Alan Bradley (photo courtesy Penguin Random House Canada)

Alan Bradley, the author best known for his bestselling Flavia de Luce mystery series, has died. He was 87.

Bradley’s publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, shared the news on May 19 that Bradley had died in the Isle of Man. PRHC imprint Doubleday Canada has been the publisher of Bradley’s novels since the 2009 release of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, his first novel.

Penguin Random House Canada CEO Kristin Cochrane said that the publisher was deeply saddened by the loss.

“Alan’s extraordinary imagination, generosity of spirit, and wonderful craft as a storyteller brought joy to readers in Canada and around the world for more than 15 years,” Cochrane said in a press release. “I am joined by colleagues across Penguin Random House Canada in our appreciation for Alan’s great books, and our admiration for the care with which he shared Flavia with the world. We are profoundly grateful for the privilege of publishing Alan Bradley and will continue to celebrate his remarkable legacy by ensuring his stories endure for generations to come.”

The Flavia de Luce novels were global bestsellers, and the 12th title in the series, Numb Were the Beadsman’s Fingers, will be published on Nov. 3. A film adaptation of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, titled Flavia, is slated for release later this year. Bradley had visited the film set during production and viewed a final cut of the film, his publisher said.

Bradley was born in Toronto and grew up in Cobourg, Ontario, where he began his career as a radio and television engineer. He moved to Saskatoon in 1969 where he worked as the director of television engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. He retired early in 1994 to write full time, and moved to Kelowna, B.C., with his wife Shirley.

Before turning to novels, he published short stories for both adults and children, arts and lifestyle columns, and screenplays. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie received instant acclaim, winning the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award before it was even published, the Dilys Winn Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Agatha Award, the Macavity Award, and the Barry Award, and garnering a nomination for the Anthony Award. The 11 published books in the series have sold more than six million copies worldwide.