by Beth Flintoff Summer, 1827. In a red barn in Suffolk, Maria Marten awaits her lover. A year later, hidden in a grain sack under the barn floor, Marias body is found barely identifiable and the manhunt begins. The Red Barn Murder had all the hallmarks of a classic crime drama: a missing body, a disreputable squire, and a rural village stuck in its age-old traditions. But whilst it sent shockwaves throughout the country, Marias own story was lost. The Ballad of Maria Marten rediscovers that story, bringing it back to vivid, urgent life.