The plot is pure le Carré, but tailored for the tropics. A bloodied body washes up on a lake shore in a central African country. The nation is shocked when the victim turns out to be a top United Nations official, clubbed to a pulp and flung to the crocodiles. Who could commit such a crime? Local police scramble into action, and make their arrests. But something smells rotten. A dogged reporter starts digging in the city's murky underworld. Soon a web of intrigue unfolds including rogue army officers, Western aid money and, maybe, the country's most powerful men.