Meredith Montgomery’s world is dominated by her work and her health issues. Her winery is about to launch a new label and the cancer she thought had been in remission seems to have reappeared. She is a widow without family and the holidays are approaching so she decides to go to Scotland to fill in the missing portions of her family tree. While there, she meets Elliot Frasier, a charming yet confirmed bachelor with a love of his native Scotland, single malt scotch and thoroughbred horses. They are attracted to each other almost from the first meeting and together they face the problems that threaten to destroy both of their businesses and as well as their lives.
THE LAST MACKLENNA is a well written and well researched story about two people who use their acute business skills to dampen the loneliness in their lives. The difficulties of running a world class winery as well as the intricacies of breeding Kentucky thoroughbreds are the tableau against which Meredith’s struggle against cancer and Elliot’s investigation into the murder of his prize horses play out. In the plot’s climax a ghost that haunts the farm becomes a central character. Normally, this would be a flag that the writer has written themselves into a corner but the author’s deft use of foreshadowing woven into the romantic panorama of Kentucky horse country makes this plot element believable. The interaction between Meredith and Elliott, as with all of the characters in this book, is particularly well done and the metamorphosis in their relationship with each other is a natural outcome leading to a particularly well-crafted ending.
THE LAST MACKLENNA is a romance with a well-executed subplot of mystery to round out the story. With the exception of one or two extraneous scenes at the winery, the story moves from Scotland to Napa Valley at a thoroughbred pace.
Reviewed by Ed Bennett for IndieReader.