Local businessman turns to a life of crime writing

It makes a big change for the founder of one of the UK’s top advertising agencies, Lucky Generals. Although Nairn has enjoyed publishing success before (his marketing book Go Luck Yourself became a multi-awarded best-seller in 2021 and has gone on to be published in languages as diverse as Chinese and Hungarian) this is his first attempt at fiction. And while his day job normally involves creating global campaigns for modern businesses like Virgin Atlantic, TikTok and Amazon, his latest work is set in the Scottish Borders in the 1500s.

“I grew up in the Borders,” explains Nairn, who has lived in the Marlow area since 2010 and has three children with his wife Louise, a clinical psychologist. “Nowadays, it’s a blissfully peaceful region, but 500 years ago it was probably the most violent place in the whole of Europe. Scotland and England were constantly at war and the area was ruled by gangs of outlaws called reivers. I thought it would make the perfect setting for a detective series with a difference.”

The Trail of Blood begins when a torso is found in the River Tweed, right on the border between Scotland and England.A French diplomat, Antoine de Lissieu, is dragged in toinvestigate, but he’s shunned by both sides of the divide and plagued by traumatic memories from his past. As the bodies pile up, Antoine has to catch the culprits and avert yet another war, before his own demons catch up with him.

“Antoine is based on a real-life French diplomat called Antoine de la Bastie,” says Nairn, who will be using the initials ‘A.K’, to distinguish his fiction from his non-fiction. “He was given the thankless task of keeping the peace on the border in 1516 – only to be killed by the locals. The murder took place in my home village so I suppose reinventing him as a charismatic sleuth, rather than a victim, is my attempt to make amends.”

Although the story is set in a very specific time and place, Nairn hopes it will have wide appeal. “It’s got some great early reviews and advance orders from all over the globe. Which I guess shows that good stories travel and that we live in a small world these days.”

As if to prove the point, the book’s cover was created by Henley designer Kari Brownlie.

“That was a complete coincidence,” laughs Nairn. “I found Kari’s work on a global platform for publishing professionals and was blown away by her creativity. It was only after commissioning her that I realised she lived just along the road!”

The Trail of Blood by A.K Nairn is available now and can be bought in The Bell Bookshop in Henley, as well as via all the usual online retailers.