Boy B by Ruth Dugdall #Blogathon

It's a late post for me today as I wasn't organised in advance and was at the launch of Bloody Scotland 2026 this afternoon, so huge apologies for that. Today is my blogathon post for Book 3 of the Cate Austin Case Files by Ruth Dugdall, Boy B. This was my most emotional read yet. Many thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for the invitation and to the publisher for my review copy. I'll see you next week for Book 4. 

The Blurb

He was ten years old when the world decided he was evil.

A child is killed falling from the Humber Bridge. Despite fleeing the scene, two young brothers are found guilty and sent to prison. Upon their release they are granted one privilege only – their anonymity.

Probation officer Cate Austin is responsible for Boy B's reintegration into society, but her loyalty is challenged when she begins to discover the truth of the crime.

Is a child capable of premeditated murder? Or is there a greater evil at play?

My Review

Well, the story of Boy B really pulled on my heartstrings. Eight years after being found guilty of the death of a boy his own age, a friend, Ben is released into a new life in Ipswich, a town he doesn't know. And having gone to prison at the tender age of ten, he doesn't know how the world works - he's never had a mobile phone, for instance, or bought clothes, or cooked. His case has landed on Cate's desk because, as her colleague suggests, she 'always gets the strange ones'. It's her job to help Ben to adjust to life outside prison, and keep him on the straight and narrow. 

We see things from both Ben and Cate's points of view, with flashbacks to the day of the incident. We're with Ben as he struggles to adapt to the outside world, we're there when he experiences kindness for the first time in a long time, and it's lovely. The flashbacks give us an idea of the home Ben, and his brother Adam, grew up in. I found myself rooting for Ben, wanting things to work out for him, now that he's served the time for what he'd done. And I really felt for Cate, often a lone voice in support of Ben in the meetings about his case. But nothing is simple. Things are complicated by unexpected visitors and a Facebook page set up by the dead boy's mother. At least Cate had a new distraction away from this case and work.

As the book progresses we learn more about the day of the crime, and my allegiances were tested! And the denouement was truly shocking - I had guessed some parts but not all of it, and I wasn't ready for how things actually ended. 

Boy B is the third Ruth Dugdall book I've read, and the most emotional, so far, for me.  And probably the hardest to read. Ben pulled on my heartstrings and the denouement shocked me. Well worth a look.  

The Author

Ruth studied English at university and then took an MA is Social Work. Following this she worked in the Criminal Justice System as a social worker then as a probation officer. Part of this time was spent seconded to a prison housing serious offenders. She continues to work within the Criminal Justice System, most recently in Luxembourg.

Ruth's novels are informed by her experience and are "authentic and credible".

Ruth's first novel, The James Version, is a historical fiction based on the actual murder of Maria Marten at the Red Barn in Suffolk. The story is re-told with a fresh light on who really killed Maria.

Her second novel, The Woman Before Me, won the Debut Dagger when it was originally published in 2005. It is the first in a series featuring probation officer Cate Austin.

"Probation officers have more face-to-face contact with criminals than any other profession," says Ruth, "they are the unsung heroes of the Criminal Justice System."