Let This Be Our Secret cover art

Let This Be Our Secret

The Shocking True Story of a Killer Dentist, His Mistress, How They Murdered Their Spouses - and How They Almost Got Away with It

Preview
This Season's Biggest Deal

$0.99/mo for 3 months + $20 Audible bonus voucher

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 28 December, 2026.
More purchase options

Let This Be Our Secret

By: Deric Henderson
Narrated by: Gary Furlong
Get this deal

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 28 December, 2026. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $24.56

Buy Now for $24.56

This Season's Biggest Deal | $0.99/mo for 3 months + $20 Audible bonus

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo. after 3 months - terms apply.
Summary

Let This Be Our Secret is a remarkable true crime story set on Ireland's north coast where the bodies of a couple were found in a car filled with carbon monoxide fumes - the apparent victims of a suicide pact.

But 18 years later, wealthy dentist Colin Howell confessed to police that it was he and his then lover, Hazel Buchanan, who murdered their respective partners. All four belonged to Coleraine Baptist Church. Howell later re-married an American divorcee, while Buchanan, a mother of two, eventually began a new life with a senior policeman who was once a staff officer to the former RUC Chief Constable Hugh Annesley. Howell went on to run hugely successful dental implant surgeries in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim and Bangor, Co. Down, but despite his strong Baptist beliefs, he lived a secret life of lust, deceit, and greed. It was to prove to be his undoing when his life unraveled spectacularly at Christmas 2008 with heavy overseas investment losses linked to a project to find Japanese gold hidden in the Philippines. And he has admitted other affairs and sexual advances to his dental patients. Hazel Buchanan, Howell's ex-lover, also re-married. She emerged as a high-maintenance and glamorous keep-fit fanatic who according to friends always had a haunted look, fearing that sooner or later an investigating police officer would one day tap her on the shoulder. Out of Northern Ireland's dark and troubled history has emerged a crime like no other.

©2011 Deric Henderson (P)2021 Tantor
Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions Murder True Crime Crime Winter Christmas
All stars
Most relevant
Such a sad story
Understanding why people do what they do is always fascinating.
And this story is right up there with regards the whys, how could you, what were you thinking
But these people exist.
Well narrated and well written
If you like true crime you’ll like this

Highly recommend

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.