Product Description
With Rumpole Rests His Case, legions of fans welcomed back the curmudgeonly London barrister they had loved for years—and they are eager for more. The six new stories in Rumpole and the Primrose Path find Horace Rumpole—despite a heart attack that left him at death’s door in the previous volume—deftly parrying everything from the admonitions of his wife, Hilda, to the vagaries of his legal colleagues and their new director of marketing, Luci. With her cell phone, corporate jargon, glossy brochures, and plans to give their chambers a new image, Luci presumes Rumpole is soon to expire, and has been planning his memorial service. But the witty and irreverent Rumpole, sharp as ever, is far from hanging up his wig! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

memoir of an Old Bailey hack
Rumpole is at it again, sounding the charge with his war cry, "Never plead guilty!" As if dealing with She Who Must Be Obeyed, Soapy Sam and the Mad Bull weren't enough, while Rumpole is recovering from a heart attack, Chambers has got a Director of Marketing and Administration, Luci Gribble. Rumpole manages them all like a Maestro conducting an orchestra.
As always, John Mortimer's wit and knowledge of the English courts breathes life into his somewhat cynical and wine-soaked junior barrister, providing a thoroughly pleasurable read.

Rumpole!
This review is not written for the Rumpole faithful, because no matter what I write, you're still going to buy this book. For the rest, Rumpole is an acquired taste, you will either like it, or you won't. I won't review any particular book because one thing that stands out about the Rumpole series is it's consistency, the are all pretty much written on the same level, there are no good or bad Rumpole books. Pretty much, its all one long story.

Well, what is Rumpole? Or rather, who? Rumpole is a fictional practicing English barrister or criminal lawyer and these books are based on a long running English TV series (now over) of Rumpole's trials (and tribulations). Some of the books are short story compliations and some are books (which are almost like short story compilations). There is always more than 1 plot per story, usually the 2nd plot is to do with Rumpole's home life, or something other than the trial. These stories aren't really mysteries, but they are more like trial procedurals and Rumpole is always for the defence. In most of the stories, he investigates the crime and will usually get his innocent client off. And usually arrayed against him are the true criminal(s), the trial judge, members of his own chambers and even his wife known as SWMBO.

So what's so great about Rumpole? These books are not easy to read, but they are well written. These fictive books are a rare case where I can actually learn new vocabulary and usage of words and terms (for me anyway). People who like Rumpole also find the books very amusing. They are humorous, in an understated English sort of way; they won't make you laugh out loud, but they will leave you amused. And like most good fiction, they develop the characters well so you get to know them well, and that is why people continue to read these books.

As I said, I won't review any particular book for the noviciate since one books is the same as another. If you are new, I would recommend starting at the very first one, Rumpole of the Bailey because the series is continuous. However, I have noticed that the latter books are somewhat shorter and easier to read, so if you would like to start off with an easier Rumpole, you can try any of his books published after 2002 such as Rumpole Rests his Case, and if you like it, go back to Rumpole of the Bailey.

This book is one of the newer ones and shorter. If you want start Rumpole on an easier to read footing, I'd recommend this one.

Vivat, Horatio!
Horace Rumpole emerges from the Valley of the Shadow in this fine collection that sees him exonerate the innocent and return to chambers after having been written off for dead. This likable and charming anthology is part of the Rumpole Renaissance that was John Mortimer's gift to us in this decade. A Rumpole story is like a cup of tea in front of the fire on a rainy day. Not a bad tale in the bunch!

Another Great Rumpole Tale
I love Rumpole.I've loved all of Mortimer's Rumpole books and this is no exception.I wouldn't suggest starting with this one.Perhaps one of the omnibuses instead.But this one is still awesome and a worthy addition to anyone's library.

Never Write Off Rumpole
The more I read the Rumpole series, the happier I am and want more.I seem to be reading the series backward in time, but that's working.Apparently, Rumpole suffered a heart attack in an earlier book (perhaps in RUMPOLE RESTS HIS CASE) and the six stories that comprise THE PRIMROSE PATH occur across the year following that event.The first in the collection, the title story, was on the short list for an Edgar Award when it was published.It finds Rumpole consigned to a convalescent home.When the only bright light in the place, a pleasant nurse, is accused of murdering another patient she befriended, he gladly makes his escape to help her and proves to everyone around him that contrary to their expectations, there's quite a bit of life left in him.The other stories include "Rumpole and the New Year's Resolutions," "Rumpole and the Right to Privacy," "Rumpole and the Scales of Justice," "Rumpole and the Vanishing Juror," and "Rumpole Redeems Himself." Author Mortimer works from formula, but who cares? It's his original formula and he makes it work over and over and over again.This is a strong batch of stories that as usual satirize contemporary zeitgeist while sorting out very real issues like of privacy rights vs. public interest, evidence vs. appearances, and juror regulations.Rumpole's is a witty, garrulous voice that asks the other characters in his life to turn down the volume on assumptions, pretentions and biases just long enough to hear the truth. ... Read more

