Mother Missing: Don’t miss this nail-biting psychological suspense thriller in 2026!

by Ruth Dugdall

Don't miss this gripping thriller from award-winning, Kindle #1 bestselling author Ruth Dugdall. PRE-ORDER NOW!‘Ruth Dugdall’s novels are intelligent and gripping, with a sophisticated psychological sensibility. She is a huge talent’ Sophie Hannah

'Gripping, original, authentic' Erin Kelly

*****

Probation officer Cate Austin races back to Suffolk, desperate to find her sister, who has vanished from rehab following her abuser's unexpected early parole. Simultaneously, Bronte Lowe, a single mother and former navy officer employed at a nuclear power station, mysteriously goes missing.

In Ipswich, Freya Jones is determined to break her family's cycle of crime and starts afresh with her new boyfriend. His cliffside home appears to be the perfect escape, but Freya soon senses a chilling darkness lurking within its walls.

As Cate's search for her sister intertwines with Bronte's disappearance, unsettling truths come to light, revealing the lengths to which love and desperation can push these three women.

372 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication September 24, 2026

About the author

Ruth Dugdall is a crime novelist and Royal Literary Fellow. She holds a Doctorate in Creative Writing and her specialism is the role if probation and rehabilitation in crime narratives.
Ruth was a probation officer, and has worked in prison with offenders guilty of serious crimes, including stalking, rape and murder.
The Woman Before Me won the CWA Debut Dagger & the Luke Bitmead Bursary.

Reviews

[Jackiesreadingcorner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to follow

[Cass loves books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book 5 in the Cate Austin series, I haven’t read the others and was able to follow this without having read the others.

The story is set in Saltness and features an over arching storyline about a power station and nuclear reactors and a community against it. The story is told from multiple points of view and deals with many different themes such as rape, child abuse, miscarriage, county lines and drug use.

I read this in one sitting, it had so much depth and layering to the storylines and the way it all came together was testament to some great writing skills!

I will definitely be checking out the other books in this series. With thanks to HQ, NetGalley and Ruth Dugdall for letting me read this book early

[bookloversclub2023 · Rating 4 out of 5]

- I really enjoyed this one. I haven’t read previous ones in the series but that made no difference to reading this one.

It was split between chapters of Cate, Brontë and Freya. It was really interesting to see how these three people’s lives became interwoven with each others and the relationship with other characters in the book too like Lizzie and Adam.

It was written in a really engaging way and I just wanted to keep reading, the writing held a lot of depth. The mystery in the story was written so well and kept me guessing what was going on and what are people’s motives.There is also a couple of twists towards the end too.

[Farah G · Rating 3 out of 5]

The latest book in the Cate Austin series explores the hidden links between Bronte Lowe, a single mother who becomes the vanished witness to a hit and run, probation officer Cate herself, and the girlfriend of one of the offenders Cate is supervising, whose named Freya.

The book does a good job of gradually tying together the lives of these diverse characters, while slipping in a few red herrings along the way. The pacing and the twists are well handled, but I like some of the other books in the series more than this one. Still, it earns a solid 3.5 stars and is worth checking out.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review