`For the most part, the dead man received public sympathy. A decent, hardworking chap, with not an enemy anywhere. People were surprised that anybody should want to kill Jim.` But Jim has been drowned in the Dumb River, near Ely, miles from his Yorkshire home. His body, clearly dumped in the usually silent (`dumb`) waterway, has been discovered before the killer intended - disturbed by a torrential flood. With critical urgency it`s up to Superintendent Littlejohn of Scotland Yard to trace the mystery of the unassuming victim`s murder to its source, leaving waves of scandal and sensation in his wake as the hidden, salacious dealings of Jim Teasdale begin to surface.