This writer reminds me of a spider. She sits at the centre of a web which she spins with intricately woven, sometimes bewilderingly complex threads, but the threads themselves are so gossamer fine than the reader sometimes struggles to see or grasp them; only Sandra's tenacious pursuit of the truth, inquisitiveness and innate intuition really anchors them at times. I was enmeshed, without quite knowing how, which frustrated but also intrigued. Similarly, in her use of language, her touch is so light as to create only the merest vibration; she skips across the pathways of her imagery, lighting on one and then another, making connections between them which are not always clear to the reader; they can be tangential or sometimes even contradictory. The language itself is rich and intriguing, sometimes obfuscating though, leaving the reader wondering 'now, what does that really mean?' I am not sure if this is deliberate ambiguity or a linguistic mis-fire.I feel that this novel ought to be plot-driven but is in fact character-driven. Sandra's lightning strikes of intuition, her dogged pursuance of facts and relentless questions are what holds the plot together and brings the solution to light. I don't feel that it there waiting to be discovered, as it ought to be, but that she conjures it into reality, piecing it together as one would a quilt, using what comes to hand and hanging it together to make a reasonable whole which will serve the purpose, as opposed to re-creating something pre-ordained. I wonder if the writer has the plot mapped out before she begins, or if she writes it as she goes along. While I write this way myself, and allow the characters to dictate the plot, I don't write mysteries and I am not sure that it is the best way to go about writing a murder mystery.Without the strength of characterisation which the writer has achieved in Sandra, none of this book would hang together; not the plot, not the language. As the book went on I found myself increasingly less engaged by Niall's story; the mystery didn't interest me so much as Sandra's thought processes, her family, her relationships with Ivan and Brook, her observations of landscape and weather. For a novel this is a massive strength, but for a mystery novel, perhaps not.
Sandra Mahoney, a computer crime consultant, was contacted by the mother of a young man found dead at the base of the Telstra Tower in Canberra. The white tower with its viewing platforms looks like a giant hypodermic needle on top of the Black Mountain. The police assumed that the victim was suicidal. Niall was addicted to a role-playing Internet game, and his death resembled the death of his character in the Castle of the Heroes game. But as Sandra investigates Niall's life, she discovers he was also having troubles at work where he was a radiotherapist. Controlling parents, and a breakup with his girlfriend were additional problems. Was Niall's death a suicide or a murder?Sandra works to solve the mystery with her detective efforts on two fronts--interviewing his coworkers at the hospital, and trying to unravel the relationships in the cyberworld. The role-playing gamers can hide their identities online, and often use their acting skills when Sandra is interviewing them in person.Sandra, the mother of two young children, lives with her partner Ivan, a skillful hacker. She seems very real, and is very different from the alcoholic loners that populate much crime fiction."The White Tower" is the second in a quartet of mysteries set in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Each of the four mysteries is set in a different season, with this book showing a southern hemisphere spring (October). Dorothy Johnston also writes literary novels, short stories, poems, and essays.
What do You think about The White Tower (2006)?
Johnston is a fresh voice in the crime-solver genre. In The White Tower, her second book in the Sandra Mahoney series, Sandra is hired by the mother of a suicide victim, Niall. Her charge is to uncover the young man's secrets, primarily who he was as a person in the game world that not only consumed his life but alienated him from his parents. The tone of the book is consistent, the characters complex and multidimensional, often as intriguing as the the investigation and crime-based plot. Sandra explores the layered identities of on-line gamers as she begins to question whether Niall indeed killed himself. I definitely enjoyed the mystery added by the fantasy on-line gaming and the way real and fantasy identities became enmeshed. The killer's choices at the end seemed slightly forced in order to drive the plot to its conclusion but it hardly detracted from the overall quality read. 4 stars
—Bookvetter 3
I received this book from Goodreads First Reads. It's clean in its approach, interesting characters and an unusual plot. But felt slightly somnolent, as if there was no need for urgency anywhere, despite its objective. There were suggestions of previous relationships or events but without any explanation in this book about those, or without my reading previous book in series, it was difficult to justify certain actions of the main character. I liked it but more work is needed to tighten the story, I think.
—Gabriela
I do enjoy reading thrillers set in Scandinavia, but shudder at the frequent graphic descriptions of gruesome corpses and sickening murder methods. No such nasty scenarios bothered me in "The White Tower". The book certainly conveyed a sense of moounting dread, although it was only after many twists and turns of the plot that I started to believe that a murder had been committed. The action was presented in an almost matter of fact manner, the nastier possibilities being subtly suggested by such emotive descriptions as pines "amputated" and a "sword" of lightning, and as I read on I quite expected something really horrible to eventuate at any moment. I found the plot engaging and the build-up of suspense and intrigue most satisfying. One other aspect of this book which I thoroughly enjoyed was that of its setting, Canberra. As familiar names like "Limestone Avenue" cropped up it was so pleasing to be able to picture a scene exactly. This is a rare treat.
—Lyn Lang
