The Woman Before Me – Ruth Dugdall (Cate Austin Book 1)

The Woman Before Me – Ruth Dugdall (Cate Austin Book 1) – Genre – Crime / Police

Blurb: They came for me, just like I knew they would. Luke had been dead for just three days.

Rose Wilks’ life is shattered when her newborn baby Joel is admitted to intensive care. Emma Hatcher has all that Rose lacks. Beauty. A loving husband. A healthy son. Until tragedy strikes and Rose is the only suspect.

Now, having spent nearly five years behind bars, Rose is just weeks away from freedom. Her probation officer Cate must decide whether Rose is remorseful for Luke’s death, or whether she remains a threat to society. As Cate is drawn in, she begins to doubt her own judgement.

Where is the line between love and obsession, can justice be served and, if so… by what means?

My Review:  This is the first book in a brilliantly topical and uncomfortable series featuring Cate Austin a probation officer.  The subject matter is not easy reading but the author has created such a well written and gripping storyline which grabs the reader and takes them on an emotional journey.  The Woman Before Me is about Rose Wilks who has been in prison for four years for the manslaughter of her baby.  It’s raw and touching and highly recommended by me.

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