San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Island of mysteries
Robert Mccaw brings a diplomatic, respectful outlook to his Hawaii-set Koa Kane novels
Robert Mccaw took his time writing his first book — 20 years, to be exact. To be fair, he was often busy working as an attorney in New York City, but says he was always tinkering with a novel in his spare time. “I started writing the first book probably in the late ’80s,” Mccaw says from the La Jolla apartment where he lives half the year. “I would write a chapter while I was on vacation or when I was on an airplane. Sometimes I’d write it longhand, sometimes on a computer. Gradually, it became a book, but it wasn’t until I retired from my law practice in 2009 that I became serious about getting the book published.”
The years of notes and word files were eventually assembled and edited into “Death of a Messenger.” Released in 2015, the mystery novel introduced readers to Koa Kane, a detective in Hilo on the big island of Hawaii. And while Hawaii isn’t the sort of place readers might instinctively think to set a hard-boiled mystery novel, it’s precisely that kind of outlook that Mccaw has set out to dispel.
“Hawaii is a character in all four books,” explains Mccaw, who first visited the islands in the ’80s. “It’s just like a human character in a lot of ways, and it’s presented in a variety of ways. I’ve tried to work things like tradition and myths into the books in a way that makes Hawaii real, because the PR industry and the tourism industry have spent over 50 years making it unreal. It’s not all about beaches and palm trees, and women in hula skirts — that’s not the real Hawaii.”
The novels, including the recently released fourth book in the series, “Treachery Times Two,” work like standard police procedural thrillers, but Mccaw brings a diplomatic outlook to the Koa Kane mysteries. He infuses the novels with his own firsthand knowledge of criminal law from his years as an attorney, while also keeping the characters grounded in Hawaiian cultural legends, folklore and current-day customs. The idea, ultimately, is to bewitch readers with the story while also representing the islands in a way that is both culturally respectful and authentic.
“When I first went, I ultimately fell in love with the place in terms of its history, its geography, its culture and diversity. And don’t forget it had its own language,” Mccaw reflects. “As I learned more and talked to people, I became very motivated to find a way to share this knowledge with other people, and that’s really where the first idea of the mysteries came from.”
Mccaw presents something of a grittier side to the Hawaiian islands through the lens of Koa Kane, a protagonist who, without giving too much away, has his own troubling secrets and problematic past, both of which ultimately make him a better detective.
“This past colors every move of this detective — it motivates him, because of his guilt, to pursue murderers and do it with a vengeance,” Mccaw says. “At the same time, he understands the criminal mind, and it gives him a unique kind of perspective — being able to see a crime scene through different eyes.”
“Treachery Times Two” might be the most layered and dark of all the Koa Kane mysteries. The novel sees Mccaw’s titular anti-hero not only trying to solve the case of a mutilated young woman, but also dealing with his own past when a young stranger shows up on the island inquiring about the death of his grandfather. Presented in the style of a mystery-within-a-mystery and with distinct narratives that ultimately conjoin, the novel often resembles an espionage-style thriller.
“Among other things, the Koa character has become much more complex,” Mccaw says. “There are much more of a variety of emotional qualities coming out of him in ‘Treachery Times Two,’ because what happens is the grandson of a man that Koa killed, and covered up the crime, that grandson comes to the big island and starts asking questions. It slowly develops that this crime that Koa committed, 30 years previously, risks becoming exposed and you get all of the reactions from Koa as the plot develops.”
In addition to Hawaii being the inspiration for the novels, Mccaw uses his own life and experiences to give his mysteries a sense of realism. He grew up a “military brat,” the son of a JAG (judge advocate general) officer who kept his family constantly moving around the world. Mcgraw says he finally felt a sense of being grounded in Hawaii. There he found a distinct culture that was much more nuanced and varied than what is captured on postcards or social media. Issues such as Hawaiian sovereignty, territorialism, and the islands’ historical and present-day issues with mainland decisions are deftly addressed in the Koa Kane novels, but Mcgraw presents them in a way that doesn’t feel preachy or appropriative.
“I do a lot of research for these books. I try to get the Hawaii character as accurate as possible,” Mccaw says. “The other characters I can make up, but I want that character to be real. So if I’m describing a place, it’s real. I’ve been there and have researched it.”
And while Mccaw says he’s already finished with the fifth Koa Kane novel, he’s also working on another project inspired by his early days of practicing law and clerking for a Supreme Court justice. For him, the journey to becoming a full-time writer has been a long one, but it’s one he can bring a lifetime of experiences to.
“People ask me about research all the time,” says Mccaw, “And one of my favorite expressions is that life is research. Life will continue to inspire me.”
“I try to get the Hawaii character as accurate as possible. The other characters I can make up, but I want that character to be real.” Author Robert Mccaw