Book Extract: The Scribbler by Iain Maitland

I am happy to be welcoming back Iain Maitland to Novel Kicks. He is here with his new novel, The Scribbler. 

 

‘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?

 

Iain has shared an extract with us today. 

 

‘Inside the Mind of a Killer.’ 

 

*****beginning of extract*****

 

The man with the gloves knew this moment had been coming for a long time now. Had known, one way or the other, for almost half his lifetime. He had thought, on and off, how it might all end. Being overpowered by someone stronger than him, most likely. Or spotted with somebody who was later reported missing. His van seen, the registration noted down carefully. Two and two put together. The knock on the front door late one night.

And he had thought about what he would do when it did. He’d rush out of the kitchen through the living room to the back door by the vegetable garden to get away. But he knew there would be other police out there, maybe armed, just waiting, in hiding for him.

There were other possible endings. He would fight back if he were overpowered and held down by his planned victim as they called the police on their mobile phone. He’d struggle endlessly for the chance to escape. He’d never give up.

But, of all the various permutations, he had never imagined it would end this way. A police patrol car on his tail, playing with him, toying, as they closed in on his van.

He looked again at the wing mirror, saw the police car was still there, so close to him now that if he braked, it would be sure to crash into his van.

Did not know what to do. A sense of helplessness.

He could accelerate away, racing for his life. But they would most likely keep pace, forcing him off the road. An unseemly scramble as he tried, unsuccessfully, to get out of the van and run. Even if he got away, where would he go? They had his registration number, knew who he was, where he lived.

Brake sharply then. The police driver and passenger, taken by surprise, shaken by the crash. Dazed and bewildered, he could take his chances with them, armed with his screwdriver and Stanley knife. Up and out of his van fast, to the police car, tugging open doors, slashing and stabbing them. It was quiet here, on this road. No one around. Nobody to see. No one to interrupt him. If he were quick, could brace himself for the crash, have the element of surprise on his side, he could just about manage it.

Then what? These days, they’d probably have some sort of recording device, a dash-cam they call it, that would film the van, the crash and his fast approach towards the police car armed with the screwdriver and the Stanley knife. He could take it out and smash it into a million pieces. But maybe the recordings were held somewhere else, perhaps they went straight back to the police’s main computer. He did not know. He did not really understand such things. He did not have a computer. Nor a mobile phone. Nothing like that.

His was an old-fashioned life of BBC TV and newspapers, cash and cheque books.

He knew it.

He liked it that way.

He did not like the modern world.

 

***** end of extract*****

 

 

About Ian Maitland…

Iain has been a professional writer since 1987 and has written stacks of books, mostly on business, articles for the national press and edited lots of newsletters, most recently on property. He’s now veered off at a tangent to do some creative stuff and is now a full-time author.  

Dear Michael, Love Dad is the story of Iain’s relationship with his eldest son and their family, The hardback came out on 28 July 2016; the paperback followed on 20 April 2017. 

Michael and Iain are proud to be ambassadors for the wonderful teenage mental health charity, Stem4. 

Sweet William – a dark literary thriller – came out in November 2017. 

Mr Todd’s Reckoning was released in 2019. 

His latest book, The Scribbler was released by Contraband Books on 7th May 2020. Click to view on Amazon UK.

For more information on Iain, visit: http://www.iainmaitland.net or say hi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@iainmaitland

Click to read my interview with Iain from May 2019. 

 

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather
Laura
I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Novel Kicks is a blog for story tellers and book lovers.

Book Club
Novel Kicks Book Club
Archives
Categories