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The Winston Crisp Mysteries #2
The Dead of Winter
Retired National Security Agency code breaker Winston Crisp thought his career of delving into dark, unpleasant secrets was long over when he retired to a peaceful Penobscot Bay island. Little did he know he would be called upon to solve the grisly murders that haunt the island.
349 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
15 people want to read
About the author
David A. Crossman
20 books4 followersMystery writer, musician and artist David Crossman grew up on Vinalhaven and graduated from the island school in 1970.
The roots of his mother's family (Roberts) extend back to the earliest settlers on the island who arrived in the late 18th century. David stressed that he and his younger brother Matt were born on the island and therefore really are Vinalhaven natives. His older brothers Phil and Dick, however, were born in Massachusetts, and are clearly from away.
Crossman is probably best known to Maine readers as a writer of mystery novels. This, however, is not a complete job description of a man with such a diversity of talents. Phil Crossman's younger brother is the author of six books, an accomplished artist and a musician with seven albums to his credit. Currently he and his wife Barbara live in Nashville, Tennessee and, together with their son Jason, have their own TV production company.
When Crossman graduated from high school, the Vietnam War was raging. Benefitting from a high draft number, he left the island and began a peripatetic life that has taken him to "six or seven states and four or five countries". Altogether David said he and his wife Barbara, who he met in Florida, have moved 21 times.
David got the writing gene from his mother Pat, a published author, skilled designer, and talented artist. She produced "a prodigious amount of material," that he is still going through. Three of the four Crossman brothers are writers. Brother Dick is, "a good poet." Phil has been a popular columnist for the Working Waterfront and is author of the book Away Happens. David told me he and Phil, have talked about collaborating, possibly on a TV pilot. David likes the idea but emphasized that "Phil needs to learn to spell."
I asked David where he got the idea for the Bean and Ab books that have become so popular in the last decade. He told me he and his wife were living in Egypt in 1997 when he became homesick for Maine. He started writing about growing up on the island and found it helpful. The exercise ultimately turned into The Secret of The Missing Grave, published in 1999, which was the first book in the Bean Carver and Abby "Ab" Peterson series. He had so much fun he decided to continue.
What is the difference between writing for teenagers and adults? David told me he enjoys doing both. "I had vivid memories of being a teenager growing up on an island so I just plowed ahead. I was confident that I could appeal to a younger audience. Subsequently I have discovered that the series spans the generations."
Crossman's characters are drawn from people he knew growing up on Vinalhaven. The character of Ab was based on Debbie, a summer girl from New York. "She was a friend who became a flame, and is now a friend," he recalled. "We spent a lot of time together and the adventures in my books are bits and pieces of things that really happened, as well as island legends, island locations, combined with flights of fantasy and imagination".
At the end of the third book, The Legend of Burial Island (published in June 2009), David said, "Bean and Ab have aged. They started out as 12 and 13-year-olds. Now they have a tentative, rather tenuous relationship and are not sure how they feel about each other. Their hormones are beginning to kick in. It reminds me of myself back then."
Crossman's other characters are composites of people from the island although he tries to stay faithful to local types. A lot of people on the island have said, "‘I know I saw myself in your book'." "When people recognize themselves it lets me know I am being true to life." Forty years later his memories of island life remain vivid. David says he can conjure them up wherever he happens to be living.
Burial Island is an actual island, near the entrance to Carver's Harbor on Vinalhaven. And yes, there is a legend connected with it. When I told David I'd heard that his first book The Secret of the Missing Grave might lead to a possib
The roots of his mother's family (Roberts) extend back to the earliest settlers on the island who arrived in the late 18th century. David stressed that he and his younger brother Matt were born on the island and therefore really are Vinalhaven natives. His older brothers Phil and Dick, however, were born in Massachusetts, and are clearly from away.
Crossman is probably best known to Maine readers as a writer of mystery novels. This, however, is not a complete job description of a man with such a diversity of talents. Phil Crossman's younger brother is the author of six books, an accomplished artist and a musician with seven albums to his credit. Currently he and his wife Barbara live in Nashville, Tennessee and, together with their son Jason, have their own TV production company.
When Crossman graduated from high school, the Vietnam War was raging. Benefitting from a high draft number, he left the island and began a peripatetic life that has taken him to "six or seven states and four or five countries". Altogether David said he and his wife Barbara, who he met in Florida, have moved 21 times.
David got the writing gene from his mother Pat, a published author, skilled designer, and talented artist. She produced "a prodigious amount of material," that he is still going through. Three of the four Crossman brothers are writers. Brother Dick is, "a good poet." Phil has been a popular columnist for the Working Waterfront and is author of the book Away Happens. David told me he and Phil, have talked about collaborating, possibly on a TV pilot. David likes the idea but emphasized that "Phil needs to learn to spell."