Product Description
In this collection of stories, the beloved barrister must fend off the advances of a mysterious young woman, face the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council, and take on a group of devil worshippers. Reprint. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Rumpole on Trial (Mystery Masters Series)
Product was faulty. Could not listen to tapes. Sounded like there had been a voice-over.

7 short, comedic, courtroom stories
This volume is a collection of 7 Rumpole short stories.Rumpole is a practicing lawyer in London created by ex-lawyer John Mortimer.This is a long-running series of books that are still being written.An excellent BBC series starring the late Leo McKern is also available.

Rumpole has become a classic character and Mortimer's books are compared favorably with Wodehouse and other such geniuses of light fiction.

This is the 9th book in chronological order, though Mortimer reintroduces the characters at the beginning of his stories so you can start anywhere.There are 3 omnibus editions which each contain 3 books of short stories.However, this book is not in the omnibus editions and must be purchased individually.

Rumpole stories are comedic accounts of Rumpole's cases (he only works for the defense) interspersed with the foibles of his fellow lawyers.The other characters in the books, from judges to petty criminals are wonderfully drawn.

I have re-read this book several times.The part that most appeals to me is how Rumpole functions in a world that seems almost insanely bent on any pursuit but justice.The stories often comment on modern malaise and various hot-button issues from immigration to assaults on civil liberties.

My favorite story in this collection is "Rumpole and the Children of the Devil", where a busybody social worker tries to take away a child who played dress-up with a mask and turned this into devil worship.Like most Rumpole stories, this story comments on current trends like government miscues regarding child welfare.

Highly recommended.

Seven more wonderful stories.
In "Rumpole on Trial" we have seven more wonderful Rumpole stories.I totally enjoyed each one.But as always, I will pick a favourite from this particular book, and it is "Rumpole and the Reform of Joby Jonson".It was laugh-out-loud funny, and Rumpole was at his curmudgeonly best in it.The other stories were lots of fun too.In the story, "Rumpole on Trial" we have Rumpole sitting on a different side of the justice system, when he is on trial for unprofessional behaviour in the courtroom.That in itself is funny, since I don't know when Rumpole is ever professional in court.But, boy is he smart.Not much gets past him that's for sure.These stories are pure delight, and I can't wait to read another.

Disappointing
If you want to sit down and listen for 8 straight hours, then this is for you - if you want to listen to any of the 7 stories individually, then you'd be much better off buying the book and reading into your own recording machine.This tape series is very poorly done.6 two-sided tapes are included in the package with absolutely no additional information.The first story does indeed start at the beginning of side #1, but after that, you're on your own; maybe it ends at the end of side #2 or maybe somewhere in the middle of side #7.Who knows.I've given up trying to cue up any of the other stories, as there's no way of knowing how long any of them or where any of them start or end.

If, after reading this, you still want to buy it, email me and I'll put mine up for sale at Amazon.It's useless to me.

Continuing the entertainment
This book, written 14 years after Rumpole od the Bailey, is every bit as entertaining. We are reintroduced to the Timson family who retain Rumpole to represent them each time one of the family is charges with a criminal activity.Ineffectual Erskine-Brown, who finds criminal law "distasteful", is accused of sexual harassment by yhe office typist and finds it hard to convince the members of Chambers that it's all caused by his sheer stupidity(and this man is a QC!)We also meet again various judges with their foibles and failings. It's a good laugh and a perfect book to pick up for a quick read when we need a laughter boost. ... Read more

Product Description
The comic, courageous, and corpulent Horace Rumpole reentersthe fray in these seven fresh and funny stories in which the "greatdefender of muddled and sinful humanity" triumphs over the forces ofprejudice and mean-mindedness while he tiptoes precariously throughthe domestic territory of his wife, Hilda-She Who Must Be Obeyed! Withhis passion for poetry, and a nose equally sensitive to the whiff ofwrongdoing and the bouquet of a Château Thames Embankment, the lovableand disheveled Rumpole "is at his rumpled best" (The New YorkTimes). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Seven short stories
A final collection of Rumpole stories, some of which involve characters from his psst.Rumpole never obtained the silk of a Queen's Counsel (QC), but has a reputation for winning difficult cases (although not always).Very often he is working in the capacity called a Public Defender in the USA.The stories involve characters from Chambers, various clients, his wife Hilda, etc.

