PD James: Acclaimed 'Queen of Crime' Novelist Dies Aged 94

PD James, the novelist famous for her series of detective novels, has died aged 94, her publisher has announced.

A spokesman from Faber and Faber said: "It is with great sadness that the family of author PD James, Baroness James of Holland Park OBE, FRSL, FRSA, announce that she died peacefully at her home in Oxford on the morning of 27 November 2014, aged 94, a much-loved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

"The family have requested privacy at this time."

James was a life peer in the House of Lords but was most famous for her crime novels which starred policeman and poet Adam Dalgliesh.

She attained success with the 1980 novel Innocent Blood after selling the paperback rights for £380,000 and film rights for £145,000, after which she retired.

"At the beginning of the week I was relatively poor and at the end of the week I wasn't," she said.

Queen Elizabeth II made her Baroness James of Holland Park in 1991 for her work at the the governor of the BBC between 1988 and 1993.