Synopsis of Crown’s Law by Wolf Wootan
Private Eye Sam Crown’s beat is the underbelly of Orange County, California. At 48, he’s an aging “dude” who lives at the beach, still surfs, and birddogs the bikini crowd.
“He loved summer. All the women in tank tops and bikinis!”
More from the book:
“‘Well, let me check my calendar,’ he replied.
‘You don’t have a calendar, Sam Crown! You make life up as you go along!’ she laughed.”
That’s how many people perceived Sam Crown until they found themselves on the receiving end of his brand of justice: Crown’s Law.
A former U.S. Marine and Medal of Honor recipient, Sam had worked for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) for 17 years, most of it as a homicide investigator. He had quit the job after his captain called him in — yet again — after he shot and killed a pistol-wielding, crazed junkie during a domestic disturbance call.
“‘Do you know how many officer-related shootings and excessive force complaints you’ve had? You and your version of the law — Crown’s Law everyone calls it.’”
“‘No, but I’m sure you do.’”
After leaving OCSD, Sam sets up shop as a Private Investigator in Santa Ana, California doing business as Mickey Malone Investigations. When a murder victim is found with a Mickey Malone Investigations business card in his pocket, the cops and the FBI start knocking on Sam’s door looking for Mickey Malone — a man who doesn’t exist. It goes downhill from there. Sam gets dragged into a murder investigation he doesn’t need, and soon finds that he — and his 16-year-old genius ward, Becky — are targets of the unknown killers. He becomes entangled in international espionage and smuggling and finds himself in a race to find the killers before they find him.
When Sam runs a couple of fingerprints through the national database, the FBI is on him like an old wetsuit.
The beautiful FBI agent Rainbow “Bo” Trout comes looking for Mickey Malone, but she finds Sam instead. She sees him as a two-fisted Scotch-drinking, womanizing flirt who consorts with criminals and outlaw bikers. He has Sam Spade’s toughness, Mike Hammer’s violent streak, and is as debonair as Philo Vance. As she gets more involved with Sam and Becky, she also becomes a target of the killers, and soon she will see another side of Sam Crown: A man who will put his life on the line for the people he cares about.
As the violent noose tightens, and the FBI can’t find the killers, Bo is about to witness Sam deliver a large dose of Crown’s Law.
Standby for an unexpected denouement!
Author’s Note:
OK, what you just read is a typical book jacket blurb intended to make you want to read the book. Hopefully, it works. But Crown’s Law is not a “traditional” PI novel in several ways:
One, it is not written in the first person. Since I write character-driven novels, I find it easier to develop all characters using the third person. This allows more than one point of view to be expressed, often in the same scene.
Two, Sam Crown only partially fits the definition of the “classical” PI. In Volume 25, No. 1 of the “Reflections in a Private Eye,” the official publication of the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA), SJ Rozan, a former president of PWA, wrote an article that attempts to define “the mythical meaning of the PI.” She defines the “default” PI as “the straight white male, born to power, who gives up that privilege as too corrupting, and remains in the allegorical underworld rescuing others.” (Sam Crown has a very rich mother, and though he stays away from her high society life, he does not give up his sizable trust fund; hence he is not poor, a requirement of the “default” PI.) Rozan goes on to define the “outsider” PI, as “PIs who entered the field roughly starting in the 70s: women, gays, people of color.” She states, “But all these PIs existed as cul-de-sacs along the main mean street.” She goes on to define the “outsider” PI: “The ‘outsider’ PI offers a different take on heroism. It’s still true that, as all mythic figures do, these PIs must exhibit the heroic traits — courage, strength, endurance, and wisdom.” She continues, “There’s no heroism for these characters in giving up a place at the top of the power ladder, because they never had that place and were not about to get it.” And, “The ‘outsider’ PI refuses to know his/her ‘place,’ and gets in trouble for this over and over.” There’s more, but that’s the gist. Sam Crown is a mixture of the two types, plus maybe something else, too. His reason for becoming a PI was mainly so he could carry a gun legally. He made too many enemies on the mean streets when he was a cop.
Three, this novel is not just about finding the bad guys. There is a strong sub-plot (though it’s still related to the main plot) revolving around Becky Rogers, the 16-year-old genius that Sam rescued from the streets when she was 13. She is trying to mold Sam — even though he resists — into the father she never knew. To give you a better understanding of Becky, I offer the following excerpt (she's going to the senior prom) from the book:
At one point, Bo said, “I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be blessed with a mind like yours, Becky. What’s it like?”
“I suppose it’s a blessing, if you can call a freak of nature a blessing. Sometimes, I think I’m cursed!”
“Cursed? I wouldn’t think so!”
