cover image Mighty Old Bones

Mighty Old Bones

Mary Saums. Minotaur Books, $23.95 (298pp) ISBN 978-0-312-36064-1

A most unlikely twosome, worldly Jane Thistle and her stay-at-home friend, Phoebe Twigg, once again find murder and mayhem in the sleepy Alabama village of Tullulah in Saums's appealing second Thistle and Twigg mystery (after 2007's Thistle and Twigg). The two friends are preparing for the annual Halloween party at the town's library when a severe thunderstorm fells a tree on Jane's property, unearthing the remains of a human body. Jane and the local officials suspect that the bones may be part of an Indian burial site, and there's some paper evidence for their assumption. As the site is secured and experts are called in, Jane draws on her archeological experience to help out on the dig while puzzling over the disappearance of one of the town's beloved old citizens and other strange happenings. The author's portrayal of the book's charming small town activities and people, plus some lovable canines and a little touch of the supernatural, make this a most enjoyable Southern cozy.