Bestselling author of 'Kane and Abel,' Jeffrey Archer, dies at 86

Bestselling British novelist and former politician Jeffrey Archer, whose rags-to-riches literary career was matched by a dramatic political rise and a spectacular fall from grace, died suddenly and peacefully at his home on Monday. He was 86.

Archer, one of Britain’s most commercially successful writers, sold more than 300 million books worldwide during a career spanning five decades. His death came a day before the global release of his final novel, Adam and Eve, publisher HarperCollins said.

Archer’s life rarely followed a straight line. He moved from Parliament and the upper ranks of the Conservative Party to a perjury conviction and prison, only to rebuild his career as a novelist and return to the House of Lords. His story of success, scandal and reinvention made him as recognisable a public figure as the thrillers that made him a global bestseller.

From politics to publishing

Archer began his writing career in 1976 with Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, a novel reportedly inspired in part by his own experience of facing financial ruin after bad investments. He followed it with international bestsellers including Kane and Abel, establishing the fast-paced storytelling style that became his trademark.

According to HarperCollins, Archer spent 14 years and five months on Britain's Sunday Times bestseller lists and more than five years on The New York Times bestseller lists.

His political career had begun earlier. Archer briefly served as a lawmaker and later rose through the Conservative Party under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He was appointed to the House of Lords in 1992 by Thatcher's successor, John Major.

The scandal that changed everything

Archer’s political ambitions unravelled after allegations emerged during his 1999 campaign to become mayor of London. More than a decade earlier, he had sued the Daily Star after the newspaper alleged that he had paid a sex worker, winning £500,000 in damages.

The case returned to the spotlight when a former friend alleged that Archer had fabricated an alibi for the 1987 libel trial. A jury later found him guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice, and he was sentenced to four years in prison in 2001, AP reported.

Archer was released early in 2003 after serving just over two years. His conviction ended his formal association with the Conservative Party, although it did not strip him of his seat in the House of Lords. He later returned to the chamber as a non-affiliated member and remained there until retiring in 2024, according to AP.

Rather than ending his writing career, prison became material for another major work. Archer chronicled his time behind bars in A Prison Diary, a three-volume memoir covering his experiences in British prisons.

A final novel

Archer's final book, Adam and Eve, continued his interest in class, ambition and social inequality. The story followed the daughter of an earl who wanted a son to inherit his estate and the son of a shepherd who wanted a daughter because he expected a boy to be sent to war.

The novel was due to be published globally on Tuesday, one day after Archer's death. He had described it as the most satisfying book he had written.

His political legacy also included a campaign to change Britain's succession laws and give royal daughters equal rights. Those efforts later helped inspire the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, which ended the preference for younger sons over older daughters in the line of succession.

Archer was survived by his wife of 60 years, Dame Mary Archer, their two sons, two granddaughters and three grandsons.

HarperCollins UK CEO and Archer's editor Kate Elton said the publisher was “devastated” to have lost a writer who had brought joy to generations of readers and “a true friend”.

(With inputs from Agencies)