I thought the book I read last week, Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddon, was a shoo-in for my choice for my book club selection…that is until I read this one, Diane Chamberlain’s “Last House on the Street”.

Amazon describes it as:

“1965

Growing up in the well-to-do town of Round Hill, North Carolina, Ellie Hockley was raised to be a certain type of proper Southern lady. Enrolled in college and all but engaged to a bank manager, Ellie isn’t as committed to her expected future as her family believes. She’s chosen to spend her summer break as a volunteer helping to register black voters. But as Ellie follows her ideals, fighting for the civil rights of the marginalized, her scandalized parents scorn her efforts, and her neighbors reveal their prejudices. And when she loses her heart to a fellow volunteer, Ellie discovers the frightening true nature of the people living in Round Hill.

2010

Architect Kayla Carter and her husband designed a beautiful house for themselves in Round Hill’s new development, Shadow Ridge Estates. It was supposed to be a home where they could raise their three-year-old daughter and grow old together. Instead, it’s the place where Kayla’s husband died in an accident—a fact known to a mysterious woman who warns Kayla against moving in. The woods and lake behind the property are reputed to be haunted, and the new home has been targeted by vandals, leaving threatening notes. And Kayla’s neighbor Ellie Hockley is harboring long-buried secrets about the dark history of the land where her house was built.

Two women. Two stories. Both on a collision course with the truth–no matter what that truth may bring to light–in Diane Chamberlain’s riveting, powerful novel about the search for justice.”

I did what I don’t often do: I sat and read this book for an entire afternoon and finished it in just three days. The Great Hunter makes fun of me because it takes me so long to read a book since generally, I only read at night before I go to bed and that is usually only about ten minutes until my eyes start closing.

In the story, Ellie Hockley learns songs to sing with the people she is meeting and one of those songs is a song we’ve sung a number of times in my church choir: I’ll Fly Away.

♫ One bright morning, when this life is o’er, I’ll fly away
To that home on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away
I’ll fly away, ole glory, I’ll fly away,
When I die, hallelujah, bye and bye, I’ll fly away.♫

So right now, only two books in, “Last House” is in the lead.

And, btw, because inquiring minds want to know, I googled what the origin of the phrase “shoo-in” was (and I always thought it was ‘shoe-in’). Google AI defines it as:

“Shoo-in” (a certain winner) originated from early 20th-century American horse racing, specifically referring to a rigged race. Corrupt jockeys would “shoo” (drive/wave) a favored horse to an easy win. The phrase evolved from this shady, dishonest practice into common parlance for any easy or guaranteed victory by the 1930s-1940s.

Now you know.