Mortimer's family said he died early in the morning at his home in the Chiltern Hills northwest of London, with his wife and children at his side. They did not disclose the cause of death. Mortimer combined a career as a lawyer with a large literary output that included dozens of screen and stage plays and radio dramas.

His most famous creation was Horace Rumpole, a cigar-smoking, wine-loving barrister who appeared in a TV series and a string of novels and stories. Tony Lacey, Mortimer's editor at publisher Viking, said it's hard to think he's gone.