Jayme Deerwester

USA TODAY

Crime writer Michelle McNamara, who was married to actor/comedian Patton Oswalt, died in her sleep Thursday at home in Los Angeles, his publicist says.

Kevin McLaughlin of Main Stage Public Relations did not elaborate on the cause of death and said her passing “was a complete shock to her family and friends, who loved her dearly.”

The University of Notre Dame graduate, who had a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Minnesota, was 46.

She created the True Crime Diary blog, and eschewed big celebrity murders in favor of covering smaller-profile cases such as the Golden State Killer and the 1976 murder of nurse Melanie Howell.

“It’s the ones that really don’t get that much attention that interest me because I think what’s interesting about them is there’s more stuff to be unearthed that hasn’t been in the public yet and you can do it,” she wrote.

In a 2007 online interview, McNamara said she started the blog almost as a lark. “I wanted to get more involved in the cases that were fueling my own curiosity,” she said.

Oswalt, a veteran actor, currently narrates ABC's The Goldbergs. He was also a regular on CBS' The King of Queens and voiced the main character in Ratatouille, which won the animated feature-film Oscar in 2007.

McNamara and Oswalt married in 2005 and have one child, a 7-year-old daughter named Alice.

Contributing: The Associated Press