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"THISTLE & TWIGG, the most entertaining and innovative series debut in many
years, brims
"Saums ably weaves humor,
"THISTLE & TWIGG mixes mystery, fantasy and fairy dust
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Jane Thistle and Phoebe Twigg are as different as two best friends can be. Phoebe has never seen any reason to leave her small Southern hometown, while Jane, the urbane widow of a career military officer, has traveled all over, only recently putting down roots in Tullulah, Alabama.
At times, Tullulah can be a sleepy little town, but no one sleeps through the thunderstorm that knocks down a tree on Jane’s property and uncovers a pile of skeletal remains buried underneath. Jane has some archaeological experience, thanks to all her travels, and knows a few experts. She invites an old friend to come down to Tullulah to have a look and catch up on old times. When tests discount their best theories and point to a far more recent death, Jane and Phoebe find themselves in the midst of some strange happenings.
Mary Saums’s Mighty Old Bones, the second in this delightful series, rattles Alabama with two of the newest and unlikeliest sleuths throughout the southlands.
Mass Market Paperback
Two widows strike up an unlikely friendship while one of them is buying
ammunition in her new home town of Tullulah, Ala.
Jane Thistle has an interesting past. Her husband, the Colonel, got her involved in spying, and herexpertise at armed and unarmed combat is a secret she guards well. Her next-door neighbor Cal, a dour eccentric with Native-American ancestors and a drinking problem, thinks Jane's love for the land makes her the perfect
candidate to buy his spread in order to protect it from developers.
When Jane and her new friend Phoebe Twigg find a body at his firing range, Cal, who clearly has something to hide, is the obvious suspect until he is killed
himself. During a visit from Jane, Phoebe's kitchen is firebombed. She responds by purchasing an assault weapon, having it hand-painted in her favorite colors and spying on some rednecks she suspects did the deed.
Meanwhile, Jane's reputedly haunted house is visited by teenaged ghostbusters, and she gets a warning phone call from a dead man. Jane's training comes in handy when she has to rescue Phoebe and Cal's lawyer from the paramilitary types who murdered Cal. Only when the man behind it all is revealed will Jane be free to show Phoebe the sacred land they swear to protect with their lives.
The gutsy gals' debut is full of paranormal twists and amusingly cozy characters.
In this delightful first of an offbeat new series from Saums (Midnight
Hour), recently widowed Jane Thistle, who has lived many places as the wife
of a career military officer, moves to Tullulah, Ala., where she soon meets
Phoebe Twigg, also a widow, who has lived in the small town all her life.
The two women, despite their differences in outlook and personality, become
close friends. When they find a dead body in the woods, and Jane's neighbor
Cal Prewitt is arrested for murder, they turn detective to exonerate him.
Phoebe's kitchen is firebombed, and Jane is subject to eerie happenings in
her house. They persevere, despite the threats, and prove that two crafty
widows are more than a match for the bad guys. Saums ably weaves humor,
suspense and a dash of the supernatural in this winning twist on the
Southern cozy. ~~ Publishers Weekly
After her husband's death, Jane Thistle moves to sleepy Tullulah, Alabama, a
town that has been calling to her since her first visit years before. She
moves into an old house on the edge of a wildlife refuge and quickly becomes
good friends with Phoebe Twigg, a lifelong Tullulah resident. Jane also
manages to befriend Cal Prewitt, her eccentric neighbor and the owner of a
piece of untouched wilderness.
When Jane and Phoebe find a body on Cal's land, Cal becomes the chief
suspect in the murder. Because of Jane's belief in Cal's innocence, the two
investigate, discovering a dangerous conspiracy. The natural world, Native
American lore, an excellent sense of place, and touches of the
supernatural frame the story. Jane and Phoebe, who alternate as narrators,
are sympathetic, well-developed characters whose developing friendship adds
to a satisfying mystery. While the crime seems a bit intense for a cozy,
Phoebe and Jane, with their quite different personalities, make an
interesting team in this series debut.
~~ Booklist
Jane Thistle and Phoebe Twigg are widows in their 60s. But that's where the
similarity ends. Jane is a new arrival in fictional Tullulah, Alabama - born
in Britain and the widow of a military man, "The Colonel," whom she followed
to postings all over the world. Phoebe was born and raised in Tullulah,
retired from the local library, and knows just about everybody in town and
their ancestors several generations back. Theirs is an unlikely friendship -
and the circumstances of their meeting blows to smithereens any stereotypes
readers may have about ladies of a certain age.
While on a walk near Jane's new home, they chance upon a body. Jane's
content to let the police figure out whodunit until they set their sites on
Cal Prewitt as a suspect. Cal is Jane's nearest neighbor, an 80-ish recluse
who's known to shoot at anyone who trespasses on his land. But Jane found a
kindred spirit in Cal and she doesn't believe for a minute that he would
kill anyone. Phoebe is not so sure.
Thistle & Twigg takes readers on a wild ride. I won't spoil the fun by
revealing a lot of details. I'll just say Thistle & Twigg mixes mystery,
fantasy and fairy dust into a delightful concoction. On the cozy continuum,
it's somewhere between Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax mysteries and Nancy
Atherton's Aunt Dimity books. The characters are so rich, the premise so
cool that I hope the author writes at least two books a year in this series.
Nose to the grindstone, Ms. Saums!
~~ Cozy Library
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Mighty Old Bones
Thistle and Twigg
All content copyright 2006, Mary Saums.