\"You need to find it in yourself if you want to keep going.\"
Ruth Dugdall
Former probation officer and crime author Ruth Dugdall joins Nadine Matheson to discuss her journey from working inside prisons to writing the Kate Austin crime series. Ruth shares vivid stories from her probation career, including being handcuffed by a prison officer \"for a laugh\", and opens up about winning a major writing award only to be told nobody wanted her book. They also explore the ethics of writing about real crimes, Ruth's fascination with the women who keep secrets, and her new novel Mother Missing.
Ruth Dugdall is a former probation officer who worked with sex offenders, stalkers, and young men who committed murder, before becoming a crime novelist. She won the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger for The Woman Before Me and recently completed a PhD by publication on her own novels, arguing that the probation perspective is uniquely absent from crime fiction. She has just signed a six-book deal with HarperCollins for the Kate Austin series. Her new novel Mother Missing is published on 26th September. Find her on Instagram @ruthdugdall.