During his formative years, Robert McCaw attended a different school almost every year, and spent much of his childhood outside the United States. Though he was born in Durham, N.C., the family moved a lot due to his father’s career as an officer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

As he was growing up, McCaw enjoyed solving complex mathematical problems. However, by the time he graduated from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics, he’d decided that a career as a mathematician was not for him. McCaw joined the U.S. Army as a 2nd Lieutenant instead.

One day, he was given the Army courts-martial manual and told that he would be prosecuting a case. McCaw got a conviction and found his calling, graduating from the University of Virginia Law School, clerking for Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black, and going on to a four-decade career in corporate law.

Along the way, McCaw discovered Hawaii, bought a second home on the Big Island, and fell in love with the island and its culture.

In 2015, he self-published his first novel, “Death of a Messenger,” and introduced Hawaii Police Department Chief Detective Koa Kane. The book got him a contract with a ­conventional publisher, and Koa Kane’s adventures continued with “Off the Grid” in 2019 and “Fire and Vengeance” in 2020.

In January, McCaw, 78, celebrated the publication of “Treachery Times Two” ($27.95; Oceanview Publishing), in which Kane’s investigation of a bizarre murder entangles him with a secretive defense contractor, the FBI, the Army, the Department of Justice, the powerful senior senator from Hawaii, a top-secret weapons program and a Chinese billionaire. The characters and settings ring true, and the twists and turns are true surprises.

First question for Hawaii folks: Will people who know you recognize any of the characters?

They might. The characters tend to be composites of people that I’ve met who have those mannerisms, so if you were around on the Big Island from the mid ’80s to maybe 2018, you might recognize them.

I see a couple of loose ends that could carry over to the next book. True?

Without too much of a spoiler, it’s entirely possible.

Self-publishing sounds like a great way to break in — at least it worked for you. How did you handle editing?

I used a very good service called Mill City, and I had a really good editor there. And it was not just (editing) language and line edits, but also a lot of feedback on the first story. Self-publishing has both its advantages and disadvantages. I have been told that I was quite lucky to make the transition from self-publishing to having a (conventional) publisher, particularly with the same series.

When did you decide to become a full-time author?

The last two years of my practice — which was really a 24/7/365 practice, representing several different investment banks in some of their biggest problems in New York — was all-consuming. I slowly came to the conclusion that I was having a great time practicing, but I didn’t want to die at my desk.

What’s next for Koa Kane?

Well, there’s actually a fifth book that’s at the publisher’s right now. He’s a fun character to play with. And from my perspective, the Big Island is a character in the story. And it’s a character not of the tourist Hawaii — the Waikiki and the palm trees and the hula girls. What I’m trying to build into it is a lot more of a sense of reality than I had when I was there. … I find Hawaiian language to be really beautiful when spoken, and I have somebody who reads the book very carefully and corrects all my Hawaiian for me. I claim credit for all the mistakes, she gets credit for everything that’s right.

Is there anything else you want readers to get out of your work?

The notion that Hawaii is a character in these books is important to me and the notion of respecting a very different culture, which I’m trying to do in the books. It’s one of the reasons why I want the language to be right.

What else do you enjoy doing besides writing?

Traveling, including a trip to Antarctica, which was just astounding. Spending time with my children and grandchildren, and exercising. There’s a lot going on.

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Reach John Berger at jberger@staradvertiser.com.