Crime writer Ruth Rendell (top inset) has died in hospital at the age of 85. The inventive Rendell was best known for her Inspector Wexford series which was turned into an internationally successful TV series. Rendell had been admitted to hospital after a serious stroke in January. Ruth Rendell is said to have been the most important British crime novelist of the past 50 years. She prided herself on the pace of her plots and the creation of compelling suspense. In her lifetime, Rendell sold an astonishing 60 million books. Her series of Inspector Wexford detective stories picked up the legacy of the golden age crime writers like Agatha Christie and led the genre into the modern world, in turn inspiring writers such as Colin Dexter and Ian Rankin. The role of chief inspector Reginald Wexford was played by George Baker (inset lower)
