Dorothy Johnston, The White Tower

The White Tower

Dorothy Johnston

St. Martin's, September 2006, $23.95, 240 pp.

ISBN 0231332495

Ivan and Sandra have opened up a consultancy, mostly dealing with white collar crime. Since Ivan is involved on another assignment, Sandra goes to the home of Moira Howley who wants her to find out what was going through her son Neil's mind when he committed suicide. The police think he became involved in the MUD internet game Castles of Heroes, and was despondent when the gamemaster executed his character and kicked Neil out of the game because he was trying to steal his source code.

He jumped off Telstra tower, but Sandra can't understand how he leaped over the barbed wire pointed at the visitor. She e-mails people who were involved with the game, and all of them are shocked that Neil committed suicide. When she talks to the originator of the game, she learns that Neil signed on from the hospital where he worked, as well as his home. She begins to believe someone else signed on using Neil's name, especially since he complained someone was stalking him on the game. She wonders if he was murdered, and she goes to the hospital to talk to his co-workers who refuse to talk to her. Someone thinks she is getting too close to the truth because a death threat via e-mail arrives.

THE WHITE TOWER takes place in Canberra, Australia, giving armchair travellers an enticing look at the continent. The protagonist balances her roles as a wife, a sleuth, and a mother with an ease that seems natural and enhances the believability of the storyline. Ivan is a great help, and he supports his wife emotionally in a way every a woman would like her significant other to support them. Dorothy Johnston provides a fine suspense laden mystery.