Customer Reviews

Mighty Old Bones (Thistle & Twigg Mysteries, No. 2)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In normally sleepy Tullulah, Alabama, best friends Jane Thistle and Phoebe Twigg vow to not get involved in any investigation after their recent harrowing experience (see THISTLE AND TWIGG). Instead the duo works together on the upcoming annual Halloween bash hosted at the local library.

While they toil together, a severe thunderstorm causes some damage including uprooting a tree on Jane's land. After the storm passes, the two women go outside to assess the damage to Jane's property only to find the remains of a human had been buried there. Based on information in the library, Jane and local law enforcement officials believe that corpse is probably part of an Indian burial site. Still experts are asked to confirm the prevalent theory while Jane joins the dig as she has archeological skills amongst her global travels. Meanwhile she and Phoebe discuss the vanishing of a popular senior.

This enjoyable small town regional cozy is fun to follow due to the strong friendship that contrasts the extroverted and introverted BFs. The story line simmers down two paths that soon link as the amateur sleuths become embroiled with the mysteries of the corpse and the disappearance while also working on the bash. MIGHTY OLD BONES is a fine T&T tale.

Harriet Klausner

I greatly enjoyed Thistle and Twigg so have been looking forward to this, the 2nd in the series and am not disappointed. Jane Thistle and Phoebe Twigg have continued their friendship in spite of their differences in personality. We alternately see events through each's perspective. Jane loves rambles in her inherited woods and Phoebe prefers to walk on town sidewalks.
There is an early plot flaw. Jane's purse is snatched as they come out of the Piggly Wiggly supermarket. They go on to the hairdresser and the bookstore and Jane drives her car. We're told Jane applies for replacement license and credit cards but not how she manages paying for purchases, driving, etc. I imagined that Phoebe loaned money and that maybe the car keyes had been left in the car in order to get past this glitch and onto the fun part.
Phoebe's flaky sister dumps a scruffy little dog on her. Phoebe does not like dogs, pays no attention to Jane's Lab, can't abide anything that makes a mess, so it's fun to watch the little Lapso win her over.
An old man disappears from the town. There's a bad storm that uproots a tree in Jane's woods exposing a skeleton. The police and archaeologists are called, including an old friend of Jane's, an attractive widower. Phoebe, who claims to be very ordinary, has some odd relatives. We meet new characters, Phoebe's librarian friend and even a couple of little boys. Phoebe continues her fascination with the arsenal that Jane's late husband left her, and we have the old gals out shooting an AK-46 & a half, and other armaments. As in the first book, there is an element of the supernatural which adds to the fun and contributes to making the book an entertaining read.

After discovering the first installment in this series I couldn't wait to see just what kind of adventures Jane and Phoebe would have in the second volume of what I hope will be a very long series. Unfortunately when "Mighty Old Bones" arrived my wife snatched it before I could get to it so I had to bide my time for a while. I knew that I was going to thoroughly enjoy reading this book long before she was finished with it though because when she would retire to the library or bedroom to read I could hear her laughing hysterically. Once I finally got to read it myself I was not disappointed in the least.

Jane Thistle is a native of the UK and is the widow of a career US army man. She has recently settled in Tallulah Alabama. Phoebe Twigg is also a widow but she is a native of Tallulah and although she and Jane have become very close friends she still thinks that some of Jane's habits are a bit bizarre. These two are sort of Alabama's answer to Andy and Barney with Jane being the straight woman and Phoebe delivering the Barney like comic relief. The only difference is that Jane can see and communicate with ghosts and there seem to be a lot of spirits hanging around this small Alabama hamlet.

This story revolves around a human skeleton that is unearthed in Jane's beloved woods when a storm knocks over a tree, root ball and all. It is at once apparent that these are, as the title suggests "mighty old bones" and because of that archeologists both reputable and otherwise are very interested in the find. The authorities and Jane decide that they should keep the find quiet but for some reason they forget to tell Phoebe about their decision with very predictable results.

In the background there are of course other tails weaving in and out of the main plot, some of which end up being tied to the main plot and some of which are just plain fun. Phoebe ends up with a dog that she doesn't want, an elderly citizen of Tallulah disappears, Jane may be finding romance, Phoebe and Jane help with the Halloween festivities at the library and Jane meets Phoebe's Aunt Woo-Woo. Despite all of that though the central plot manages to remain the focus of the book and is never lost even when Aunt Woo-Woo starts dancing in the moonlight and Phoebe becomes airborne.

As with the first book in this series the writing is crisp and the characters are extremely engaging as is the setting. This author has a gift for bringing fictional people and places to life and is very good at the art of having her characters tell the story in a nice conversational tone. Quite frankly I couldn't be more impressed and I can hardly wait for the next book in this series to come out!

I adore this book. The two main characters Jane and Phoebe are strong females with the conviction to act against injustices. Jane Thistle is a former intelligence operative and Phoebe Twigg a retired Librarian with the knowledge that she is more than society views her as. Both ladies are widows and have been drawn to each other from their inner strengths.

