A best-selling author who was regarded as a pioneer of the chick-lit genre killed herself by taking an overdose of painkillers, a coroner has ruled.

Susan Morgan, 52, who wrote under the pseudonyms Zoe Barnes and Sue Dyson, had been suffering from the emotional pain of a marital break-up and the physical pain of ill-health, said the Gloucestershire coroner, Alan Crickmore, who recorded a verdict of suicide.

Police discovered her body after breaking into an Isle of Man hotel room on 31 October last year.

The inquest heard that she had taken a lethal cocktail of painkillers.

Her husband Simon said she suffered with chronic pain caused by two rare conditions – Tolosa Hunt Syndrome and Marinesco-Sjogren Syndrome – that required a range of medication.

The author of 45 novels – including Weddings Belles, Just Married and her last book, Return to Sender – she had also translated books into French and worked on an English translation of Van Gogh's letters, which has recently been published.

Most of her novels were written in Cheltenham where she lived and mention areas such as Charlton Kings, Tivoli and Montpellier.

She had previously worked as a hearing aid technician and a secretary.

A spokesman for her publishers Piatkus said: "She was one of the pioneers of chick-lit back in the nineties and has been entertaining her female fans ever since.

"All her stories were honest and believable with flawed but honourable heroines any woman would want to call a friend.

"She will be sorely missed by everyone who has had the pleasure of working with her through her career as a novelist."