Scan barcode
cathiedalziel's review
5.0
An excellent "their going to find out I did it" mystery and the tension leading up the discovery. Er, um, with this novel, discoveries.
This story has many twists and turns and is not what you think it is.
A man hires landscapers to do his front yard work and they did up a body...and then another one. He does not hire them to do his back yard work because he himself as buried a corpse back there.
This is the story of waiting to be found out, but all is not as it seems. Even a calm man can be pushed too far and even someone who lives in fear can do the right thing and be a hero.
There were so many twists and turns and suspense in this novel that I didn't want to put it down and the storytelling and writing is excellent.
This story has many twists and turns and is not what you think it is.
A man hires landscapers to do his front yard work and they did up a body...and then another one. He does not hire them to do his back yard work because he himself as buried a corpse back there.
This is the story of waiting to be found out, but all is not as it seems. Even a calm man can be pushed too far and even someone who lives in fear can do the right thing and be a hero.
There were so many twists and turns and suspense in this novel that I didn't want to put it down and the storytelling and writing is excellent.
beastreader's review
4.0
Jason Getty still has nightmares about the crime he committed. He murdered a man and buried him on his property. For this reason, Jason has let his property get overgrown. He knows he has to do something soon or the neighbors will complain. So Jason hires a crew to fix up his yard.
Jason is relaxing until the crew calls for Jason. They have dug up a body. Jason knows the end is now for him. That is until Jason learns that it is not his body but another body and it is two bodies not one. Whose bodies are they and what are they doing on Jason’s property?
Wow. If this is what a debut novel is like from new author, Jamie Mason, then I can not wait to see what her next novel will be like. This book was way more then just a suspense/mystery novel. It had great depth and a good psychological aspect to it. The first third of the book was the mystery and then the story quickly picked up to and turned into a psychological thriller. This is where I admit that I did get a bit confused trying to keep everything straight. Luckily I got back on track fairly quickly. However as the story played out, I was wondering if Jason was really as bad as I first thought he was. When the end happened and the story was revealed I was not surprised by parts of the ending. I knew what was going on but I was still intrigued. Three Graves Full will have you hooked for a thrilling ride!
Jason is relaxing until the crew calls for Jason. They have dug up a body. Jason knows the end is now for him. That is until Jason learns that it is not his body but another body and it is two bodies not one. Whose bodies are they and what are they doing on Jason’s property?
Wow. If this is what a debut novel is like from new author, Jamie Mason, then I can not wait to see what her next novel will be like. This book was way more then just a suspense/mystery novel. It had great depth and a good psychological aspect to it. The first third of the book was the mystery and then the story quickly picked up to and turned into a psychological thriller. This is where I admit that I did get a bit confused trying to keep everything straight. Luckily I got back on track fairly quickly. However as the story played out, I was wondering if Jason was really as bad as I first thought he was. When the end happened and the story was revealed I was not surprised by parts of the ending. I knew what was going on but I was still intrigued. Three Graves Full will have you hooked for a thrilling ride!
judithdcollins's review against another edition
4.0
Jamie Mason’s, debut THREE GRAVES FULL is an extraordinary novel of motive, murder, mystery, and suspense; dark and deep, mixed with quirky, witty, and deliciously wicked characters.
Looking forward to Mason’s upcoming MONDAY’S LIE, (Feb/2015) a new thriller about a woman who digs into her unconventional past to confirm what she suspects: her husband wants her dead. (so excited as have an ARC via NetGalley).
Jason Getty has lived in fear and is guilt ridden, from the day he killed a man in rage, and buried him in a remote corner of his yard, seventeen months earlier. He cringes every time a dog, or gardener goes near the sacred space, as he desperately does not want to be discovered. As time goes on the coast may be clear and he may just have gotten away with murder.
However, he decides to hire a landscaping crew to clean up his neglected property, making sure they stay away from the spot. However, they discover two other bodies in the yard, and Jason has no clue where they came from….hello, when did this happen? The two bodies, a man, whose fiancée wondered what happened to him, and the wife of the man who used to live in the house.
Now he has to worry about a full blown investigation, and blow his cover and hidden body. With a cast of quirky characters, including two detectives and a very special dog, to a unique killer and dual stories of betrayal and murder. Readers get to hear from different voices and thoughts of Jason Getty, Leah Tamblin, and Boyd Montgomery for a psychological thriller, keeping you turning into the night.
What a ride-- with dark twisted humor, and oh, so beautiful funky prose with so many twists and turns your head will be spinning-- for a delicious Halloween treat! An author to follow; look forward to Mason’s upcoming “Monday’s Lie” for more!