Jane owns and cares for a large parcel of wooded property that has the hidden gift of being a repository of ancient artifacts from Native American tribes. She recently purchased the land next to hers and the previous owner (book one,) dies leaving her cartons labeled and numbered. These cartons contain hints of the treasures within the woods. Jane also has a 'gift' of being able to see beyond the curtain of death.

In this book, Jane quickly realizes that someone is poaching on her property and that it is crucial to stop this intrusion. Phoebe joins in and so does a fellow archeologist friend of Jane's and the adventure picks up speed and force. Could Ancient Welshmen have lived in Alabama.

This book is a novel of suspense and action. It is not a cozy, although the characters are of a cozy 'Bond' type. I do adore this book.

Ms. Saums is quite an Author and traps my attention from the first paragraph until the surprising ending. I love the touch of paranormal that is added. This book speaks to me somehow.

If you like Miss Marple type mysteries, you'll love this series. Can't wait for more volumes!

This book, and series is terrific. The characters are easy to picture and relate to. The story lines are enjoyable, but not predictable and the author puts time into doing research on the topics. I have shared with a few friends that range from 18-65 and they all loved the books. I can't wait until another one comes out. Phoebe is a riot!!

Jane Thistle, the lady-like Englishwoman, and Phoebe Twigg, the down-to-earth native Alabaman, are back for their second adventure. These friends, though very different, seem to enjoy the same thing, namely a good mystery. In this book, a severe storm uproots a tree where human remains are found. There is a question as to how old the bones are and who they belonged to, so the women call in some archeological and law enforcement experts to try to untangle the mystery. Meanwhile some strange things begin to happen to them, which leads them to believe that they and their discovery are in danger.

In general, I enjoyed this book, but I felt that the references to ghostly presences detracted rather than added to the story. I particularly enjoyed the two main characters and their interactions with one another.

Although the characters in the book Mighty Old Bones (Thistle & Twigg Mysteries, No. 2) are well drawn, I would recommend reading the first book of the series,Thistle and Twigg (Thistle & Twigg Mysteries, No. 1), before enjoying this one. The books are a combination of mystery, humor, the paranormal and two empowered sixty something women.

For those who love the south, this returning rendezvous to visit Jane Thistle and Phoebe Twigg will be nothing but joy. Well, those who don't have suspicious minds, that is. Being able to ignore the gunshots and muggings that seem to follow the pleasant, grandmotherly-type former librarian and her newest friend Jane, a widow of a retired military officer, is easy for those around them because it is so, so, well...out of their realm of ordinary. Jane and Phoebe, of course, know better, and know the hoodlums and dangers that lurk around every corner and bush and try to be prepared for the worst, but sometimes Jane just wants to sit back and let the world roll by - let mother nature take it's course and enjoy the world as it is meant to be. That is why she moved to Tullullah, AL, after all. But now that her childhood ability of seeing and communing with passed on spirits has returned alongside her love for nature and land, so has the level of danger to herself and her newly found loved ones as fortune hunters begin to descend upon the long untouched treasure that Jane now guards.

Jane has been left the lands nearby her own by a longtime resident of the area because of an instinctual bond between the two - a bond to protect that land, and the history of it and what it stood for and to keep it safe. During a storm, a storm that has ghosts wandering, lightning and thunder are plundering the land. When Phoebe and Jane explore the next day, they find that an ancient tree has been struck twice by lightning and split and knocked down to reveal a skeleton. This brings in several different government factions to decide how the situation is to be handled, causing more unrest for Jane simply by having strangers on the land. But with Jane's sixth sense, she and Phoebe once again are able to protect the innocent and save the day in between their trim and pedicures, not to mention hot dates with old friends.

I was disappointed in book two. The storyline wasn't as cohesive to me - it seemed like Jane really didn't want to do much with Phoebe - she was an afterthought. Jane would have been happier sitting in the woods all day woolgathering - making this more of a nature book. Phoebe seemed herself, but not much of the main character. The two's friendship didn't seem to mesh as well this time. I know you don't have to be alike to be friends, so it can be done - but it wasn't. I do love Jenetta. That was funny. There was one other thing that irked me to no end - I lost a chapter or two because of it, which should tell you something about my OCD. How does Jane buy books after the incident in the grocery store parking lot?

The first book was interesting. The characters were refreshingly original and the storyline (though a little 'out there') was easy to follow and a pleasure to read. Having set all the characters in the first book, the author just got carried away with her creations. Jane Thistle, a military widow, part-time archeologist AND part-time spy, who also communed with the dead became just too much to accept. She wasn't real. Her new best friend (they bonded immediately - a little odd for two such completely different women) Phoebe Twigg started out as a perfect caricature of the woman born and raised in a small Southern town. But she, too, started developing strange traits and weird relatives in the second book. I'm not into science-fiction and that is where this series seems to be heading. OK for some, but not for me.