[citation needed] Dugdall was inspired by a prison drama workshop that she attended, and so decided to train as a probation officer.
Working in this area, she specialised in contact with offenders deemed "high risk", with inmates who had often been found guilty of stalking, rape and murder.
[4] Dugdall said "I write to reflect my own experiences ... when I wrote The Woman Before Me I had just had a baby, and the novel was a sort of therapy during those early months with no sleep and plenty of anxiety.
The Sunday Times described the novel as "The menace is skilfully intensified by Dugdall ... a twisting labyrinth of child-trafficking and police cover ups".
Both books feature Dugdall's probation officer character, Cate Austin, who was the central protagonist of The Woman Before Me.