Picture of author.

Mary Saums

Author of Thistle & Twigg

5 Works 261 Members 16 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Includes the name: Mary Saums

Image credit: photo by Lee Saums

Series

Works by Mary Saums

Thistle & Twigg (2007) 131 copies
Mighty Old Bones (2008) 97 copies
Midnight Hour (2000) 15 copies
The Valley of Jewels (2001) 9 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Gender
female
Places of residence
Alabama, USA
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Occupations
recording engineer
Organizations
Mystery Writers of America
Sisters in Crime
Women's National Book Association
Middle Tennessee Archaeological Society
Alabama Archaeological Society
Short biography
[from Macmillan Publishers website]
Mary Saums once worked as a recording engineer in Muscle Shoals on gold and platinum albums by Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Jimmy Buffett, and many others. She is the author of novels—including Thistle and Twigg (available from St. Martin's Press)—and several short stories, and her poetry has won a Tennessee Writers Alliance Award. Born and raised in Alabama, she now lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Members

Reviews

Almost as good as the first one in this series.
 
Flagged
cynthiakcoe | 3 other reviews | Oct 16, 2016 |
This southern cozy is a mystery with a twist – there is a supernatural air about it. Jane Thistle, widow, is a new resident of Tullulah, Alabama, and finds the small town a delight from the get-go. Her friendship with Phoebe Twigg seems a bit odd at first, since the two women are so different, but maybe that is why they get along so well. But circumstances seem to thwart their every move – they find a dead body, are nearly caught in an explosion, and are the subject to other threats. The ladies are determined to get to the bottom of things, but if they will succeed before anyone else is hurt remains to be seen. And, speaking of seen, could those “people” that Jane is seeing really be ghosts from a bygone era? An interesting mystery with likable characters, this first novel in the series leaves a bit to be desired as far as character development is concerned, but is it a promising beginning.… (more)
 
Flagged
Maydacat | 10 other reviews | Jun 12, 2016 |
There is more to Jane Thistle than meets the eye. Seemingly a little old widow woman who has moved to Tullulah, Alabama, a small town that has been hunting her since she first drove through it years before. She moves into an old haunted house on the edge of a wildlife refuge and quickly becomes good friends with Phoebe Twigg. Jane also manages to befriend the cantankerous 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. Jane is determined to prove him innocent and so starts the adventures of Thistle and Twigg.
The two heroines are completely opposite in character. With Phoebe what you see is what you get, but Jane has many hidden secrets which the reader becomes privvy to – but has not been revealed to Phoebe yet.

A lot goes on in this not so cozy cozy – there are ghosts, ghost hunters, Native American mythology, bombs, land protection, kidnapping, unlikely friendships and a dog. All the elements I need for a great story. My only complaint is that I didn’t like the way the story kept cutting between the points of view of Jane and Phoebe. Yhat is a tiny niggle in an otherwise great debut series.
… (more)
 
Flagged
sally906 | 10 other reviews | Apr 3, 2013 |
As if I didn't have enough projects, I've set myself another. I'm going to read a mystery set in each of the states of the Union, and to make it more interesting, it has to be a book by an author who's new to me.

So, to start with Alabama, I couldn't count the Anne George book I read recently. Fortunately, I had THISTLE AND TWIGG by Mary Saums waiting on
the TBR shelf. The motto for this book, and the series to come, might be "Never underestimate the power of a woman -- especially two women."
The much-traveled Thistle and the small-town, trusting Twigg each have hidden strengths that become apparent as they battle murderers and
despoilers of the environment. There is a supernatural element to the story as well, which is not a problem for me, especially as it is tied
in so well with the local history and love for the land that infuse this book.

I've spent all of 9 weeks in Alabama in my life, in WAC basic training at Fort McLellan near Anniston. Saums' fictional Tullulah is set in
northwest Alabama, but since it and Anniston both lie near National Forests, I had a memory of red clay soil and pine trees that is probably
fairly accurate. Mary Saums filled in the picture with evocative description of the land. It is not surprising that she is also a
published poet. I'll be looking forward to more of Thistle and Twigg.


… (more)
 
Flagged
auntieknickers | 10 other reviews | Apr 3, 2013 |

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Statistics

Works
5
Members
261
Popularity
#88,099
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
16
ISBNs
14
Favorited
1

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