The lead off story, "Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces," involves an invitation to spend Christmas with and old school chum of Hilda.This leads to some unexpected results as Rumpole becomes involved with some fundraising. A second case involves one of the Timsons, a disappointing member of their younger generation who is charged with a crime that seems beyond his abilities.

"Rumpole and the Remembrance of Things Past" involves a murder case, something where Rumpole normally excels.

"Rumpole and the Asylum Seekers" is a case involving an Afghani seeking refuge status in the UK.That is complicated by the fact that the refugee owes money to the "Tourist Agency" that got him into the country.All is not as it seems.

"Rumpole and the Camberwell Carrot" brings Rumpole into a case defending a Member of Parliament (MP) charged with drug use, and the tactics of a tabloid newspaper looking for a scandal.There is a side issue of a marital problem between Claude and Phillida, members of Chambers.

"Rumpole and the Actor Laddie" is a case involving an actor accused of stealing a ring, who seems more concerned with playing a scene than in defending himself.

"Rumpole and the Teenage Werewolf" involves a teenager charged with harassing a young woman who is a fellow student.With a little help from investigator Fig Newton, Rumpole finds some unexpected information.

The last story, "Rumpole Rests his Case," finds Rumpole in the hospital and advised to retire.But the next bed is occupied by a man accused of housebreaking, shot by the homeowner.Rumpole becomes involved, via investigator Fig Newton, in looking into the case.

Rumpole always wins his cases...... and our hearts
I have asked myself how much I would have missed had I not encountered Horace Rumpole, John Mortimer's aging London barrister. The answer is quite a lot. The many moments of pure enjoyment felt while reading any of the Rumpole stories can only be treasured without attempting to fully describe them.
What a character!!! Witty, a treasure-trove of humor, ingenious in his solutions to his cases, the very opposite of a bore. And, absent the story-telling genius of Mortimer, a nostalgia-spouting old coot can be quite a bore........ which Rumpole definitely is not. His wife, "She Who Must Be Obeyed", as he calls her, adds to the picturesque nature of these stories, while the members of Rumpole's law chambers each add their bit of spice and humor to the plots.
The fascinating descriptions of the daily workings of the British system of justice also add to the enjoyment of reading these stories. Inevitably, one does ask oneself, does British justice work and serve better than American justice?
"Rumpole Rests His Case" is a collection of stories, each about a different case, but with the continuity of a series. It is similar to the many other Rumpole books of stories and each is a true gem of the genre.
May Rumpole continue to defend, never prosecute, cases at the Old Bailey for the enjoyment of the millions who read his adventures.
Ray

No rest for the wicked
John Mortimer wrote RUMPOLE RESTS HIS CASE after a hiatus of six years away from Rumpole stories.Taking into account the television scripts and the short story collections, Mortimer has been writing about this character since the late 1970s.And the one thing fans and detractors would have to agree on is that he is utterly consistent.Rumpole is the same charismatic, charming character.The plots turn on the same style of points of law, helpful coincidences and plonk-inspired deduction.The stories touch on the same themes of hypocrisy, humor and a certain humanity.And yet there's enough freshness to the stories, that even if you've read many or all of the Rumpole stories up to this point, you'll probably not get tired of this.

In short, if you liked the earlier stuff, you'll like this.If you hated the old stuff, you won't find much to enjoy.

Count me in with the fans.If I were to describe the tone of the experience of reading a collection of Rumpole stories, I think the best single word to use would be "comfortable."It's a horrible cliché to say, but I think this is one of the few cases where it's true to say that settling down to read a Rumpole collection really is like sitting down with an old friend.

The short stories in this collection are mostly standalone although a few plot strands can be seen running through several tales.Rumpole's determination to keep smoking his small cigars in his office chambers will not be new to fans.The revelation of Soapy Sam's previous life as a punk rocker, on the other hand, is probably something that would have familiar readers taking a double take at.It's to Mortimer's credit that both the familiar and the new slot in very easily, and even things that would appear to be completely out of character still fit in.

