Those of you who are Doctor Who fans, as I have been all my life, may recall the relationship between the Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, and Jo, Katy Manning. It’s like that, warm and respectful. No funny business, thank you very much.
So, I had the characters in my head. Sorted.
Then the names.
Easy. Roger Gayther and Georgia Carrie.
Roger was the name of my uncle. He died of meningitis when he was twenty and I was five. I remember him clearly. And sitting in a car by green railings outside the hospital. Asking, “Where’s Roger?” when we visited Nan and Grandpa’s, I guess, a week or two after he died. And my nan’s face. Always my nan’s face. I doubt anyone remembers Roger these days. I do. And he is the hero of my book.
Georgia? My son Michael had eight years and more struggling with mental ill health. He spent time in hospital, and five months in the Priory, and lost pretty much everything. Coming out of that, as if waiting for him at the end of a long road, was Georgia. And now he is happy and his life is on track. And I never thought that would happen. So, there’s the heroine.
I set the book in Suffolk.
I always do. Probably always will.
I like to see locations, real or close to it, in my mind as I write.
And then the plot. I didn’t have one yet. I spent some time thinking of ideas that would spark my imagination.
I didn’t want to write a novel based on something as recent and raw as an unsolved murder still in the news. Loved ones, broken hearts, respect; all of that.
But I couldn’t help thinking about how many unsolved crimes of murder there are – depending on what you read, 20 per cent or more are never solved. About half of those cases are closed down.
Once I started looking into some of these stories, I had a growing sense that crimes against the LGBTQ+ community have often been taken less seriously, especially going back in time. So, my story started to take shape.
Unsolved crimes going back over the years.
In the LGBTQ+ community.
Closed down – cold cases.
Another theme that stood out was how so many investigations started off going in one direction – plod, plod, plod – and then suddenly turned on a sixpence with a lucky break. The Dennis Nilsen case and the Yorkshire Ripper – both referenced in the book – are prime examples where this happened, with the investigations then going in a totally different direction. I wanted to get that ‘twist’ into The Scribbler as well.
And so I began writing. As ever, as I start work, there comes a moment when the book kind of takes on a life of its own and it runs ahead of me. That’s usually when I get inside the mind of the lead character – in this case the wounded and impulsive Gayther with a point to prove – and everything sort of falls into place.
This is the first of a series of Gayther & Carrie books. As well as Gayther and Carrie, working on LGBTQ+ cold cases, I have introduced two fast-tracked detective constables, Glyn Thomas and Lou Cotton; a gay couple who are new to the force. They take a back seat in The Scribbler but will come to the fore in the next book. Gayther and Carrie and Thomas and Cotton will be back sometime soon in The Key Man.
Iain
March 2020
AUTHOR’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’d like to thank …
Saraband for publishing The Scribbler – it’s been another wonderful experience.
Sara, my third book with you – here’s to more!
Tony Conry for reading the MS to make sure the psychodynamics of The Scribbler and other characters were as accurate as possible. You made a big difference, Tony. Thank you.
Neil Boast MBE for reading the MS from a police perspective to ensure procedures matched the realities of what would actually happen. I could not have asked for more, Neil. Thank you.
A quick thank you, too, to Jules at Woodbridge Emporium for introducing me to Neil.
My other MS readers who helped to check and double-check facts and figures. Any errors to be found, artistic licence aside, are mine and mine alone.
Ali Moore for copy-editing the MS and helping me turn it into the best book we could. I could not ask for a better copy-editor.
Rosie Hilton for a forensic proof-read and for giving me a heads-up on one or two LGBTQ+ issues. And another sensitivity reader: you know who you are.
Ken Leeder – a brilliant cover again!
My fab, possibly long-suffering, agent Clare who not only guides me and sorts out all the contractual stuff but also steps in when needed to stop me doing anything ‘dramatic’.
Georgia, Glyn and Sophie – my children’s partners – for letting me use the names Carrie, Thomas and Cotton for my main characters.
Tracey, Michael, Sophie and Adam, my family. You are always in everything I do.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Iain Maitland is the author of two previous thrillers, Mr Todd’s Reckoning (2019, optioned for television) and Sweet William (2017), both published by Contraband, the crime, thriller and dystopia imprint of Saraband. He is also the author of Dear Michael, Love Dad (Hodder, 2016), a book of letters written to his son who suffered from depression and anorexia, and writer of the script of its television adaptation; and co-author (with his son) of Out of the Madhouse: An Insider’s Guide to Managing Depression and Anxiety (Jessica Kingsley, 2018). Iain is an ambassador for Stem4, the teenage mental health charity, and talks regularly about mental health issues. A writer since 1987, as a journalist he has contributed to the Sunday Times, Financial Times and Guardian as well as writing many books on management and business.
A father desperate to be with his young son escapes from a secure psychiatric hospital, knowing he has just one chance for
