Crime novelist Elmore Leonard whose acclaimed best sellers became popular films in the 1990s, including "Get Shorty" and "Out of Sight," died at his home on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. He was 87.

Winner of an honorary National Book Award 2012, Leonard died from complications from a stroke, according to his researcher Gregg Sutter.

The prolific Leonard wrote more than 40 novels, which mostly depicted conman and hitmen, with doses of black humor spliced in.

"I didn't know it was possible to be as good as Elmore Leonard," author Ann Arensberg once wrote in a New York Times book review.

Leonard spent much of his childhood in Detroit where most of his novels were also set in, as well. Miami was another frequent landmark location used in his crime stories. He was born in New Orleans on October 11, 1925, and served in the Navy during World War II.

"The Bounty Hunters," his first novel, was published in 1953. Much of his career had been in the advertising business until 20th Century Fox bought the rights to one of his novels "Hombre" for $10,000 in 1967. From that day on, he devoted all of his professional career to writing.

"Well, you've got to put in the time if you want to write a book," Leonard told the Associated Press in 2010.

Leonard wrote well into his 80s. "Get Shorty," "Out of Sight," "The Hot Kid" and "Killshot" remain some of his most popular books.