The body in the Dumb River

First published in 1961, this workmanlike volume in the British Library Crime Classics series finds Bellairs's Scotland Yarder, Tom Littlejohn, now a superintendent, in the county of Fenshire, where he's helping the local police wrap up a forgery case. Since a torrential storm that has caused flooding has left the police shorthanded, Fenshire's chief constable asks Littlejohn to assist with a murder inquiry. James Lane, who ran a ring-toss stand at the Tylecote fair, was found in the Dumb River with a stab wound in his back. Littlejohn learns that Lane's real name was James Teasdale, an artist who only stayed with his wife, Elvira, at their Yorkshire home on weekends. His name was not Teasdale's only untruth, as he accounted for his absence during the week to Elvira by claiming that he worked for a firm that had him traveling around several counties. The superintendent looks for motives and suspects in both parts of the dead man's life. Traditional whodunit fans looking for a well-written puzzle will be satisfied, even if this isn't Bellairs's finest work. (Dec.)