Submitted by Carmel on 3 May 2015 – 5:22pm
UK crime writer Ruth Rendell, creator of the Inspector Wexford series, has died at the age of 85, following a stroke in January.
Rendell, who also wrote psychological thrillers under the name of Barbara Vine, was the author of more than 60 novels.
Her rival and great friend, P D James, died in November. Both were in the House of Lords, James appointed by the Tories, Rendell by Labour.
The Guardian carried a tribute by Scottish Queen of Crime (and great friend of Sisters in Crime Australia), Val McDermid.
“Ruth Rendell was unique. No one can equal her range or her accomplishment; no one has earned more respect from her fellow practitioners,” McDermid said.
“The broad church that is current British crime writing owes much to a writer who over a 50-year career consistently demonstrated that the genre can continually reinvent itself, moving in new directions, assuming new concerns and exploring new ways of telling stories. And doing it all in a smoothly satisfying prose style.”
Read more:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/02/ruth-rendell-writer-dies-aged-85
http://time.com/3844282/ruth-rendell-mystery-writer-dies/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11579110/Ruth-Rendell-crime-writer-obituary.html