PD James was yesterday hailed by fellow Oxford literary legend Colin Dexter as ‘one of the most stylish and distinguished modern crime writers’.

Tributes flowed for the author – most famous for her creation of police investigator Adam Dalgliesh, who starred in 14 of her novels – after it was announced the 94-year-old had died at her central Oxford home yesterday.

Mr Dexter, author of the Morse novels, was a good friend of Baroness James and he spoke of his admiration for her. He said: “It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of PD James. She was a lady for whom I had always been a friend and admirer.

“We became close friends in my early days in Oxford, especially seeking to sit together at the annual Oldie Magazine dinners. She was a very good speaker and a beautiful writer, certainly one of the most stylish and distinguished of the 20th and 21st centuries in the crime genre. I will miss her greatly and so will many others.”

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Prime Minister and Witney MP David Cameron tweeted: “Saddened to hear of the death of PD James, one of the UK’s greatest crime writers, who thrilled and inspired generations of readers.”

Her character of Dalgliesh starred in 14 of her novels, many of which were adapted for television or film.

She also wrote two novels featuring Detective Cordelia Gray, as well as Death Comes to Pemberley, which became a television series, and Children of Men, released as a film in 2006.

Faber & Faber, her publisher since 1962, said: “It is difficult to express our profound sadness at losing PD James, one of the world’s great writers. She was so very remarkable in every aspect of her life, an inspiration and great friend to us all.”

Her agents, Greene & Heaton, added: “All of us who worked with Phyllis James feel a sense of regret and great sadness at her death.”

She was born on August 20, 1920, in Oxford, to tax inspector Sidney James and Dorothy Hone, and was a Conservative life peer in the House of Lords.

She attended Cambridge High School for Girls and from 1949 to 1968 worked as an administrator for the National Health Service.

Both St Hilda’s College and Kellogg College in Oxford had awarded her honorary fellowships and she was also a former governor of the BBC.

Her first novel, Cover Her Face, was published by Faber in 1962. It featured Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, a policeman and poet working for Scotland Yard.

In Oxford, Baroness James had supported the Oxford Playhouse theatre.

Director Sally Dunsmore said: “She was a tremendous supporter of the festival from its earliest days and gave many extraordinary talks over the years. We are all diminished by her passing.”

She is survived by her daughters Clare and Jane, five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Her husband Connor Bantry White died in 1964. Her funeral arrangements have not yet been confirmed.


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