Yorkshire daughter completes late father's novel 'The Hanged Woman' in his memory

Eleanor Richards, 28, has set out to honour her late father, the author Mark Richards, by completing and bringing into the world the final novel in a six-book series.

When the Scarborough author suddenly passed away in September 2023, he didn’t just leave behind his wife and children but an unfinished manuscript of the novel, The Hanged Woman.

This sixth novel is the last in the series about the fictional Whitby detective Michael Brady.

Mark was only around 30 per cent of the way through the book when he died and when his daughter – an author herself - discovered this, she was on a mission to complete her father’s work.

She told The Yorkshire Post: “I’m not sure exactly when he started the Michael Brady series – as I have to admit I’d never read any of them until he passed away in early September of last year.

"But from the second I knew he was gone, there was never any question in my mind that I would finish the series for him.”

Eleanor explained her father had always “fought” to be a writer growing up, and said she witnessed her father's transformation from a financial advisor in a suit and tie to a passionate writer fuelled by a desire to follow his dreams.

The catalyst for this change was a heart attack on his 50th birthday and the loss of his older brother.

Mark transitioned from writing humorous columns about family life to embarking on a real fiction journey, creating the Whitby detective, Michael Brady.

The challenge for Eleanor was she only had “pages and pages of handwritten notes" on what was due to happen next.

She added: “But my dad was very like me in his writing – each chapter he wrote helped him plan the next one – so there was perhaps only 50 per cent of the book planned out.”

Eleanor, akin to her father's writing style, had to replot the entire novel, crafting an ending and solving the murder mystery her father had envisioned.

Eleanor - who credit’s her father as her “biggest inspiration” to becoming a writer - completed the book, writing no less than 60,000 words, in three months.

“Completing this book was like saying goodbye to my dad,” she said. “More than anything I wanted to do him proud.”

"And now that it’s written – I want as many people as possible to discover the character that he created, because I’m so proud of him for that and sadly, I never told him.”