Forget Voldemort, Satan, Dr. No, Iago. Fictional villains these days slither out of Wall Street. Hedge fund honchos without conscience, these evil avatars manipulate Dark Money...because they can. Although Ray Merritt says that his debut novel “Clamour of Crows” is fiction, and that the book’s greedy corporate lawyers and shady CEOs do not represent the associates and clients he knew at his former law firm, he surely knows that his mystery novel about big time law, “Law,” reflects real-life bad guys.
Merritt, an award-winning author and editor of children’s books, has a grand time infusing his narrative with coded references and allusions to Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum. “Clamour of Crows” abounds with character names, games and puzzles drawn from “The Hobbit,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Wizard of Oz” and the Alice stories. But on to the story.
It seems that right before he died, Ben Baum, the head of a $6 billion conglomerate, wrote an enigmatic “precatory” letter, a kind of testamentary declaration, in which he hinted at foul play. Enter Jonathan Tucker, or Tuck as he’s known. His narration opens the book and shows his—and Merritt’s—delight in word play and teasing ambiguity. Tuck is lying in bed in an intimate position with a female—turns out it’s his beloved dog, Nip. Nip and Tuck, get it. He’s still trying to get over the car crash death of his wife and young children three years earlier, and he’s left his prestigious law firm in the city.
He lives on a secluded, 20-acre tract of land in the Hamptons and is particularly intrigued by crows, who not only mark the start and end of the novel but lead off chapters as ink sketches. Merritt has a lot of fun with collective nouns, as seen in the book’s title, “Clamour of Crows,” and its alternative expressions, “a congress of crows” and “a murder of crows,” this last going back to the 15th century. Tuck’s idyll in nature ends, however, when his mentor and old friend at his old law firm enlists his aid in finding out what happened to Baum. Was it accidental death, suicide or…something else? The resolution will affect Baum’s estate, the women in his life, and the future of the firm.
The legal sections of the book can get complicated, but Merritt’s insider take on Big Time Law, its rites of passage, clubs, preferred restaurants, hotels, dress, will prove fascinating. Did you know that 90 percent of the “silver spooners and overachievers” hired by corporate firms are spat out within 10 years, and that women, even partners, are still advised to conform: loose suits, flats, no toes, no burgundy nails, no pink, and jewelry only from grandma?
As revelations about money laundering, contested wills and all manner of financial crimes and misdemeanors continue to make the news, “Clamour of Crows” could not be more timely. And stand by for an unexpected, clever ending.