I often like these period mysteries, and this was an unexpected and enjoyable find. I especially liked the detective and his sergeant, but all the characters - good and bad - were well-drawn. I’ll read more ‘Inspector Littlejohn’ or other books by this author, if I can find them.

The Inspector Littlejohn novels always give me grimy, let's look under this rock and see if there's any incest, England is kind of gross vibes. Which is fine if that's your thing, and the writing is always evocative and descriptive (to a fault), but this one was a bridge too far. Eighty percent of our cast is slovenly, petty, physically off-putting, grasping, and a classist try-hard and we spend like ALL of the time with them. It's deeply unpleasant. I mean, I don't know man, I think I'm supposed to glean some emotional information from the victim eating a lunch of corned beef and tomatoes, because the book most definitely expects me to, but I'll be damned if I know what that is. Anyhoo, this is a no for me and it may be a long while before I visit a George Bellairs novel again.

Didn't finish it. The story did not keep me interested. I don't have anything further to say about it.

This is a much later book than the others I have read of the series but worked well too.
It jumps right into the plot with the literal surfacing of a dead body. This is of a man known to work in the fairground, but it turns out that that is an alias. This leads to a family of nagging women and high expectations where one's name comes with a tag. If I had read such a situation elsewhere, I might have been offended by the extremely despicable women being shown here. The balance was restored by the way the author talks of the woman who one would ordinarily categorize as a villain but was depicted in a very flattering light.
The geographic location of the investigation is limited, as is the suspect pool. Given the sequence of events, it is not very probably for a reader to arrive at an accurate conclusion. Despite that fact, it does not feel like we are being cheated. The descriptions of the people as cuttingly observant as usual, which helps add to the atmosphere. I must admit I found it a quick read which did help my reading mood in general.
I would recommend this book to people who like old classic mysteries with a dash of humour.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

The mystery was decent, and the writing was very descriptive, which made for an almost cinematic, atmospheric experience. Unfortunately, the physical descriptions were not limited to just the scenery, or to the characters' psychological characteristics. The author seemed to have an obsession with his characters' physical appearances, particularly the overweight characters. There was endless obsession over the obesity of certain characters (all of whom were "bad guys" in the book, of course), and endless snide commentary on all the eating and drinking they did, and how lazy they were. It was obtrusive and detracted from the story, for me. Also, note that one of the characters is constantly referred to as looking like a "gipsy," so be aware of that issue.

"The workpeople had returned to their factories and offices and the market was almost deserted now. All the bargains had gone. The man with the cheese and the chickens had sold up and was packing up his belongings and dismantling his stall. Fruit salesmen were altering their prices, chalked up on brown paper bags and stuck among the fruits on the end of a stick. Oranges at 4d. each in the morning were now four a shilling. A man who sold curtains was holding an auction sale. He was drunk already and now and then gave away a length of material for nothing."


Aren't you fascinated by that paragraph? Isn't it...thrilling? Especially considering nothing plot-relevant happens on this market. The investigator simply passes it at the end of his workday. And that's one of the problems of this book; it gets clogged down with so much description of unnecessary details. It's not enough to say that a character grabbed his coat and left. We'll read how he got up, walked to his coat, put it on, walked to the door, opened it and went out. It's extremely boring and there's no good mystery to distract me from it. The murder victim is a man who turns out to have been leading a double life. He told his family that he was a travelling salesman but actually had a stall on a travelling carnival and lived there with another woman. The investigation quickly focusses on his first family and every single one is a flat caricature whose only aim is to appear as unlikeable as possible. His father-in-law is even described as having "an indescribable odour of evil and corruption around him". Just so know he even smells evil...

Of course, these kinds of characters aren't terribly rare in mysteries. Especially horrible family patriarch is a staple in mysteries. But the thing is that these characters usually get murdered in chapter two or three and so you don't have too much time to think about just how flat this character really is. Sometimes there are books that have the setup "horrible person gets murdered but only halfway through the book" and honestly, I already have a hard time getting through those because I find it exhausting. Here, none of the horrible people get murdered, they just spent all their time being horrible about each other and about the victim. It's not particularly enjoyable to read about and so the book left me feeling bored and annoyed in turn.

George Bellairs wrote engrossing mystery novels. His stories were never complicated but compelling enough to draw readers in to reading to the end. "The Body in the Dumb River" was a typical police procedural whodunit that would be an ideal read for readers who enjoy the genre. The story could definitely be read as a standalone.

The writing in this one is slow as well. But it is somewhat different. A mystery murder of an innocuous man who was known to everyone as being mild and meek and who only wanted to get on with his life.

Seemingly quiet, James lived a double life. With a wife and three daughters who disliked him and who only wanted money out of him and above all respectability, there was Martha on the other hand who was a help mate of the best kind who loved him for who he was.

Littlejohn's detective work is brilliant. Very descriptive writing of both the setting and the characters are spot on. A pleasure to read at any time.

