A Show of Hands Author:David A. Crossman Mysteries with a strong sense of place tend to be popular among readers who live in that place, and sometimes transcend a local audience because distant readers want to know more about the setting. David Crossman, a Maine resident writing for a Maine publisher, portrays the state as lovingly as he does his characters. Anybody who knows Maine wil... more »l recognized the authenticity of Crossman's locales and local characters. Crossman's mystery-novel gimmick, a seeming requisite these days, is an octogenarian protagonist. He is Winston Crisp, a retired code-breaker who spent 50 years at the top-secret National Security Agency near Washington, DC. Crisp had no intention of solving murders when he retired to Penobscot Island. In fact, it never occurred to him there would be murders at all. Then the body of a young woman is discovered underneath the ice. She had been seen on the island the past autumn, as the guest of a US senator's son. At first, it appears the death was an accidental drowning. However, as Crisp - and local law enforcement - learns more details, homicide seems to be likely. Crisp conquers his age, complicated by frail health, to barely survive attempts on his life as he labors to solve the puzzle of the death. -- From Independent Publisher« less