Scold, in time, one for cooking the books (9)
I believe the answer is:
termagant
'scold' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'time one for cooking the books' is the wordplay.
'time' becomes 'term' (I've seen this in other clues).
'one for cooking' becomes 'aga' (Aga is a type of stove).
'the books' becomes 'NT' (abbreviation for New Testament).
'term'+'aga'+'nt'='TERMAGANT'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for termagant that I've seen before include "Nag" , "she scolds" , "Witch" , "Awful female" , "She might do it" .)