“How would you like it if you couldn’t forget anything? Everything I read, hear, or see is in my memory banks forever. At least, that’s been the case so far. Sometimes, there are things I’d like to forget, but I can’t.”
“Hmm. That could be bothersome,” mused Bo as she put aside the curling iron and started arranging Becky’s hair. “And acceptance by your peers must be quite a daily struggle.”
“Now there’s a mouthful! Peers. Do you know what the word ‘peer’ means? To quote the dictionary, ‘A person who is equal in ability, standing, rank, or value.’ ‘Peer group’ can mean a group of the same age or with the same interests or abilities. Now, which ‘peer group’ are we talking about here? If we choose ‘ability’ — as in mental ability — my peer group is a handful of old men with PhDs in math or the physical sciences. And the more I learn, and the more I ponder, the smaller that group gets. Then there’s the age group. I’m supposed to socially interact with kids my own age, some of them with the IQ of a gnat. Their main goal in life is to define things as ‘cool’ and ‘uncool.’ How shallow! But Dr. Sue says that if I’m to grow into a well-adjusted adult, I have to learn to fit in with that group, too. Like tonight. The prom.”
Bo stopped working on her hair for a beat as she peered at Becky, actually feeling a little bit sorry for her. “I can see that your life is more complex than I had imagined. I guess I had never thought it through. Are you dreading the prom? I thought you were excited about it!”
“Oh, I am excited! I’m sorry I made my life seem so miserable. I mix well with some kids my age. There are kids my age in charm school. And I like to dance and party. The prom is sort of like a final exam, though. As you know, teenagers — especially girls — can be very mean to each other. I won’t know most of the kids at the prom, but they all know about me. I expect a lot of snide remarks, but someone with my kind of mind has to be tolerant of ignorance. It will test my character, as Dr. Sue would say. I just hope it doesn’t ruin Billy’s night. It’s really his prom, not mine. He could’ve taken anyone he wanted, but he’s a good friend . . . to take me.”
“I would say that he’s a very good friend. And he’ll have the prettiest girl there on his arm! Stand up and look at yourself in the mirror. Tell me what you think.”
Becky went to her dresser mirror and looked at her hair. She was flabbergasted!
“Is that me? My God, Bo, my hair has never looked this good! It’s like . . . professional!”
“Glad you like it. Now, I’m gonna take a cig break and get another glass of wine, then we’ll get to work on your makeup. You do wear contact lenses occasionally, don’t you? We should lose the Harry Potter look for tonight.”
***
While Bo was putting the finishing touches on Becky’s makeup, she thought she would try to ferret out more information about Sam — hopefully without upsetting Becky.
“You really like Sam, don’t you?” she mused.
“Like? Of course, but more than that! I love him! I respect him. I wouldn’t be even close to what I am today without Sam. He teaches me things that aren’t in books. Even things that Dr. Sue doesn’t know. He and his parents have taught me by example, too. I know I still have a lot to learn from them, but I’ll keep trying. When Sam plucked me up off the streets, I was only 13, and I was, to say the least, confused. Like I said before, my age group only knew two classifications: cool and uncool. Sam taught me that ‘cool’ is a moving thing. What’s cool one month becomes uncool a month later. But kids stake their mental and physical well-being on such nonsense. He also pointed out that ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ have that same property. The definition of what’s legal is different from place to place, and lawmakers can change the definition any time they want. He says the only constants are ‘right’ and ‘wrong.’ Those never change. So just because something is ‘cool,’ or something’s ‘legal,’ doesn’t always mean it’s ‘right.’ Understand?”
Bo shrugged, then smiled. “I don’t know. It’s rather complex. I don’t think things are that simplistic. How do you know what’s right or wrong? Good or evil?”
“As Shakespeare said, ‘That’s the rub.’ I suppose it’s each person’s innate conscience. That’s why sociopaths can be so evil. You can’t use religious guidance totally either, because just look at the differences worldwide in religious teachings. But some things are obviously evil while others fall into gray areas,” mused Becky. “Philosophy of this sort isn’t my bag, but it is good brain food at times.”
Bo had never had a discussion like this with a teenager before. In fact, she rarely had discussions of any sort with teens. The last time must have been with her brother’s kids when she went home to Colorado for Christmas. She couldn’t even remember what they talked about. She hadn’t pegged Sam as the philosopher type, but evidently he had deep discussions with Becky. Quite a man of mystery!
“Not my bag either. Now let’s check you out in the mirror. I went light on the makeup. We don’t want a garish look,” said Bo, changing the subject.
Becky was astounded at how beautiful her image was in the mirror. She had never looked this good in her entire life! She squealed and gave Bo a big hug.
“Oh, thank you, Bo! You did such a marvelous job! I hardly recognize myself!”
***
If you are properly enthused now, click here to read the Prologue of Crown's Law.
