The White Tower

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 a 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 to close to the truth because a death threat via e-mail arrives. THE WHITE TOWER takes place in Canberra, Australia, giving armchair travelers 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 story line. Ivan is a great help who 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. Harriet Klausner