British crime novelist Ruth Rendell dies at age 85


Ruth Rendell, author of more than 60 crime and mystery novels, died on Saturday at age 85, The Associated Press reports.
The British writer's best-known series focused on her character Chief Inspector Wexford; those adventures were turned into a popular television series. She told AP in a 2005 interview that after initial efforts at some "very bad" novels, she found her voice through "suspense and a sort of tension and a sort of mystery."
Rendell was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997, bearing the official title Baroness Rendell of Babergh.
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Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
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