Peter Robinson, a well-known crime writer, passed away at the age of 72, according to his publisher.
The DCI Banks series, which was later adapted into a popular ITV drama starring Stephen Tompkinson in the title character, was written by an author from Leeds.
Robinson unexpectedly passed away on Tuesday following a brief illness, according to a statement from his publishing company Hodder & Stoughton.
He leaves behind Sheila Halladay, his devoted wife, to whom he penned all of his books.
In 1987, Robinson released the first DCI Banks book; over the course of his writing career, he also produced a number of additional books, short stories, and poetry.
“Peter was a blend of all the best aspects of his detective Alan Banks,” said Robinson’s editor and Hodder managing director Carolyn Mays. “He was smart and passionate about justice, he had excellent taste and a totally down-to-earth vision of the world.
“His humour was wry and very dry.
“He was a Yorkshireman to the core; much that he did was done without fanfare, like the scholarship he created at the University of Leeds, where he himself took his first degree, to sponsor students through an English literature and creative writing course.
“Our hearts are with his family and friends, his agents David Grossman and Dominick Abel, the many thousands of fans who will miss his work so much, and most of all with his beloved wife Sheila, to whom he dedicated every single book he wrote.”
After graduating from college, Robinson moved to Canada where he settled with his wife Sheila Halladay in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto.
Robinson previously got the Derrick Murdoch Award from the Crime Writers of Canada in 2010, and in 2020 he was given the Grand Master Award.
In the imaginary town of Eastvale, Robinson’s writing was heavily influenced by a modern Yorkshire where the natural beauty of the Dales coexisted with poverty and criminality.
Ms Mays described Robinson’s latest work, Standing In The Shadows as “perhaps his finest work yet”.
The novel is set to be published in March, an event that Ms Mays said will be “a bittersweet experience”.
Tributes have been paid to Robinson online, including from fellow crime writers Val McDermid and Ian Rankin.
“We were both first published in 1987, and our paths often crossed, (usually accompanied by beer) in Canada and his beloved Yorkshire. Condolences to Sheila.”
Rankin added: “Hellish news about my dear friend Peter Robinson. Spent many a wonderful evening in the company of him and his partner Sheila.”
