The crime writer Colin Dexter, creator of the much-loved character Inspector Morse, has died at the age of 86.
A statement from his publisher, Macmillan, said: "With immense sadness, Macmillan announces the death of Colin Dexter, who died peacefully at home in Oxford this morning."
Calling Dexter a "revolutionary," author Lee Child said, "He wrote a character without any concessions at all to likely popularity--Morse was bad tempered, cantankerous, esoteric and abstruse--and thereby showed us that integrity and authenticity work best. His literary descendants are everywhere. When our genre's family tree is drawn, he's the root of a huge portion of it."
A statement from his publisher, Macmillan, said: "With immense sadness, Macmillan announces the death of Colin Dexter, who died peacefully at home in Oxford this morning."
Calling Dexter a "revolutionary," author Lee Child said, "He wrote a character without any concessions at all to likely popularity--Morse was bad tempered, cantankerous, esoteric and abstruse--and thereby showed us that integrity and authenticity work best. His literary descendants are everywhere. When our genre's family tree is drawn, he's the root of a huge portion of it."