Award-winning crime writer Dick Francis has died at the age of 89, according to his family.

The former champion jockey has sold more than 60 million books in 20 languages and was known for his mysteries, which also used the world of horse racing as a backdrop.British author Dick Francis, in a September 2000 photo, was a former jockey whose crime novels became worldwide bestsellers. (Jim Cooper/Associated Press)

His son Felix, who co-wrote Even Money with his father, released a statement:

"My brother, Merrick, and I are, of course, devastated by the loss of our father, but we rejoice in having been the sons of such an extraordinary man.

"We share in the joy that he brought to so many over such a long life."

The family says the writer died earlier Sunday in the Cayman Islands, where he had been living.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman told the Telegraph newspaper: "I am sure the Queen will be saddened by the news."

"He was a lovely person who always had a sparkle in his eye and he had a wicked sense of humour," John Francome, a friend and former jockey, told the Telegraph.

Francis was a successful British jockey, capturing 345 races in a nine-year, post-war career. He retired from the racing circuit in 1957 and began a different career, as racing correspondent for the Sunday Express newspaper.

He started penning crime novels in 1962 and never looked back.

Francis wrote more than 40 bestsellers and won many accolades including The Edgar Allen Poe Award in 1970 and 1980, the Gold Dagger Award in 1980 and the British Crime Writers' Association lifetime achievement Cartier Diamond Dagger Award in 1989.

In 2000, he was made a Commander of the British Empire.

Jockey to the Queen Mother

Born in Wales to a father who was a jockey and stable manager, the young Francis decided to leave school at age 15 to pursue his jockey career.

In the Second World War, he served with the Royal Air Force and in 1947, he married Mary Brenchley. They had two sons.

After leaving the RAF in 1946, his career as a jockey soared and from 1953 to 1957 he was jockey to the Queen Mother, who was also a fan of his novels.

He was forced to retire from racing because of a serious fall in 1956 while riding Devon Loch, a horse owned by the Queen Mother which suddenly slipped during the 1956 Grand National.

"The Devon Loch episode was a terrible thing but I look back on it now and I can say that if it hadn't happened, I might never have written a book, and my books have certainly helped keep the wolf from the door," he recalled in a 2006 interview.

Francis then became a racing correspondent for 16 years.

In 1962, he published his first thriller, Dead Cert, set in the world of horse racing.

From that date on, he managed to produce a novel a year for about 38 years. Up to his death, he wrote 42 books in all, one short story collection and his autobiography, The Sport of Queens.

Wife helped with books

Prior to her death in 2000, his wife Mary collaborated closely with her husband, often doing the research for and editing for his books.

For some time after her death, Francis didn't write anything new, but in 2006 he released Under Orders.

Subsequently, Dead Heat (2007) and Silks (2008) were co-written with his son Felix, who also became his manager.

He remains the only three-time winner of the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Novel — in 1970 for Forfeit, 1981 for Whip Hand and then 1996, for Come To Grief.

A last novel, co-written with his son, is due to be published in the fall.