Mighty Old Bones [Hardcover]

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!

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