The Blurb:
'He's back, Carrie. The Scribbler is back.'
DI Gayther and his rookie colleague DC Carrie have been assigned a new caseload. Or rather, an old one... cold cases of LGBTQ+ murders dating back to the 1980s and beyond. Georgia Carrie wasn't even born when the notorious serial killer began his reign of terror across the East of England. Roger Gayther was on the force that failed to catch him and remembers every chilling detail. Now, after all these years, there's a sudden death featuring The Scribbler's tell-tale modus operandi. Can Gayther and Carrie track the murderer down and bring him to justice before the slaughter starts again?
The Scribbler was published by Contraband on 7th May 2020 and is available to purchase from Amazon, Waterstones and Hive. Or why not see if your usual independent bookseller is offering deliveries. Many are and they could really do with our help just now.
My Review:
DI Gayther and DC Carrie together with two young detectives still completing their training form the team looking at cold cases, particularly LGBTQ+ murders from years gone by, when they weren't investigated very thoroughly. One particular case has caught his attention, especially as a new death bears some of the hallmarks of the original killings.
The Scribbler, so named because of his unique calling card, murdered closet homosexuals - middle aged men with wives and families at home. The police got a reasonable description of him as some potential victims managed to escape, but he was never caught and seemingly disappeared. And now Gayther wonders if he's back. Gayther, Georgia Carrie and the newbies trawl through old case paperwork whilst investigating this recent death. Meanwhile...we meet the man with the latex gloves...
Both main characters are well described. Roger Gayther is not your average hero. He's older, in poor health, unfit and delightfully unPC. I laughed out loud when, replying to the two young coppers, he struggled to find an answer which didn't include the following: 'snowflakes', 'millennials', 'PC bloody crap', 'balls' or 'bollocks to all that'. His attempt at describing Jimmy Krankie to the much younger Carrie made me chuckle too. Carrie is young, fit, enthusiastic and determined. They are an odd couple, but they like and respect each other, and work well together.
The man with the latex gloves is creepy as hell. It was easy to picture him in my head from the description given. And as we learn more about him and his history, he also comes through as a rather tragic figure, although this takes nothing away from the terribleness (not sure that's a word!) of his actions. His set up brought to mind a couple of movies but I'm not going to say which ones for fear of spoilers.
I can't tell you too much more without ruining the story for you. What I can tell you is that it's a slow burner. Until it isn't. The early part of the book reads like a pretty routine police procedural before going a whole other place in the latter section. The tension ramps up as does the action. The creepy factor too. Maitland's writing style, in this book anyway, took a wee bit of getting used to. He's very direct, frequently using short staccato sentences, sometimes just a word or two, often reflecting the thinking of his characters. But I soon settled into his rhythm.
The Scribbler is a slow burning, tense and downright creepy thriller. Likeable, engaging protagonists and an unusual villain. The denouement is bloody, violent and shocking, providing more than one OMG moment. Well worth a look.
The Author:
A note from Iain
'Hello and thanks for dropping by.
Well, here we are in lockdown - strange and troubling times for so many people. As a writer of 30+ years sitting in my attic from 9 to 5 most days, it's something I'm used to. I've ... not ... gone ... mad.
These past few years, I've been writing thrillers and it's strange how much of a theme 'lockdown' is through each of them.
In Sweet William, Raymond Orrey, a man who has been locked up in a psychiatric unit for months on end, breaks out and goes searching for his fostered child, William - he wants to re-unite with him and run away to start a new life together in the South of France.
Mr Todd's Reckoning sees unemployed father and son, Malcolm and Adrian Todd, living in a small, cramped bungalow during one of the hottest summers on record - and it's driving one of them insane. (Pleased to say this book has been optioned for a TV series by AbbottVision, makers of Cracker and Shameless.)
My latest thriller, The Scribbler, the first in a series of Gayther & Carrie detective novels, features a serial killer who ... well, I'd best not say too much. What I can say is that The Scribbler killed a series of gay men through the late 1980s and early 1990s. Gayther and Carrie lead the LGBTQ+ Cold Cases Team in Suffolk and there's been a new death featuring The Scribbler's modus operandi.
So I am sitting here in my attic room now, writing 3 Bluebell Lane featuring a middle-aged man, a homeless teenage girl and a cellar. Lockdown again. After that, I'm writing two or three sequels featuring some of the characters in Mr Todd's Reckoning and three Gayther & Carrie sequels too; The Key Man is up next.
If you'd like to get in touch, I'd love to hear from you. My email is imaitland@aol.com and you can follow what I am doing writing-wise at my twitter page, twitter.com/iainmaitland. I've a website too at iainmaitland.net.
Thanks again for dropping by.
Iain x'
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