I asked David where he got the idea for the Bean and Ab books that have become so popular in the last decade. He told me he and his wife were living in Egypt in 1997 when he became homesick for Maine. He started writing about growing up on the island and found it helpful. The exercise ultimately turned into The Secret of The Missing Grave, published in 1999, which was the first book in the Bean Carver and Abby "Ab" Peterson series. He had so much fun he decided to continue.
What is the difference between writing for teenagers and adults? David told me he enjoys doing both. "I had vivid memories of being a teenager growing up on an island so I just plowed ahead. I was confident that I could appeal to a younger audience. Subsequently I have discovered that the series spans the generations."
Crossman's characters are drawn from people he knew growing up on Vinalhaven. The character of Ab was based on Debbie, a summer girl from New York. "She was a friend who became a flame, and is now a friend," he recalled. "We spent a lot of time together and the adventures in my books are bits and pieces of things that really happened, as well as island legends, island locations, combined with flights of fantasy and imagination".
At the end of the third book, The Legend of Burial Island (published in June 2009), David said, "Bean and Ab have aged. They started out as 12 and 13-year-olds. Now they have a tentative, rather tenuous relationship and are not sure how they feel about each other. Their hormones are beginning to kick in. It reminds me of myself back then."
Crossman's other characters are composites of people from the island although he tries to stay faithful to local types. A lot of people on the island have said, "‘I know I saw myself in your book'." "When people recognize themselves it lets me know I am being true to life." Forty years later his memories of island life remain vivid. David says he can conjure them up wherever he happens to be living.
Burial Island is an actual island, near the entrance to Carver's Harbor on Vinalhaven. And yes, there is a legend connected with it. When I told David I'd heard that his first book The Secret of the Missing Grave might lead to a possib
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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February 1, 2020At first the novel was confusing with time traveling, events, and a host of characters that didn't appear to have any connection to the story thread; but that changed after a couple of chapters to unravel a weaving of common threads that wouldn't be seen until later in the novel. Really, quite a good story and the detective mostly immobile through much of the searching of the clues. One almost needed a scorecard to keep track of all of the characters. I enjoyed this, mostly until near the end when as many mysteries seem to lose steam with a recounting and how the merging of the clues and facts come together. But regardless, a welldone novel.
January 9, 2018
Found this in a sale bin......what a find! I am now committed to reading the whole series.
August 27, 2009
Having been born in Maine, lived in exile reading about Maine for many years, and moved back here a few years ago, I thought I'd have some trouble finding a Maine mystery by an author I hadn't read before. But www.stopyourekillingme.com's Location Index didn't fail me, giving me several choices available at my local library. I chose this one. It appears that Mr. Crossman has written no adult books since 1999, which is too bad. I enjoyed this one enough that I will seek out his first Winston Crisp mystery and his standalone.
Winston Crisp is a retired National Security Agency agent, well into his eighties when the story takes place, in 1970. The setting, nearly 30 years before publication and presumably writing of the book, is necessary for the plot, which deals with a present-day murder with ties to World Wars I and II and the time between them. It also means that there are no cell phones, emails or Internet to deal with -- all the research in the story is done in library archives or by asking long-time island residents for their memories.
The plot of The Dead of Winter is rather convoluted, and the surprise appearance of a second culprit at the end could be faulted. But what I really loved about the book were the setting and characters. The descriptions of the island in Penobscot Bay, socked in by a winter storm, cooled me off in the midst of an August heat wave. The dialogue, which was true-to-life without being overdone, was full of salty expressions and metaphors, which offered both authentic local color and comic relief to a rather grim storyline. I'd recommend this, if you can get hold of a copy.
Winston Crisp is a retired National Security Agency agent, well into his eighties when the story takes place, in 1970. The setting, nearly 30 years before publication and presumably writing of the book, is necessary for the plot, which deals with a present-day murder with ties to World Wars I and II and the time between them. It also means that there are no cell phones, emails or Internet to deal with -- all the research in the story is done in library archives or by asking long-time island residents for their memories.
The plot of The Dead of Winter is rather convoluted, and the surprise appearance of a second culprit at the end could be faulted. But what I really loved about the book were the setting and characters. The descriptions of the island in Penobscot Bay, socked in by a winter storm, cooled me off in the midst of an August heat wave. The dialogue, which was true-to-life without being overdone, was full of salty expressions and metaphors, which offered both authentic local color and comic relief to a rather grim storyline. I'd recommend this, if you can get hold of a copy.
February 28, 2008
I was not really taken by this book. I find the setting of this mystery to be too cutesy, & folksy, with the colloquialisms used too much to be real. I live in Down east Maine, and have met very few "Maineiacs" (those born in Maine, not to be confused with those from "away") who are quite so provincial........
November 19, 2014
Suddenly, the case was solved, there wasn't anything in the book that would lead the reader to the conclusion. Disappointing.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews