The Inspiration Behind Secrets of St Mary's
Where did Secrets of St Mary's come from? Richard Hughes on the ideas, observations and questions that shaped the novel.
7 May 2026Read more →
Richard Hughes · British Crime Fiction Author
Every village has its secrets. St Mary's has spent twenty years burying them.
Secrets of St Mary's — Book One of the series
Enter the world of Richard Hughes, where faith, loyalty and betrayal collide, and the truth is rarely what it seems.
The Man Beneath the Collar — Publication date to be announced →
The Series
Four Books. A Darker Truth.
From the shadows of St Mary's to the truths that lie beneath, this four-part series explores the secrets people keep and the lives they leave behind.
Book One
Secrets of St Mary's
The beginning of the story.
Book Two
The Man Beneath the Collar
Some confessions can never be unheard.
Coming SoonBook Three
Under wraps
Book Four
Under wraps
An Interactive Investigation
The Confessional
Every secret has a witness. Every choice has a consequence.
Something happened at St Mary's.
The truth is buried beneath years of silence, conflicting accounts and secrets that some people would rather remain hidden.
Now it's your turn to investigate. Examine the evidence. Question what you've been told. Make your decisions.
But be careful. Not everyone is telling the truth.
The World of St Mary's
A Small Community.
A Long Memory.
St Mary's is calm on the surface.
But beneath it sits something else.
A network of secrets.
Lives shaped by decisions that refuse to stay buried.
Secrecy
What lies beneath the surface
Identity
Who we become in the dark
Redemption
The weight of second chances
Consequence
When the past catches up
Explore the Village
Enter St Mary's
Walk the village lanes. Meet its residents. Look through Marion Shaw's binoculars. Discover the world behind the novel.
The Author Behind St Mary's
Meet Richard Hughes
Every story begins somewhere. Mine began in the middle.
I'm Richard Hughes, a London-born, Essex-based author of British crime and psychological thrillers.
The idea for Secrets of St Mary's began with a simple question: what if someone respected and trusted by an entire community was hiding a very dark secret? That question became the foundation of St Mary's, a fictional village where appearances can be deceiving and the past is never quite forgotten.
Meet the AuthorConfessions
Extracts, insights and
behind-the-scenes writing.
Village Secrets and Hidden Lives in Fiction
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The Appeal of Slow-Burn Mystery Fiction
Slow-burn mystery does not rush. It builds. And the tension it creates through patience and accumulation is different from anything a faster narrative can produce.
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About Secrets of St Mary's
Secrets of St Mary's is a British psychological mystery novel by Richard Hughes. Set around a quiet village and a respected vicar, the story explores secrecy, identity, trust and the consequences of buried decisions. Readers can discover the book, preview the novel, learn more about the characters, follow Book 2 updates and order direct from the official Richard Hughes author website.