Mystery writer Ruth Rendell, who died on Saturday at the age of 85, was yesterday described as “an insightful and elegant observer of society” whose work “highlighted the causes she cared so deeply about” by Gail Rebuck, chairwoman of publisher Penguin Random House UK.
“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,” she added.
The British author was also a major influence on other writers. American horror author Stephen King tweeted that her death was “a huge loss”.
Rendell, who brought psychological insight and social conscience to the classic British detective story, died in London. The cause of death was not announced, but she had suffered a serious stroke in January.
Best known for her Inspector Wexford series of novels, Rendell was one of Britain’s most popular crime novelists and wrote dozens of books, including some under the pen name Barbara Vine.
Born Ruth Grasemann in London in 1930, Rendell began her career as a journalist at 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.
She started her literary efforts by writing some “very bad” novels that were never published, before realising that “suspense and a sort of tension and a sort of mystery was my forte”.
She wrote more than 60 books over four decades, including 20 featuring the liberal, literary small-town detective Chief Inspector Wexford, which were made into a popular TV series, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, that ran for more than a decade from 1987.
Her output also included chilling, elegantly plotted psychological mysteries and the thick, multigenerational thrillers published as Barbara Vine.
A lifelong socialist, Rendell anchored her thrillers in a distinctly modern landscape, introducing issues such as environmentalism, politics, mental health and celebrity culture. She brought to the classic mystery a psychological depth that gave readers unusual access to the emotional make-up of seemingly ordinary people capable of foul deeds.
The author was appointed to Britain’s 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.
Rendell lived for years in the scenic Little Venice neighbourhood of London, surrounded by canals and colourful 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,” she once 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.
Her final novel, Dark Corners, is due to be published in October.