Judith D. Collins Must Read Books
Looking forward to Mason’s upcoming MONDAY’S LIE, (Feb/2015) a new thriller about a woman who digs into her unconventional past to confirm what she suspects: her husband wants her dead. (so excited as have an ARC via NetGalley).
Jason Getty has lived in fear and is guilt ridden, from the day he killed a man in rage, and buried him in a remote corner of his yard, seventeen months earlier. He cringes every time a dog, or gardener goes near the sacred space, as he desperately does not want to be discovered. As time goes on the coast may be clear and he may just have gotten away with murder.
However, he decides to hire a landscaping crew to clean up his neglected property, making sure they stay away from the spot. However, they discover two other bodies in the yard, and Jason has no clue where they came from….hello, when did this happen? The two bodies, a man, whose fiancée wondered what happened to him, and the wife of the man who used to live in the house.
Now he has to worry about a full blown investigation, and blow his cover and hidden body. With a cast of quirky characters, including two detectives and a very special dog, to a unique killer and dual stories of betrayal and murder. Readers get to hear from different voices and thoughts of Jason Getty, Leah Tamblin, and Boyd Montgomery for a psychological thriller, keeping you turning into the night.
What a ride-- with dark twisted humor, and oh, so beautiful funky prose with so many twists and turns your head will be spinning-- for a delicious Halloween treat! An author to follow; look forward to Mason’s upcoming “Monday’s Lie” for more!
Judith D. Collins Must Read Books
aoosterwyk's review
4.0
Jason, a soft, weak-willed man, fills the void his wife leaves in his life with a destructive friendship. He commits an act he can't take back and does the best he can to cover it up. In an effort to put it all behind him, he decides to have a little landscaping done in front of his house. Safe, right? Until they dig up two bodies he didn't put there.
This book held my attention from beginning to end. Good for those who don't necessarily define law as justice. I would also recommend it to everyone who thinks their dog might be smarter than they are.
This book held my attention from beginning to end. Good for those who don't necessarily define law as justice. I would also recommend it to everyone who thinks their dog might be smarter than they are.
mxsallybend's review
4.0
I've always been a huge Hitchcock fan, even though I grew up well after the height of his career. Personally, I like his darker films, those with a bit of macabre humour to them, like The Trouble With Harry. It's rare to find anybody who can manage to recapture that magic - Shallow Grave is the only successful example that comes to mind - so I was cautiously optimistic when Three Graves Full came my way and I read the opening of the cover blurb:
More than a year ago, mild-mannered Jason Getty killed a man he wished he’d never met. Then he planted the problem a little too close to home. But just as he’s learning to live with the undeniable reality of what he’s done, police unearth two bodies on his property—neither of which is the one Jason buried.
Much to my delight, Jamie Mason absolutely nailed the difficult mix of macabre humour and horrific suspense, weaving a story that keeps the reader on edge, never quite sure in which direction it will go. It all starts with a meek, quiet, lonely young man by the name of Jason who is still mourning the untimely death of his wife - who was planning to leave him - and who is haunted by the body he buried at the back of his property line. Too wracked with guilt to tend to his lawn, he calls in a professional landscaping service to tidy up the front yard and the sides of his house, where the discover the first body.
The discovery of the second body leads us to Leah, an equally quiet, equally lonely young woman who is still mourning the murder of her husband, and who is haunted by the the absence of a body to provide closure. It also leads us to Boyd, a man on the fringe of society with a connection to Jason's house, Leah's husband, and the second body buried beneath the window. If it all sounds convoluted and complicated, it is, but that's part of the beauty of the tale. Mason slowly unveils the life story of these characters, connecting the dots for us, while establishing their deepest motives.
Once the police begin to close in, the tension truly begins to mount, and once Jason decides he has to dig up the third body before the police do, all three characters find themselves drawn together in a case of mistaken identities, misplaced suspicious, and wrong-place/wrong-time disasters. It's the kind of story where you can see the twists coming, but can do nothing to evade them, no matter how much you cringe. With the bulk of the action taking place over about 12 hours, you just want everybody to stop, to pause, and to take a breath, but fear and guilt do not make for rational thought.
Even once the story switches from subtle mystery to over-the-top action, Mason keeps tight hold of the reigns, somehow managing to juggle all the different plot lines and character motivations. By the time we careen madly towards the conclusion, with strange alliances and fresh bodies muddying things further, the story takes a final twist, and this time you don't see it coming. It works - beautifully, in fact - with a finale that's not only rewarding on its own, but worthy of the intricate tale that proceeds it.
