The Sacrificial Man – Ruth Dugdall (Cate Austin Book 2)

The Sacrificial Man – Ruth Dugdall (Cate Austin Book 2) – Genre – Crime / Police

Blurb: What I want to say is that suicide is my choice. No-one else is to blame. Man seeks beautiful woman for the journey of a lifetime: Will you help me to die?

When Probation Officer Cate Austin is given her new assignment, she faces the highest-profile case of her career. Alice Mariani is charged with assisted suicide and Cate must recommend a sentence. Alice insists her story is one of misinterpreted love, forcing those around her to analyze their own lives. Who is to decide what is normal, and when does loyalty turn to obsession? Investigating the loophole that lies between murder and euthanasia, Cate must now meet the woman who agreed to comply with her lover’s final request. Shocking revelations expose bitter truths that can no longer be ignored.

My Review:  In The Sacrificial Man we meet up with Cate Austin the probation officer who is assigned to write a pre-sentancing report on Alice who has pleaded guilty to assisting with the suicide of her lover.  Another extremely uncomfortable storyline which has been dealt with in a manner that doesn’t sensationalise a really disturbing subject matter, but allows to reader to feel for the characters Ruth Dugdall creates.

About the Author: Ruth Dugdall was born in 1971. She holds a BA honours degree in English Literature (Warwick University) and an MA in Social Work (University of East Anglia). She qualified as a probation officer in 1996 and has worked in prison with offenders guilty of serious crimes, including stalking, rape and murder. This has informed her crime writing. Since she started writing, Ruth has won awards in several writing competitions, and has had short stories published in the Winchester Writers’ Conference and the Eva Wiggins Award anthologies.

Books in Series:

1.  The Woman Before Me
2. The Sacrificial Man
3. Humber Boy B
4. Nowhere Girl