FILE PHOTO: Jeffrey Archer, best-selling British novelist and former politician | Photo credit: REUTERS/SUZANNE PLUNKETT
Jeffrey Archer, the best-selling British novelist and former politician jailed for lying in a high-profile libel case, has died aged 86, publisher HarperCollins said on Monday.
Archer has sold more than 300 million copies worldwide and is best known for thrillers like his 1976 debut “Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less” and “Kane & Abel”, with his final novel Adam and Eve due to be published this month.
He is also a prominent Conservative politician, having briefly served as an MP before becoming a senior party official under prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the mid-1980s.
But Archer suffered a public downfall when he was convicted of perjury and perjury in 2001, sentenced to four years in prison.
Kate Elton, UK CEO of HarperCollins and editor of Archer, said in a statement: “We are all saddened by the loss of an author who has brought joy to generations of readers – and a true friend.”
Published on October 6, 2026