The detective business is going swell for Tedrick 'Stumpy' Gritswell. With more cases than he can shake a keel-stick at, he and his assist-kicks Bill and Reginald are up to their noggins in work. That changes when he is hired by Barnes to investigate the bizarre death of a powerful and influential figure.

His probing sweeps him into the heart of a clandestine society, revealing a world spoken of only in whispers. Hidden dangers and sinister characters shatter Tedrick's world, thrusting him closer and closer to the black bowels of the Abyss.