David Cairns, the Baron of Finavon (a Scottish title that goes back to the 13th century), has always been a student of history and enjoys creating emotional connections with his writing. Many readers have remarked on his ability to create an atmosphere and three–dimensional experiences with his writing style and his style has been compared to Wilkie Collins’s ‘Moonstone’.

He trained as an accountant (he is a Fellow of two institutes) and moved into general management, becoming a technology entrepreneur with many successful (and – as he points out – one or two unsuccessful) ventures to his credit. He has lived and worked on four continents and as a result has sampled and been moulded by the history of London and Boston, the buzz of Chicago, Nashville and Silicon Valley, the pioneering atmosphere of the South African bush, the lazy lifestyle of the Bahamas, the cultural diversities of Europe and the laid-back lifestyle of Australia, which is where he makes his home these days. He has spoken at conferences on topics such as the Impact of globalization and technology and even though his novels transport the reader into the past he keeps himself up to date with technology, social and political trends. His BLOG (www.cairnsoffinavon.com) can be thought provoking and instructive, drawing conclusions from history about the future, including predicting the Russian invasion of Ukraine a year in advance and commenting on artificial intelligence technologies and crypto currencies for example, as well as providing background to his books.

An ‘Aspects of History’ review commented, “Bursting with mystery, action and adventure…. Cairns throws the reader into a world of mystery, devilish plots of revenge, murder and greed that propels Findo Gask into playing the role of a military hero turned detective”. The Historical Novel Society wrote, “(A) well-constructed 19th-century tale … (the) locations are expertly woven into the development of the solid plot and the characters’ storylines” .

Other reviewers have enjoyed the experience and have said:

★★★★★ Wonderfully descriptive narrative

★★★★★ Found myself transported back in time

★★★★★ Could not put the book down

★★★★★ Well researched and written

★★★★★ Loved the characters and story

★★★★★ Suspenseful and engaging

★★★★★ What a trip! The book turned out to be a real page turner for me.

He uses extensive research to build a richness, depth and authenticity into each novel which also adds to the ability of the reader to place the story within the framework of their own experiences: a description of a pub that still stands, streets that still wind through old towns, half-forgotten memories, interactions with famous characters of the past.

True to the adage that you can take the Scot out of Scotland but not Scotland out of the Scot, on St Andrew’s Day and at Hogmanay you will probably find him in his kilt, celebrating with a glass of uisge beatha – the ‘water of life’ – his favourite is a Linkwood single malt.