Len Deighton, author of best-selling spy thrillers, dead at 97

By Canadian Press on March 17, 2026.

LONDON (AP) — Len Deighton, a prolific writer whose tough, stylish spy thrillers featured on best-seller lists for decades, has died. He was 97.

Deighton’s literary agent, Tim Bates, said he died Sunday. No cause of death was given.

Deighton’s first novel, “The IPCRESS File,” set the tone of cool 1960s thrillers and was made into a film that helped make a star of Michael Caine.

Bates said Tuesday that Deighton “was not only one of the greatest spy and thriller writers of the 20th century but also one of our greatest writers in any genre.”

Jill Lawless, The Associated Press

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