Judith Cutler 
Dying by Degrees 

Sophie Rivers finds that her struggles with her course take a back seat when she’s caught up in a deadly web of corruption and murder.


Sophie Rivers is struggling with her course at the University of the West Midlands, her fellow student Jago Calvin is harassing her and she’s missing the love-of-her-life, Mike Lowden. Sophie confides in the excellent lecturer Carla Pentowski about her problems. But there’s something strange about Carla’s past – or lack of it.


Sophie soon has a number of questions. Why are some of the South-East Asian students she is helping behaving oddly? Why are Malay girls dying on her old friend, Superintendent Chris Groom’s patch? What’s behind Carla disappearance, and who has hacked into the university’s records? Sophie’s determined to find answers, but finds herself risking her life in her search for the truth.

About the author

A former secretary of the Crime Writers’ Association, Judith Cutler has taught Creative Writing at universities and colleges for over thirty years, and has run occasional courses elsewhere (from a maximum security prison to an idyllic Greek island). She is the author of more than forty novels.