Thanks to Poison Pen Press and Net Galley for this ARC. Another great book form George Bellairs. I had never heard of him before finding his book on Net Galley and now I am working my way through them all. The story has lots of twists and will keep you guessing until the end. I love the characters and look forward to reading each book to see what they are up to.

I have read a few George Bellairs' Inspector Littlejohn books now and have enjoyed them all so far The body in the Dumb River is no exception,the book is set in the late 50s early 60s and really captures the drabness of the time over the description of the floods and the rain and the greyness of the characters.
Although the murderer wasn't that hard to figure out you do end up feeling sorry for most of the characters including both the murderer and the victim although there isn't really a nice person amongst any of them they all seem to be liars and out for themselves.
I have to say that I hadn't heard of Bellairs' up to recently but he is easily my favourite crime author and will continue to by more buy him especially as a lot seem available on Kindle unlimited at moment.

This is another gripping George Bellairs book, featuring his series detectives Superintendent Littlejohn and Sergeant Cromwell, first published in 1961 and newly re-issued by the excellent Poisoned Pen Press.

Littlejohn is staying with the Chief Constable of Fenwickshire whilst he tidies up the end of a forgery case. The CC wakes him at 3am with news of a murder. The Dumb River normally flows silently but recent floods have vastly increased the flow of water and a body has been washed up on a broken tree-trunk. The man was stabbed in the back.

The victim is Jim Lane. Jim ran a hoop-la stall at a travelling fair and travelled with a woman, Martha Gomm, who called herself Martha Lane and lived with Jim on the road. However, Jim had a wife and three daughters back at Basilden, where he was known as James Teasdale, and went back to see them every weekend. They thought he was a commercial traveller for an artists’ supplies company.

The more we see of the family, the more we understand why Jim/James stayed away from home. His father-in-law, Major Scott-Harris is a domineering drunkard and deeply unpleasant. Mrs Teasdale is a snob and the daughters seem high maintenance. James’s brother, Bertram greets Liitlejohn with “Can we ‘ush this up?”!

The small-town environment where everyone knows everyone else and many people are related is where Bellairs excels. If you think of that 1954 film, ‘Hobson’s Choice’ with John Mills and Charles Laughton, you will picture Teasdale’s shop, his family and his hometown.

Another characteristic of Bellairs was that nearly all pub landlords in his novels are oily villains who often treat their wives badly. In The Body in the Dumb River, it’s Hector Evans, who looks after the Swan with Two Necks in Basilden.

This really is an excellent novel, with a wonderful bunch of characters and Littlejohn patiently working through the evidence and interviews, piecing together the story of what happened and who killed James Teasdale.

I found the mystery first rate and it kept me guessing until the end, the characters were also very interesting though the dialogue was hard to follow at times

This is an easy-to-read and unchallenging whodunnit police procedural novel set in the 1960's English countryside.
James Teasdale is last seen on a Sunday evening as he leaves to drive to another village where he works during the week. He never arrives there alive and his body is found the next day in the rain and flood swollen Dumb (as in silent, not stupid) River, a victim of murder.
Scotland Yard Superintendent Littlejohn who is in the area working on another case agrees to investigate the Teasdale murder. The local police are fully-occupied with the problems caused by severe flooding so they gladly accept his help. Littlejohn and his trusted sidekick, Sergeant Cromwell, undertake their usual dogged investigation by questioning everyone connected to the dead man. Littlejohn gradually wears down his recalcitrant interview subjects, until they break down. In this case, the Scotland Yard detectives are confronted by a surly lot of suspects; the dead man's in-laws are an unpleasant crew of misanthropic snobs headed by a particularly obnoxious ex-military man. With a few exceptions, there are no attractive characters in the story. Cromwell mostly missing from the narrative, which is a disappointment to this reader. The English country towns in the story are quintessential but portrayed as being unglamorous and dull. The characters are mostly pompous middle-class people, with no landed gentry in sight. The plot is uncomplicated, bordering on being boring; there's no interesting red herrings. The story sputters along to a slightly exciting conclusion, that includes an attack on Littlejohn.
This is one of the later additions (#35) to the author's Littlejohn series. It will likely appeal to Bellairs fans, although it's not a good introductory read for readers new to Bellairs or the Littlejohn series. There's better ones to introduce the series to a newcomer. It can be read however as a standalone, lthe speech is not particularly outdated or slangy.
As with all the British Library Crime Classics, there is a fine Introduction written by Martin Edwards which provides helpful background on the author and the story. It is a mistake to skip over it.
All in all, a qualified recommendation.

I received an advance reader's copy of this book from Poisoned Pen Press via Netgalley. The comments are my own.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

Jim Teasdale was stabbed and his body dumped in the usually silent (dumb) river near Ely. However, torrential rain and the ensuing flooding mean that the body is discovered far sooner than the murderer intended.

Superintendent Littlejohn of Scotland Yard, staying nearby, is brought in to solve the case. There are few clues as to who the culprit might be and Littlejohn travels to Sheffield to uncover Jim Teasdale’s secret life.

