Sue Grafton, the best-selling mystery writer, known for alphabetically titled novels featuring the female private investigator Kinsey Millhone, has died in California aged 77.

The author's death was announced on Facebook by her daughter Jamie Clark. She had been suffering from cancer for the past two years.

"She was adamant that her books would never be turned into movies or TV shows," she wrote, "and in that same vein, she would never allow a ghost writer to write in her name.

"Because of all of those things, and out of the deep abiding love and respect for our dear sweet Sue, as far as we in the family are concerned, the alphabet now ends at Y."

Earlier this year, in an interview with National Public Radio in the US, the author said she was hoping to finish the series with novel called Z is for Zero.

Grafton, who was originally from Kentucky, worked as a screenwriter before penning her first Millhone novel A is for Alibi, in 1982. Her final work Y is for Yesterday was published earlier this year.

The author described Millhone as her alter ego in one interview.

Fellow crime writer Sara Paretsky paid a personal tribute on Facebook, saying they had been part of each other's writing history for 35 years.