Richard Coles

Richard Coles is a renowned British author, Church of England priest, broadcaster, and former pop musician. Born on 26 March 1962 in Northampton, England, he first gained fame in the 1980s as part of the chart-topping synth-pop duo The Communards, achieving a UK No. 1 hit with Don’t Leave Me This Way The Speaker Handbook. After a period marked by fame and personal turbulence, he found spiritual direction in the early 1990s, studied theology at King’s College London, and was ordained into the Anglican priesthood in 2005. He served as the longtime vicar of Finedon before retiring from parish duties in 2022 Book Series in Order+7+7The Speaker Handbook+7.

As an author, Coles has published a rich body of work, including several critically praised memoirs and a hit crime fiction series. His memoirs — Fathomless Riches (2014), Bringing in the Sheaves (2016), and The Madness of Grief (2021) — reflect on his journey from pop stardom to pulpit, his struggles with grief, mental health, and personal transformation thetimes.co.uk+9The Speaker Handbook+9Book Series in Order+9. Since 2022, he has turned to the mystery genre, releasing the Canon Clement series — Murder Before Evensong (2022), A Death in the Parish (2023), and Murder at the Monastery (2024) — each a Sunday Times bestseller that blends village life with cozy suspense under an Anglican lens +6+6Book Series in Order+6.

Coles shares poignant and often witty reflections in his writing. From The Madness of Grief: “When your partner dies they take with them your future.” Another insight: “Self‑pity is neither attractive nor helpful.” His fiction also blends humour with depth, as in Murder Before Evensong: “But what he liked most of all about dogs was their innocence of human motives… their affection unstaled by familiarity and reciprocity.”