While the character of Rumpole has not aged appreciably since his introduction almost 25 years ago, the stories themselves are keeping up to date with several "ripped from the headlines" style plot lines.I appreciated seeing Mortimer's take on, say, asylum seekers placed right next to standard stories of Rumpole solving a murder.

I hate repeating myself, but I think it bears repeating: if you've liked the previous Rumpole stories, then you're almost certain to enjoy these.The familiar atmosphere of the Rumpole tales is here, but there are enough differences to keep long time readers from becoming bored.And if you're new to the series, then this is as good a place as any to get started.

Good Fun with Rumpole of the Bailey
Those of you familiar with dear old, unique if you will, Rumpole who never bothered with the "Silk" will enjoy this work.

The best Rumpole book
I love all my Rumpole books and I used to think it was impossible to pick one as my favorite, but I think this is it. This book is by turns funny and sad, and from the ending it is easy to see why Rumpole fans thought this would be the last Rumpole book. (Fortunately, there are two more.) I like this book for many reasons. First, Rumpole's Head of Chambers, Soapy Sam Ballard, is shown to be more human and sympathetic than he has ever been. Second, Rumpole discovers an unexpected ally in his new Chambers colleague, the annoying Archie Prosser. Third, this book is unusually full of rich images; I especially enjoyed Rumpole's descriptions of the luxuriously appointed bathroom at a client's house and of a sumptuous lunch he had with a wealthy client at a hotel by the River Thames. Fourth, all the stories are exceptionally good. I enjoyed "Rumpole and the Remembrance of Things Past," about a man accused of killing his wife; "Rumpole and the Asylum Seekers," about a political refugee from Afghanistan; "Rumpole and the Camberwell Carrot," about a Member of Parliament accused of using prohibited drugs; and "Rumpole and the Teenage Werewolf," about a teenager accused of stalking a school friend. The title story and the last in the book, "Rumpole Rests His Case," is one of the best Rumpole stories ever.
... Read more

Product Description
Following the bestselling SUMMER OF A DORMOUSE, Sir John Mortimer - playwright, novelist, octogenarian and erstwhile QC - offers up more wickedly funny lessons in living and growing old disgracefully. What would we like to leave to our descendants? Not a third-rate painting or our PEPS, according to Sir John, but a love of Shakespeare, a taste for alcohol, the ability to defeat boredom, the importance of never locking the lavatory door, and so on. Owing something to Montaigne's essays, something to Wilde's aphorisms and something to Yeats' poem for his daughter, Where There's a Will offers plenty of sparkling and surprising advice from one who has seen it all. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Stick toRumpole
Mortimer writes Rumpole, who is a delight.This is the third (I think) in Mortimer's memoirs, and I missed its predecessors so this review may do Mr. Mortimer a disservice.There is a big of bragging, some interesting notes, but it a fairly forgettable series of life lessons, barely disguised as things of leave behind one that do not fit in a Will.It is a sad truth that there are a number of writers whose characters are more interesting, and charming, than their authors.

Elegant, wise, and humorously self-effacing
I should first confess my bias--I have often been tickled and sometimes awed by Mortimer's way with English prose for 20 years.So, in picking up this book I had the high expectations one might have before meeting an old friend or beloved teacher.No disappointment.Even if some of these essays are slightly less effervescent than others, all are at least wonderful, and several are both brilliant and touching.

Mortimer has given us a collection of short essays, conversational and often wryly funny, which he intends as a kind of spiritual bequeathal to his family and other heirs.The chapters range across a broad range of subjects, some perhaps outwardly frivolous, like the cooking of eggs.But in the main, Mortimer touches on matters of great substance--the nature of beauty, how to be happy, surprising ways in which our world has managed to be unjust, places and times for sex, how to dine sociably, the love of children, faith and reason, the terrors of the writer facing blank paper, and many more. I found these essays to be wise and absolutely delicious. I suspect that readers who have enjoyed Rumpole, or Mortimer's other biographical essays like Summer of a Doormouse, or Clinging to the Wreckage, will be quite pleased with these sketches.

Mortimer may, sadly, be nearing the end of his life, but at present he seems to be on a literary tear.I, for one, wish him many more prolific years.