This book is one of a series involving Littlejohn. It is a thoroughly enjoyable read. The story is well-crafted and well-paced. It does not pretend to be great literature and some may find it dated and a bit predictable, but I was completely absorbed and engaged with the twists and turns of the plot as Littlejohn unravels the secrets and lies of a family full of conflict.

Bellairs is very good at atmosphere and character, using minor details to add depth and colour to the story. He vividly evokes life in a drab, provincial town, painting a convincing picture of life in 1950s England. A constrained, constricted world peopled by the narrow-minded. This is lightened by a gentle, mildly subversive wit that is really attractive and a gripping narrative.

The final denouement may be a little melodramatic for some, but this is a moral tale with a really clever twist at the end.

I liked this book a lot. It would make an excellent read at Christmas or any other time.

Charlotte Gower

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

George Bellairs wrote 57 Chief Inspector Littlejohn mysteries beginning in 1941. The Body in the Dumb River, #35, comes a bit past the halfway mark in his writing career. It's twenty years of writing mysteries, published in 1960. A lot has changed and the most notable is the pace of the story. Not rushed, no instant information. Every once in awhile it's nice to go back in time and enjoy a slower world view.
So, who was James Teasdale? Was he the body found in the Dumb River or was it Jim Lake? Which man had an enemy who wanted him dead? You see, the corpse had been leading a double life and his demise was somebody's solution. Littlejohn and his partner Robert Cromwell trace his life back up the river into Yorkshire and discover lots of secrets when they work to undo the Gordian Knot that was his life.
The characters are well drawn and the mystery is well plotted - a fine police procedural, indeed. I hope there will be more of this series reprinted so more readers will have a chance to become fans.
My thanks to the publisher Poisoned Pen Press and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was writen in the 1950's this one was published in 1956 a cozy whodunnit british crime novel, which I did enjoy. But, something was bothering about the book so I Google the author Georges Bellairs and to my total surprise The Body in the Dumb River is the 35th book in the Chief Inspector LittleJohn; not what I'd expected and it has affected my reading because I'm debating if I should DNF or not.
I decided to continue but I'm not sure of the overall story. I don't know the background story.
A bunch of characters with a lot to say about the murder. Secrets is the main problem for the victime James Lane aka Teasdale. A surprise to his family about his secret lifestyle. But, everyone knew of his double life prior to his murder.
A nice cozy read but couldn't enjoy it knowing it was the 35th in the series.
I want to thank NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Georges Bellairs for an early copy in exchange of an honest review.

Superintendent Littlejohn is visiting Ely when a body turns up in the river in the nearby village of Tylecote. It soon emerges that Jim Lake, who works a Hoop-la stall in a travelling fair has been leading a double life. During the week he lives with Martha Gomm, but at weekends he becomes James Teasdale and travels back to Basilden to spend the weekend with his family. Littlejohn has to work out where the mystery of his murder lies, in the travelling fair community or up North with his social-climbing family.
This is the first George Ballairs story that I've read, although it is the 35th in the series. This didn't really make any difference and it could easily be read as a stand alone. It didn't really wow me, but it was compelling enough to keep me reading. I'd be happy enough to try more of his novels when they come my way.

Not the best

I didn't like this offering very much. The story is one in which perceived social class differences and petty bourgeois norms and behavior are pushed at us at every turn. A seemingly nice, harmless man is murdered and as Superintendent Littlejohn of Scotland Yard investigates he finds nothing but horrible ideas of propriety pushed ahead of human decency. A bit of this goes a long way in a novel and I found far too many sentences judging people on their looks, speech, attitudes, actions and supposed antecedents.

I think that Dumb River is an unlikely place name.

"The Body in the Dumb River" is one of several George Bellairs books being republished by the British Library and Poisoned Pen Press. It was first published in 1961.

While staying overnight in east Anglia Superintendent Tom Littlejoihn is called out in the middle of the night to a crime scene. A body has been discovered in the River Dumb, stabbed not drowned. A man who seems to have two identities. Is his lifestyle the clue to the motive but who would want to kill such an inoffensive man.
Quite a basic plot but still an enjoyable well-written read.

A badly beaten and stabbed Body in the Dumb River washes up during a flood in East Anglia. With the local police busy assisting with the flood damage, Scotland Yard Superintendent Littlejohn is asked to solve the crime.

The victim led a double life. On weekends he was James Teagarden, a respectable married traveling salesman with three adult daughters. On weekdays as Jim Lane, he ran the hoop-la game at local fairs. He also lived with his coworker as a married couple. With double the suspects due to the victim’s double life, Littlejohn has a lot of work ahead of him.

The Body in the Dumb River was originally published in 1961. In the book’s introduction by Martin Edwards, he states “Bellairs may not belong in the front rank of crime novelists, but his books offer unpretentious entertainment.” That statement agrees with my feelings about the book precisely. I always love the British Library Crime Classics and this book is no exception. However, it does seem like the mystery was very easy to solve. If you like televised mysteries like Murder She Wrote or Midsomer Murders, you will enjoy this equally well. 3 stars.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.