To Ipswich, with love - Ruth Dugdall

One of my oldest school friends swears that when I was just twelve I told her I was going to be a writer. This surprises me, given there are no writers in my family and also because our school didn’t exactly foster the belief that dreams were possible. That said, I do remember a poet visiting and the massive impact that had: you could write for a living? 

Looking back, there were key figures who shaped my journey. One was my English teacher, who gave me encouragement and off-curriculum books, the other was a Youth Worker in Ipswich, Mark Barnasiuk, who sadly passed away last year and was a huge part of my teenage life. He was running workshops in Hollesley Bay prison and invited me along, changing the trajectory of my life when I decided to work with offenders.

My probation career is the source of my writing; the stories I write are driven by my need to understand human behaviour, even at its worst. My main protagonist is Cate Austin, a single-mum living in Ipswich, trying to navigate a challenging career and a messy personal life into which  the cases she’s working with inevitably bleed. 

The first novel in the series, The Woman Before Me is a dark tale, focusing on maternal jealousy and post-natal depression, and also the treatment of women within the Criminal Justice System. I'd seen first-hand how women were treated differently -- both as inmates and staff -- and my story felt cathartic and authentic. It won the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger, which encouraged me to keep writing, despite the difficulty of finding a publisher who would take a chance on me. This was several years before ‘domestic noir’ became the hottest ticket in town and publishers were wary of my troubling stories. They also told me, ‘No-one is interested in probation’. It took me four more years to find a publisher, after I entered The Woman Before Me in a competition organised by Legend Press, a small Independent publishers who are passionate about promoting their authors. The highlight was speaking to Jenni Murray on ‘Woman’s Hour’ about the second novel in the series, The Sacrificial Man. 

One the past few years, I saw that readers were weary of crime novels ploughing familiar fields, and publishers were seeking fresh perspectives. Probation is in the media more than ever before and people have begun asking questions about this vital but invisible service. This appetite for alternative perspectives on crime is demonstrated by the popularity of the recent TV series Adolescence, and people approached me about the Cate Austin series. 

I am delighted that the Cate Austin series will be re-launched in January 2026 by HQ Harper Collins, with two new titles continuing the series. Last week I returned to my old school, to run a writing workshop, but also to tell the pupils that it is possible to achieve their dreams. They just have to work hard, and keep believing. 

With my books being re-invigorated for a new audience, I intend to seize every second and ride the capricious wave of fortune for as long as it lasts. So you should see me at book events around Suffolk, and hopefully in Ipswich, the town that made me. 

Ruth Dugdall, November 2025