The Ledge is a cleverly constructed mystery novel focusing on two distinct but intertwined timelines: the present and a few days in February 1999. The tale features four very close friends – Aaron, Justin, Chen and Leeson – who were teenagers back in 1999. It is about complex relationships and it is about murder. And it is a challenge from the author to the reader.
The events of 1999 are relayed in the form of a diary written at that time by Justin. While it is well written, sometimes its style makes it hard to believe it was penned by one so young:
I didn’t know what he wanted from me, and if I did, I wasn’t sure I could give it to him. So I just shrugged, like a useless little turd, and said, “I try not to think about stuff like that.”
He nodded regretfully, brushed invisible dust from the legs of his boardshorts, and slipped under the water.
In tandem with the unravelling mystery of what happened in 1999, we follow what these boys, now men, do as the past begins to catch up with them. The novel continuously vacillates between 1999 and the present; perhaps this is to keep the reader on tenterhooks, but it ultimately serves to disrupt the story’s momentum, detrimentally affecting it flow. (It is worth noting that one of the best written scripts in a long time was for the television series Succession – for which the writers followed a strict ‘no flashbacks’ rule.)
Christian White’s unique intelligence is clear from the brilliant conception and tantalisingly well-executed plotting of this novel, but it would have been even more memorable if the protagonists had been better drawn. At times it is hard to distinguish between the main characters or to relate the teenager to his middle-aged counterpart. But as a mystery that challenges the reader, it ranks highly.
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There is no lack of clues in the story – some from the diary and others in the actions of the present. But it would take a very astute reader to figure out what really happened before they get to the final pages. This reviewer certainly didn’t have a clue, as the saying goes, as to the satisfying ending. So, for the lovers of a clever mystery, this book is worth getting.
The Ledge, Christian White
Publisher: Affirm Press
ISBN: 9781923022829
Format: Paperback
Pages: 352 pp
Publication date: 24 September 2024
RRP: $34.99
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