Ruth Dugdall

Ruth Dugdall is a novelist from Felixstowe, Suffolk, UK. Her fiction falls into the genre of crime writing, with a particular focus upon forensics. ^[1]

Early life and education

Dudgall studied a degree in English and Theatre Studies at Warwick University and gained an MA in Social Work from the University of East Anglia.

Career

Dugdall was inspired by a prison drama workshop that she attended, and so decided to train as a probation officer. Working in this area, she specialised in contact with offenders deemed ‘high risk’, with inmates who had often been found guilty of stalking, rape and murder.^[2] Dugdall qualified as a probation officer in 1996. These experiences offered her an insight into forensic psychology, which informed her crime writing.^[3] Dugdall’s novel The Woman Before Me and its follow-up The Sacrificial Man were published by Legend Press. The former won the Debut Dagger Award, and sold 45,000 copies.^[4] Dugdall said ‘I write to reflect my own experiences…when I wrote The Woman Before Me I had just had a baby, and the novel was a sort of therapy during those early months with no sleep and plenty of anxiety. And of course my protagonist is a probation officer, reflecting my own past career’.^[5] Reviewing The Sacrificial Man, Kirkus Reviews called it ‘a convoluted story about a woman whose fate, while interesting, is not very compelling. Dugdall’s fans may find this effort pleasing, but the author’s choices will turn off some potential readers’.^[6] Euro Crime were more positive, and described it as 'a readable, very well-plotted tale, with believable and sympathetic characters'.^[7] Legend Press recently acquired world rights for her next two novels, Humber Boy B and The Trophy Wife.^[8]

Humber Boy B will cover the case of two young boys who are found guilty of murdering another child, and is set for publication in April 2015. The Trophy Wife is due for release in October 2015. Both books feature Dugdall's probation officer character, Cate Austin, who was the central protagonist of The Woman Before Me.^[8] Dugdall has appeared on Woman’s Hour^[9] and she was a judge on the panel of the 2014 Luke Bitmead Bursary.^[10]

References