Nicole Hurley-Moore – The McCalister Legacy (Literature Review)

Returning to the rural town of Harlington – a place she and her siblings associate with their parents’ violent deaths – is the last thing Berry McCalister ever wanted to do. But it’s been over a decade and it’s time to sell the family farm they fled all those years ago.

As she begins to sort through her old possessions and prepare the property for sale, she can’t help but be drawn into rumour mill surrounding the events of that horrible night, and seek comfort in the arms of her childhood crush and next door neighbour, Nate Tarant.

This is the premise of Australian author Nicole Hurley-Moore’s latest novel, The McCalister Legacy. In the rural suspense genre, Hurley-Moore is known as one of the best. Her novels deftly combine all the greatest elements of romance and suspense to create engaging stories readers can’t help but love. Despite having released books in other genres, rural suspense is, perhaps where Hurley-Moore enjoys the majority of her success.

With such an illustrious reputation, it would have been remiss of me to not give The McCalister Legacy a go. Even though it’s only been released for a few weeks, it’s already receiving rave reviews, and my recent read of Leonie Kelsall’s The Farm at Peppertree Crossing did show me a side of rural fiction that I had yet to explore.

I didn’t enjoy The McCalister Legacy anywhere near as much as I expected to. And there are a few reasons for that, one of them being the various timelines Hurley-Moore used. Throughout the book, there are a number of flashback scenes or chapters that take the reader back in time to the night when Berry’s parents died.

Usually this technique is something I enjoy, mainly in historical fiction. I love the way it adds an extra layer to the story and allows us as readers a deeper insight into our character’s psyche, and the society they call home.

But in this book, it didn’t really work. Given that The McCalister Legacy is a rural suspense, I expected moments of heightened tension and intrigue, and in my opinion, the flashback scenes cut into that a bit too much. If anything, they hindered the story and gave the game away a little sooner than I would have liked.

Another was the romantic element to Berry and Nate’s relationship. It was just a little too convenient and superficial for my tastes. It was almost too sweet, and predictable. While I know these predictable romances are a big drawcard for many readers of rural fiction, I couldn’t help that there was a lack of chemistry beyond the history the two enjoyed during their school days.

There was so much Hurley-Moore could have done with The McCalister Legacy but at times it seemed like she was going through the motions, particularly with the darker themes this book touches upon.

There’s no doubt that Hurley-Moore’s work has a special place in the hearts of many readers, so the success of The McCalister Legacy is pretty much guaranteed. At the end of the day, however, it just wasn’t for me.

The McCalister Legacy is published by Allen & Unwin. If you want to know more about Nicole Hurley-Moore and her books, visit her website.

Don’t forget to read my interview with Nicole here, or more reviews and interviews featured in the Spotlight on Australian Authors series by clicking below.

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