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.