Rational Thoughts
Sir John Mortimer is an extremely literate and honestly open-minded person who writes with a flowing exquisiteness of the English language. This small book of his thoughts on a good life is a reminiscence of the life he has led and is still leading. He mentions a lot of classical literary authors and their characters that would further enrich a person's knowledge. Also, the various types of people he met working at the Old Bailey has surely enhanced his art of observing and putting their perspectives onto paper. Together with wild imaginations of his, no wonder his many writings are keenly absorbed by the public. The last ten chapters are my favorite but in each I find something to laugh out loud about. This is his own story and the way he tells it is invigorating. In not so many words in each section, he still succeeds in relaying his message that is predominantly deliberate.

...There's A Way, British Style.
These are the random musings of an old man contemplating his mortality.After a writing career in which he had twenty novels published, in addition to fourteen stories featuring the fictional barrister, Horace Rumpole, and twelve plays as listed in this small book of ramblings about his life, I learned that he was actually a barrister himself at the Old Bailey.He was born five years after the end of the 1914-18 war, he says, and enjoyed and endured a 'public school' education where one of his school mates was Lord Byron.He calls Byron's DON JUAN one of the great masterpieces of European literature.

Sir John Mortimer (knighted in 1998) led a privileged life from the very beginning.Now, at age 81, he looks round at his children and grandchildren whose ages range from 53 to twelve, he contemplates: "Their words will echo out into the future, with their children and their children's children."What to leave them as his paternal legacy?That is what he ponders as he tells about life as it was for him at the various stages.

He wonders what to pass on to the next generation.So, he gives some ancient history concerning the birthplace of out civilization, in olden times called Mesopotamia in the Persian Empire.He talks about the times he spent enjoying one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Hanging Gardens.Then he goes on to tell about the city of peace (back then) in the time of Charlemagne, in the Ottoman Empire."When Turkey was defeated in the 1914-18 war, the Allies carved up its possessions with quite arbitrary boundaries and placed an arbitrary king, Feisal, on the throne of Iraq.These kings ruled until a revolution led by the Baath party finally produced Saddam Hussein who was, of course, backed by America.Algebra was invented there at the center of civilization which conquered the whole of Spain."

His opinions on lots of things included this remark about democracy:"I suppose democracy was most nearly achieved in ancient Greece, when everyone except women and slaves took part in the government.The result was usually disastrous and led to the death of Socrates just as the introduction of democracy in England was started." Utopia, information technology as the cause of deterioration and decline of the English language "at least as its's spoken by the governing classes", family values and vulgarity, telling lies (the bigger, the better), Shakespeare, and old movies are just some of the topics he knows so much about.This is his postscript (P.S.) to his autobiographies, as he reflects on his good and prosperous life.

Did not meet my expectations
I am afraid I was quite disappointed in this book. The review in the Times that I had read made it sound like a much more profound and important book - one I would like to own rather than just take out of the library. I had previously enjoyed other books by John Mortimer, but this book was just a collection of random musings which did not hold together at all. ... Read more

Product Description
Who rose to enduring fame on Blood and Typewriters, told the pregnant Portia of the Chambers it would come out in the end, advised Guthrie Featherstone, Q.C. to adopt a more judicial attitude, returned in the tender gloaming of each evening - via Pommeroy's and a glass of Chateau Fleet Street - to she who must be obeyed? The answer is Horace Rumpole whose legal triumphs, plundering sorties into the 'Oxford Book of English Verse' and less-than-salubrious hat are celebrated here in this first omnibus edition which includes "Rumpole of the Bailey", "The Trials of Rumpole" and "Rumpole's Return". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Failing inElectronic Format
Mortimer's Rumpole is a witty, literate and enjoyable read in light mystery.Readers of the electronic version may be misled, as was I, by the failure of the "Go To ..." function to list the table of contents as an option.But the book does have a working table of contents which one can access by go to the "cover" and then paging forward to the table of contents.The First Omnibus contains the first three books of the Rumpole series:Rumpole of the Bailey, The Trials of Rumpole, and Rumpole's Return.

R.I.P.
Thank you, Sir John, for leaving us Rumpole, the tv adaptation of Brideshead, and so many other wonderful works ('Summer's Lease' a personal favorite).

Rest in Peace,
January 16, 2009

The original and still the best
You can't beat the early Rumpole stories. My old paperback of "Rumpole of the Bailey," the first of the books collected in this omnibus edition, had grown so tattered and worn through reading and re-reading that I needed a fresh copy. And the omnibus gives you the two subsequent Rumpole books as well. These early stories really establish all the character traits that make Horace such an unforgettable character, his fearlessness before the bar, his inability to stand up to his wife, his love for small cigars and cheap red wine - Chateau Thames Embankment. The later stories - like those in Omnibus Three, especially -- can sometimes seem flat and tired but here, you get Rumpole in top form. I'm sure I'll read this one to tatters soon enough. Long live Rumpole!

