Cop (questioning Crasher at a homicide scene) in Drums, Guns ‘n’ Money:
“I don’t need to tell you the kind of shit you’ll be in if you play P.I. on this.” Crasher: “No, you don’t need to tell me.”
Don’t go calling ” adroitly percussive” drummer and private eye LOU CRASHER an African-American!
He’s Black, and he’s Canadian. From Vancouver. In B.C. Where he played football professionally.
He’s also one of the more colorful P.I.s to pop up lately–a session drummer trying to carve himself out a slice of the rock’n’roll dream while pounding out the beat at the L.A. Practice Joint, a Los Angeles rehearsal space for musicians. But until his ship comes in, he’s doing a little half-ass (and unlicensed) P.I. work on the side, aided by his half brother Jake, and his landlady, Violet Wiggins.
Whether he actually qualifies as a P.I. is another matter (the PWA seems to think he is). He doesn’t seem to take cases so much as stumble into them. But he’s no bumbling amateur sleuth, either. Think of him as a sort of shit magnet with aspirations, a deep and abiding love for his own homemade sandwiches, beer, and a rock’n’roll heart.
Turn it up to eleven, and as Warren Zevon said, Enjoy every sandwich…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jonathan Brown is n LA-based Canadian-born rock drummer (quel surprise!) turned writer. Besides the Lou Crasher series, his books include Chloe, Moose’s Law, Character Is What Counts: A Novel Based On The Life Of Vince Lombardi, and A Boxing Trainer’s Journey. His second Crasher novel, Don’t Shoot the Drummer, landed him the Barbara Neely Scholarship Award in 2022, while the third, Drums, Guns ‘n’ Money, is a Shamus finalist.
UNDER OATH
“The Big Crescendo is a sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll mystery, played out at a breakneck 180 beats per minute. Amateur PI Lou Crasher does his hero Jim Rockford proud in this slam-bang, action-packed thriller.” — Paul D. Marks
“Come for the extraordinary characters, stay for the kick-ass fights; come for the back-stage rock scene, stay for the sandwiches; come for the voice, stay for the coolest set of images this side of the wise-cracking heroes of ’30’s movies. Whatever brings you into Lou Crasher’s world, you’ll be glad you came.” — SJ Rozan on Don’t Shoot the Drummer
“Drums, Guns ’n’ Money is a jazzy up tempo mystery that kicks like a snare roll. Jonathan Brown brings his musicality to this down and dirty crime story. Loved it!” — SA Cosby
“The appropriately named Lou Crasher in Mr. Brown’s Drums, Guns ’n’ Money is an adroitly percussive unlicensed private eye who knows the staccato rhythms of the city as he moves and grooves through its warrens to get to the real. The tempo is terse, and the pace of the narrative propels the reader to keep turning the pages. A winner.” — Gary Phillips
Don’t go calling ” adroitly percussive” drummer and private eye LOU CRASHER an African-American!
