Legendary Crime and Mystery Author, Ruth Rendell, has Died

Ruth Rendell, the author behind the Chief Inspector Wexford novels, has passed away at the age of 85 on Saturday, her publisher, Penguin Random House UK announced.

"We are devastated by the loss of one of our best loved authors, Ruth Rendell. Our thoughts are with her family," the publishing house said in a statement.

No cause of death has been announced yet. However, Rendell suffered from a serious stroke earlier this year.

Rendell was one of Britain's most popular crime and mystery writers. She has written dozens of books and has published others under her pen name, Barbara Vine. More specifically, she has authored more than 60 books in four decades. Her most popular character, Wexford, was loved by so many.

"With a series character like Wexford, people do regard him as a real person that they become extremely attached to," she said. "Women have written to me over the years and said that they were in love with him and would I kill his wife because they'd like to marry him."

The Wexford novels were also made into a TV series.

Throughout her career, Rendell received recognition and multiple awards for her work. She was also appointed to the House of Lords by Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor government in 1997.

"Ruth Rendell was an outstanding and hugely popular figure in British literature and, for the last 18 years, served the Labor Party in the House of Lords with great loyalty and passion," Labor leader Ed Miliband said on Saturday.

In her most recent years, Rendell lived in the Little Venice neighborhood of London.