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The Bean & Ab Mysteries #3
The Legend of Burial Island: A Bean and Ab Mystery (Bean and Ab Mysteries
In a tale overflowing with adventure, teens Bean Carver and Abigail Peterson-and a Middle Eastern princess summering on their island--pull off narrow escapes by boat, ultralight, and mini-submarine. Bizarre occurrences indicate that the legends surrounding nearby Burial Island-site of a tragedy during the French and Indian Wars-might not be merely folktales. Bean and Ab solve a baffling mystery, plus get some clues about the importance of loyalty and friendship.
201 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2009
4 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 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 11, 2019
I strongly disliked this book. There were three main characters that can't stay out of trouble, Spooky, Bean, and Ab. (the names threw me off a bit because they were so unusual. ) I very strongly disliked every part of this book because there weren't many details and I didn't follow the story well. It started off extremely slow and didn't really pick up until at least halfway through. The so-called adventures seemed to be very fake and dangerous for these "small island" kids. I didn't like how all of a sudden it went from calm and peaceful to the FBI crashing in and chasing either. (I cannot describe their adventures without spoiling.) I 100% would never really recommend this book.
March 23, 2015
The book is has a few main characters, the main characters are Bean, Ab, and Spooky. They can't stay out of trouble in all of their years of summer vacation, this year they got in the middle of a drug dealer. At first they thought that he was an FBI agent but then Bean and Spooky got caught by the real FBI agents and they got away, and then they retuned to the drub dealer and he (the drug dealer) tried to kill them. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a mystery book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews