A gravid, gooey mess of a thriller - pathetic loser Jason is bullied and conned by Harris, whom he murders in a fit of sudden retribution and buries in his backyard. Unknown to him, his yard is popular spot for stashing murder victims - the last owner, Boyd, killed his wife and her lover and buried them - although he used the front yard. Boyd is wanted by the police, because he's not actually Boyd - he's pretending he's Boyd, his twin, who died, so he can continue to collect the generous disability checks his brother was receiving. Lea, the fiancé of the murdered wife's lover, comes searching for closure, the police come searching for bodies, Boyd comes searching for Jason, all while Jason desperately tries to dig up his corpse to rebury it.
It's a fine dark farce, mostly solved by a charming dog and a cop named Ford. The plot, though quite action-filled, really is more concerned with the dynamics of the characters themselves, as they hide, suffer, grieve, anger, and rage, then try to cope with the consequences of their crimes.
I liked the book quite a bit, although I found the syntax lacked flow, making me stumble as I read - perhaps just like the poor inhabitants of Stillwater.
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