The Trail of Blood by Andy Nairn
A gripping historical murder mystery on The Borders
The Borders don’t get as much attention as the likes of the Highlands or Edinburgh, but they’re a beautiful region, with an incredibly dark history. In particular, they are the home of the reivers: terrifying gangs of robbers and killers who ruled the frontier from the 1300s to the 1600s.
The Trail of Blood is set in that world with the main character based on a real-life French diplomat who was given the thankless task of keeping the peace in 1516. Scotland and England are teetering on the brink of yet another war. So when a torso is found right on the border between the two countries, it threatens to create a bloodbath.
”A master story-teller.” The US Review of Books
”A must-read for fans of historical fiction everywhere.” Readers’ Favorite
French diplomat, Antoine de Lissieu, is dragged in to investigate and reluctantly takes a band of men to the wild frontier region, only to be shunned by both sides of the divide and plagued by traumatic memories from his past.
As time runs out and the bodies mount up, can Antoine catch the culprits and prevent more carnage – or will his own demons catch up with him?
If you like C.J. Sansom, S.J. Parris and D.V. Bishop, you’ll love this dark and twisty tale, set in a world of outlaws and warlords.
Learn more about the book here.
A.K. Nairn is the pen name of Andy Nairn, founder of one of the world’s top ad agencies Lucky Generals. His company has created a string of famous Super Bowl spots for Amazon’s Alexa and his business book Go Luck Yourself has been translated all over the world from China to Hungary. But when it came to his fictional debut, Andy looked closer to home, to the Scottish Borders where he grew up.
In particular, he was fascinated by the reivers: gangs of outlaws who ruled the wild frontier region from 1300-1600. He thought this world would make the perfect setting for a series of murder mysteries, so has launched one, with The Trail of Blood. The hero of the books, Antoine de Lissieu, is based on a real-life French diplomat who was sent to bring order to the region in 1516. The second book in the series will be out in 2025.