Extraordinarily well-done, this is a book that I would love to see filmed, but only with the right director at the helm. If you're a fan of Hitchcock, or perhaps the Coen brothers, there is a lot here to enjoy. If that opening of the cover blurb sounds at all appealing, then give it a read - you won't regret it.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
More than a year ago, mild-mannered Jason Getty killed a man he wished he’d never met. Then he planted the problem a little too close to home. But just as he’s learning to live with the undeniable reality of what he’s done, police unearth two bodies on his property—neither of which is the one Jason buried.
Much to my delight, Jamie Mason absolutely nailed the difficult mix of macabre humour and horrific suspense, weaving a story that keeps the reader on edge, never quite sure in which direction it will go. It all starts with a meek, quiet, lonely young man by the name of Jason who is still mourning the untimely death of his wife - who was planning to leave him - and who is haunted by the body he buried at the back of his property line. Too wracked with guilt to tend to his lawn, he calls in a professional landscaping service to tidy up the front yard and the sides of his house, where the discover the first body.
The discovery of the second body leads us to Leah, an equally quiet, equally lonely young woman who is still mourning the murder of her husband, and who is haunted by the the absence of a body to provide closure. It also leads us to Boyd, a man on the fringe of society with a connection to Jason's house, Leah's husband, and the second body buried beneath the window. If it all sounds convoluted and complicated, it is, but that's part of the beauty of the tale. Mason slowly unveils the life story of these characters, connecting the dots for us, while establishing their deepest motives.
Once the police begin to close in, the tension truly begins to mount, and once Jason decides he has to dig up the third body before the police do, all three characters find themselves drawn together in a case of mistaken identities, misplaced suspicious, and wrong-place/wrong-time disasters. It's the kind of story where you can see the twists coming, but can do nothing to evade them, no matter how much you cringe. With the bulk of the action taking place over about 12 hours, you just want everybody to stop, to pause, and to take a breath, but fear and guilt do not make for rational thought.
Even once the story switches from subtle mystery to over-the-top action, Mason keeps tight hold of the reigns, somehow managing to juggle all the different plot lines and character motivations. By the time we careen madly towards the conclusion, with strange alliances and fresh bodies muddying things further, the story takes a final twist, and this time you don't see it coming. It works - beautifully, in fact - with a finale that's not only rewarding on its own, but worthy of the intricate tale that proceeds it.
Extraordinarily well-done, this is a book that I would love to see filmed, but only with the right director at the helm. If you're a fan of Hitchcock, or perhaps the Coen brothers, there is a lot here to enjoy. If that opening of the cover blurb sounds at all appealing, then give it a read - you won't regret it.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
rdyourbookcase's review
4.0
Oh, boy. This book was an action-packed disaster. Nothing went right for anyone, and people made some really stupid decisions - and that only made the book BETTER. A heart-pounding, disgusting, strangely funny chase scene kept me reading. Seriously, there was no good place to stop. I needed to see how it ended.
Normally, I am not one for gore, but the decomposing body goo didn't really bother me as much as it could have. And normally, people go for vomit if they want to do something disgustingly funny. The humor in this book was very dark and not very laugh-out-loud-ish, but I could see it.
I LOVED THE ENDING. It was fantastic, and I couldn't have asked for a better one. It would have been easy for this book to get cheesy, stupid and unbelievable, but it DIDN'T, thank goodness. The author did a fantastic job. Another interesting thing -- I believe the author is a woman, but she did a better job of writing the male characters than the female. Most of the guys were very complicated, and she had their banter down pat. She still did a good job explaining Leah's choices. Also, I loved how she wrote the dog's personality. Fantastic.
Read this one. Just read it. I'm going to buy it ASAP so I can read it anytime I want.
Normally, I am not one for gore, but the decomposing body goo didn't really bother me as much as it could have. And normally, people go for vomit if they want to do something disgustingly funny. The humor in this book was very dark and not very laugh-out-loud-ish, but I could see it.
I LOVED THE ENDING. It was fantastic, and I couldn't have asked for a better one. It would have been easy for this book to get cheesy, stupid and unbelievable, but it DIDN'T, thank goodness. The author did a fantastic job. Another interesting thing -- I believe the author is a woman, but she did a better job of writing the male characters than the female. Most of the guys were very complicated, and she had their banter down pat. She still did a good job explaining Leah's choices. Also, I loved how she wrote the dog's personality. Fantastic.
Read this one. Just read it. I'm going to buy it ASAP so I can read it anytime I want.
mariesreads's review
3.0
Nice concept and the police procedural elements were great. Very entertaining!
amn028's review
3.0
A light reading mystery that keeps the story tightly together despite many different character story arcs.
bedknobsandbookmarks's review against another edition
3.0
"There is very little peace for a man with a body buried in his backyard" - the opening sentence of this book was probably the best line in it. The idea of this book was really cool but the writing wasn't all that great. The story was alright. The blurb on the back of the book made it sound way more interesting.