The Cate Austin Casefiles: Ruth Dugdall

Ruth Dugdall is coming to The Forum on Saturday 24 October, from 1pm to 2pm in the Auditorium. She'll be in conversation with Dr Elspeth Latimer about her crime novels and the criminal justice system.

Dugdall is an internationally published, number one bestselling novelist and short story writer. Her Cate Austin series is set largely in Suffolk and across East Anglia, and it follows Austin, a probation officer whose work puts her at the heart of complex criminal cases. The insider's authenticity comes from Dugdall's own ten-year career as a probation officer, which followed her time as a youth justice social worker. She studied for a Master's in Social Work & Probation at UEA, and the series has recently been reissued for a new generation of readers.

Her host, Dr Elspeth Latimer, is a crime fiction writer, researcher and tutor. Her debut novel, The Lost Detective, is set in Norfolk and was shortlisted for the 2026 Crime Writers' Association ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger. The session is followed by bookselling and a signing with both the author and the host.

Tickets are £8, and the talk runs from 1pm to 2pm on Saturday 24 October in the Auditorium at The Forum, Millennium Plain, Norwich, NR2 1TF.