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Bestselling author Judy Turner, who wrote historical and romantic fiction under the pseudonyms Katie Flynn and Judith Saxton, has died at the age of 82.
Her publishers at Penguin Random House confirmed she passed away on New Years Day, 1st January 2019.
Turner, born in Norwich, wrote over 90 books in her lifetime, selling more than eight million copies. Known for her acclaimed Liverpool sagas, through Nielsen BookScan she sold 108,442 books for £397,730 writing as Judith Saxton and 3.5 million books for £15.3m writing as Katie Flynn, with her bestselling novel the 2009-released In Time for Christmas, at 143,664 copies sold.
Literary agent Caroline Sheldon, who represented Turner for over 30 years, said: "Writing was her life and through her talent to tell stories she forged a remarkable career spanning nearly 50 years and selling over 8 million books to her many fans. She will be much missed by all who knew her.”
Her publishers over the years included Michael Joseph, Hodder & Stoughton, HarperCollins and Mills & Boon, with Random House being her major publisher for the last 25 years.
Susan Sandon, m.d. of Cornerstone at Penguin Random House, said: “All at Century and Arrow feel immensely proud to have been Judy’s publisher over so many years. Her story telling has provided pleasure for literally generations of readers; I feel privileged to have worked so closely with her.”
After being diagnosed with ME in 1996, Turner's daughter Holly began assisting her in her writing. Her latest novels, writing as Katie Flynn and in which she was joined by Holly, were Christmas at Tuppenny Corner and A Mother’s Love (Century).
Still to be published are A Christmas Gift (Century), due out in hardback in July 2019 and in paperback in November 2019.