Her publishers Penguin Random House said she passed away in London at 8am today.

In a statement, they said: "We are devastated by the loss of one of our best-loved authors.

"Ruth was very much part of our publishing family and a friend to many at Penguin Random House.
"We will miss her enormously."

Baroness Gail Rebuck, chair of Penguin Random House UK, said: "Ruth was much admired by the whole publishing industry for her brilliant body of work.

"An insightful and elegant observer of society, many of her award-winning thrillers and psychological murder mysteries highlighted the causes she cared so deeply about."

The author had also worked on various issues in the House of Lords, after being made a life peer in 1997, particularly on the issue of FGM (female genital mutilation).

Baroness Rebuck added: "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."

The author, who suffered a serious stroke in January, was known for her dozens of novels, including a series featuring Chief Inspector Wexford, which were adapted for television.

Growing up in east London and Essex, she started her writing career as a local newspaper journalist but had to resign after reporting on a local sports club's dinner without going along - meaning she missed the moment the after-dinner speaker dropped dead in the middle of his speech.

She was awarded a CBE in 1996 and had worldwide book sales of around 60 million.

Known as the Baroness Rendell of Babergh, the author of more than 60 best-selling novels had recently completed a new novel for the company and plans remain in place to publish it in the autumn.

Her most recent publication was The Girl Next Door, which came out last year along with a 50th anniversary edition of her debut novel, From Doon With Death, in 1964.

Her Wexford books were dramatised for TV for more than a decade as The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, with George Baker in the lead role.