Jim Teasdale has been drowned in the Dumb River, near Ely, miles from his Yorkshire home. His body has been discovered before the killer intended and it's up to Superintendent Littlejohn to trace the mystery of the unassuming victim's murder to its source, leaving scandal in his wake as the hidden dealings of Jim Teasdale begin to surface.

"Death Of A Busybody" author George Bellairs sets this work of classic crime against a backdrop of the iconic Yorkshire landscape. A body is found far downriver from the home of the deceased, making Superintendent Littlejohn's task difficult from the start.