LONDON — Mystery writer Ruth Rendell, who brought psychological insight and social conscience to the classic British detective story, has died at the age of 85.
Publisher Penguin Random House said Rendell — best known for the Inspector Wexford series of novels — died Saturday morning in London. The cause of death was not announced, but Rendell had suffered a serious stroke in January.
Gail Rebuck, chairwoman of Penguin Random House U.K., said Rendell had been “an insightful and elegant observer of society” whose work “highlighted the causes she cared so deeply about.”
“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,” Rebuck said.
Rendell was one of Britain’s most popular crime novelists and wrote dozens of books, including many under the pen name Barbara Vine.
She was also a major influence on other writers. Stephen King tweeted that her death was “a huge loss.”
Born Ruth Grasemann in London in 1930, Rendell began her career as a journalist on a local newspaper, but had to resign after reporting on a sports club’s dinner without attending — thus missing the moment the after-dinner speaker dropped dead.
Rendell told The Associated Press in 2005 that she started her literary efforts by writing some “very bad” novels that were never published. After these false starts, she found that “suspense and a sort of tension and a sort of mystery was my forte.”
Once she found her way, Rendell produced novels at an astonishing pace — more than 60 books over four decades, including 20 featuring the liberal, literary small-town detective Chief Inspector Wexford. The Wexford books were made into a popular TV series, “The Ruth Rendell Mysteries,” which ran for more than a decade from 1987.
A lifelong socialist, Rendell anchored her thrillers in a distinctly modern landscape, introducing issues including environmentalism, politics, mental health and celebrity culture.
She brought to the classic mystery a psychological depth that gave readers unusual access to the emotional makeup of seemingly ordinary people capable of foul deeds.
She was appointed to the House of Lords by Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour government in 1997, becoming Baroness Rendell of Babergh. She took the work seriously, attending afternoon sessions in Parliament after she had finished her morning writing. She was especially involved in the fight to stop female genital mutilation, Rebuck said.
Rendell lived for years in the scenic Little Venice neighborhood of London, surrounded by canals and colorful houseboats. But the pleasant environment did not alter her hard-eyed view of human nature.
“I don’t think the world is a particularly pleasant place,” Rendell said. “It is, of course, for some people. But it is a hard place, and I don’t think it’s being cynical to say that.”
Rendell’s husband, journalist Donald Rendell — whom she married, divorced and remarried — died in 1999. She is survived by their son, Simon.
