE.
Her awards included the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence in crime writing.
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