Welcome Back Clara McKenna!

Sherry — in Northern Virginia where the weather is randomly swinging from one season to another

Welcome back, Clara. Murder at Glenloch Hill, the sixth book in the Stella and Lyndy series, releases on November 26th!

Clara: The journey that resulted in my writing Murder at Glenloch Hill was an unexpected one. And it all started with the Field of Dreams. If you’re unfamiliar, the movie is about baseball, family, and second chances starring Kevin Costner that was filmed in Iowa in 1989. After the filming finished, the location- a farmhouse, the baseball diamond, and some of the surrounding crop fields – were maintained as a tourist attraction.

It was one of the first places I visited when I moved to Iowa in 2001.  Fast forward to 2021 when Major League Baseball decided to host a regular season Chicago White Sox game at the movie site. They were to play my favorite team, the New York Yankees. To attend, you had to enter a lottery for the privilege of buying tickets. The catch was you had to have an Iowa zipcode. My husband and I were so excited. Although I’ve never been very lucky at drawings, lotteries and the like, there are only about 3 million Iowa residents and how many of those were baseball fans willing to shell out hundreds of dollars to attend? Our chances seemed really good. We both put our names in and…we didn’t get chosen.

What does this have to do with a book set in 1906 where my characters, Stella & Lyndy visit distant relatives while attending a golf tournament and all manner of mayhem ensues? Well, a month or so after we watched the White Sox beat the Yankees at the Field of Dreams movie site from our living room couch, another lottery was opened–one to attend the 150^th Open Championship at The Old Course, the “birthplace of golf” in St. Andrews, Scotland. In previous years, one could simply buy tickets but because of the milestone anniversary and the iconic location, you had to, again, enter a lottery system just for the privilege to buy tickets.

My husband, an avid golfer who comes from a family of golfers, wanted to put our names in. But what were our chances? This lottery was open to the entire world. From what I learned later, over 3 million people entered and to date it is still the most highly attended event in Open history. But I humored my husband and entered and then forgot about it. I was planning our summer vacation to the Grand Canyon (since we had to cancel the trip we’d planned in 2020) when I received an email congratulating me on being selected. When I told my husband he simply said, “Well, I guess we’re going to Scotland!”

Needless to say, I took full advantage our unexpected travel plans. I decided to bring Stella and Lyndy along with me and when I landed accommodations in a historical Edwardian mansion only six miles from the golf course, I knew it was fate. (And if you’re wondering, I have yet to make it to the Grand Canyon.)

Readers, have you had a similar experience when a setback or disappointment unexpected led to something positive?

About the book: On a weekend trip to the Scottish countryside, American transplant Stella, and British aristocrat, Viscount “Lyndy” Lyndhurst, learn how sinister bad sportsmanship can be when a prestigious golf tournament becomes a deadly game of murder . . .

Along with cheering on her soon-to-be brother-in-law, Freddie Kentfield, at The British Open in Scotland, Stella embraces the chance to connect with her distant cousins, the McEwens, at their grand estate, Glenloch Hill. But she and Lyndy don’t receive the warm welcome they expect when their arrival is marred by missing luggage, evasive hosts, and the perceived mistreatment of a young laundry maid. Adding to the tense atmosphere, Freddie’s roguish father, Sir Edwin, appears at the manor uninvited, his presence casting a shadow over the events—and stirring up more unanswered questions . . .

As golf clubs swing on the green, so do Lyndy’s fists in an uncharacteristic outburst. Chaotic circumstances take a dark turn when Sir Edwin is found bludgeoned outside the laundry house—the maid waiting beside the body, no murder weapon in sight—and all eyes on Lyndy . . .

Suddenly caught in a whirlwind of kilts, elite golfers, and deadly rumors, Stella rushes to protect Lyndy’s innocence and save herself from real danger. But can she both navigate the unspoken rules at Glenloch Hill and survive a cutthroat competition against a killer who will stop at nothing to win?

Bio: Clara writes the Stella & Lyndy Mystery series about an unlikely couple who mix love, murder, and horseracing in Edwardian England.  With an incurable case of wanderlust, she travels every chance she gets, the UK being a favorite destination. When she can’t get to England or Scotland, she happily writes about it from her home in Iowa.

Website: www.claramckenna.com

Buy link: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496748515/murder-at-glenloch-hill/

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