Title: The McCalister Legacy
Author: Nicole Hurley-Moore
Published: August 4th 2020, Allen & Unwin
Status: Read August 2020 courtesy Allen & Unwin
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My Thoughts:
The McCalister Legacy is an engaging novel of rural romantic suspense from Nicole Hurley-Moore.
Eleven years after the tragic loss of her parents and grandparents on the evening of her tenth birthday, Berry McCalister returns to their family farm in the small town of Harlington to decide the property’s fate. Her instinct is to remodel the house and then get rid of Stone Gully Farm, and reminders of the tragedy along with it, but as the renovations progress she’s surprised by how at home she is beginning to feel. The community of Harlington is warm and welcoming, particularly Nate Tarant from the neighbouring horse stud, but when she decides not to sell she is subjected to anonymous threats. Berry is puzzled given the land has no particular value, until she discovers some old paperwork of her father’s tied to an area legend, and a deadly secret is finally brought to light.
Set in rural Victoria, the story unfolds over three timelines. The earliest reveals a story that has become a legend in the town of Harlington of a young boy who got lost and stumbled upon a seam of gold, but was too young to reveal its exact location in 1902. The second timeline takes place in 2007 and explores the circumstances surrounding the murder-suicide that deprived Berry and her siblings of their parents and grandparents, while the third timeline is set in the present day.
The plot offers a good mix of drama, mystery and romance, and though it’s fairly predictable, it’s satisfying in that everything is quite cleanly resolved. While The McCalister Legacy is centered on a disturbing event, the villain is eventually exposed and punished, and there is a happy, albeit not perfect, ending for the remaining characters.
A quick, easy and pleasant novel, I enjoyed The McCalister Legacy and I’m sure fans of the genre, and Hurley-Moore will too.
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Available from Allen & Unwin RRP AUD$29.99
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