Books by and for independent women

The Sacrificial Man by Ruth Dugdall

The second in the Cate Austin series, The Sacrificial Man focuses on an aspect of justice not normally covered by crime writers, the probation service. It’s a gripping, but horrifying read exploring assisted suicide, child neglect, and mental illness.

Seven months ago, Alice Mariani, beautiful but distant, was found next to the bloody corpse of her lover. He had died from an overdose of GHB, apparently self-administered. She had eaten part of him.

When Cate Austin, probation officer still recovering from the trauma of her last case, is given Alice’s case to assess, she is not sure which way to proceed; Alice is definitely guilty of something, but does assisting a man to end his own life of his own choosing deserve jail?

With public interest in euthanasia and the right to die high, the moral questions behind this story could not be more current. This is in its heart an unravelling of a woman’s life, and her reasons behind decisions made. Often incredibly disturbing in parts, it is unbelievably compelling and I could not put this book down.

The book skips between the present investigation and Alice’s memories, an often confused style that would have been better for some clarity of purpose; is this a Cate Austin detective story or is it a book about Alice?

Whatever it is, by the second half I was reading this book in the same way I would guiltily look at the aftermath of a car crash on the motor way. Could not look away. I had shivers at the end. Considering I was reading on a bus and made a little noise shaking them off, this ended up making me look more than a little odd.

Parts of the book seemed a little trite and unbelievable, and Cate never really was established as a hero character, which is a shame as I wanted to know more about her. I will definitely be picking up the first in this series, The Woman Before Me, which won the 2010 CWA Debut Dagger as this is a hero, and series, that has legs.

It was also refreshing to read a modern crime novel with a younger, female, detective, and the insight in the probation service was fascinating.

Published last week by Legend Press, buy it in paperback for £4.00, or for £3.80 for the Kindle edition.

Rating: 3.5/5. The second half is infinitely better than the first.

Recommended for: Fans of Ann Cleeves, Patricia Cornwell and Sophie Hannah.

Recommended reading: For slightly gentler crime, go for Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie. For more weirdness, try Instances of the Number 3 by Salley Vickers.

Jess Haigh