Lucas Bowman has a good life. He plays polo in South Florida, his hobby is the fast draw, he writes a newspaper column, dabbles as an investigator, and has a discriminating eye for the ladies. On the polo field one sunny Florida day, Bowman meets a man, Ronald Burt, (in a polo collision) who will change his life. Burt strikes an acquaintance and offers Bowman an investigation. The list of cohorts to be scrutinized includes Burt's present and past wife, his twin daughters, and South Florida's most notorious gangster, Gaston Alvarez.

All is not as represented to Bowman. Burt's offer is a ruse. Alvarez and Burt are in business together in search of a fortune. When mysterious deaths draw Bowman deeper into a darkening investigation his personal safety is threatened. Bowman turns to an old friend, a grizzled Pompano detective, and the two discover the depth and scope of an international crime conceived by Burt and Alvarez.

It was once sardonically noted, "Behind every great fortune there is a crime."

Bumping At Speed entertainingly incarnates the axiom.