Jeffrey Archer, UK Author And Former Conservative Politician, Dies At 86

British author Jeffrey Archer has died at the age of 86. His publisher, HarperCollins, said he died suddenly and peacefully at home on Monday between writing sessions. Archer was a best-selling novelist, known for his thrillers, and had sold over 300 million copies worldwide.

Archer had a colourful life, both in his writing and in real life. He served as a Conservative MP and was a senior party official under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the mid-1980s. However, his political career was marred by scandal when he was convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice in 2001, and was jailed for four years. According to MyJoyOnline Ghana, he was jailed for lying and cheating in his 1987 libel case against the Daily Star.

Archer's final novel, "Adam and Eve", was due to be published this week, with his editor Kate Elton, calling him a "master storyteller" and an "editor's dream". He had revealed in 2014 that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Free Malaysia Today reported that Kate Elton, HarperCollins UK CEO and Archer's editor, said "We're all devastated to have lost a writer who has brought joy to generations of readers - and a true friend".

Brief written by urgent.news from NDTV, Gulf News, MyJoyOnline Ghana, Free Malaysia Today, BBC News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.