I plead guilty... to liking the old hack
The First Rumpole Omnibus gathers the material from Rumpole of the Bailey, The Trials of Rumpole (six short stories each), and Rumpole's Return, a novella. All of those books are now out of print and can only be purchased in this Omnibus form. The first several short stories establish some of the long-term status quo for the series. Characters such as Phyllida Trant join the Chambers while others such as Rumpole's old friend George Frobisher leave. Unlike most series, however, the status quo is much more fluid in the world of Rumpole and people marry, have children, move on to become judges, etc.

The writing in this compilation was a bit uneven. The first group of short stories are reasonably entertaining, but nothing that would cause me to become a true fan. The second group of six short stories rounded into form nicely, though, and the humor was much sharper. I found myself chuckling or laughing out loud fairly often at Rumpole's little asides. Basically, it just took Mortimer a few stories to truly find Rumpole's voice.

Unfortunately, the Omnibus is topped off with a novella that is roughly five times the length of the short stories and the quality drops once again. I don't want to overstate the case, it's not a bad read. But it's pretty clear that Mortimer was used to the tighter plotting of the short stories and things wander a bit as he essentially takes plots that would have made up two or three shorts and spreads them out into one novella.

This was my first experience with Rumpole. I had never seen the TV show or read any of the books. While I may not have become his number one fan, I can say that the best stories are truly excellent and the worst are still pretty good. I find myself curious to read the The Second Rumpole Omnibus (Rumpole) and even more so to try the TV adaptation with Leo McKern. I would recommend the book to others, not as rapturously as the most devoted fans, but earnestly nonetheless.

Rumpole Forever
I have read all three Rumpole Omnibuses several times. I ordered an additional set for my mother, a former probate judge. What I find remarkable about John Mortimer's work, is that Rumpole is as engaging at the end of the series as at the beginning. I have also enjoyed Mortimer's three autobiographical books. I read and reread these stories, not as mysteries, but as a series of one act plays, where the dramas are spun out of the interaction of stock characters in the style of commedia dell'arte. Rumpole himself plays the part of the buffoon as barrister: fat, vain, self-centered, addicted to greasy food and cheap wine; but also extremely intelligent, perceptive, and compassionate. As I read more of the stories, Rumpole became less of a stock character and more of actual human being. Unlike Perry Mason, Rumpole does not necessarily win all of his cases. When Rumpole loses, we get to see him go down to cells beneath the Old Bailey, with all of the sounds and smells of prison life, to say goodbye to his former client. The stories are often very funny, but occasionally poignant and even sad.

Finally, John Mortimer is one of the masters of modern English prose. Just read a few paragraphs of any airplane novel (preferably one that has "Code" in the title), and then read a few paragraphs of any Rumpole story, and you will see what I mean. And nobody, including Raymond Chandler, does dialog better than John Mortimer. ... Read more

Product Description
The first ever collection of Rumpole Christmas stories- just in time for the holidays

A Rumpole Christmas is a collection of five holiday stories-never before published in book form- depicting the Old Bailey Hack at his lovable best. In "Rumpole and Father Christmas," the English barrister encounters a familiar-looking Santa who he thinks is a thief. In "Rumpole's Slimmed Down Christmas," he goes to a new-age spa when "She who must be obeyed" insists that he lose a few pounds. In "Rumpole and the Christmas Break," he protects Hilda as a shady judge flirts with her while on a holiday that turns out to be anything but relaxing.

Witty and compulsively readable, this irresistible new collection will provide solace to the legions of fans lamenting John Mortimer's death early this year. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Rumpole Rests
Another wonderful collection of stories by John Mortimer about the world's favorite barrister, the only sad thing is knowing that with the author's passing we will have no more of this. A wonderful bok to read and savor by a wonderful author.If you love Rumpole, read the many other works of Mortimer which are equally wonderful.

A somewhat slim collection of stories
This is a slim collection of five short stories set around the Christmas season.Some are better than others, and at least one is also included in another collection.

The first story, a short short, Rumpole and Father Christmas, is about an office Christmas party.Rumpole has a surprise when he recognizes Father Christmas, and there is a surprising mutual recognition.

The second story, Rumpole's Slimmed-Down Christmas, is the result of Hilda's attempt to get Rumpole to drop a stone or so, and they are off to what we in the USA call a fat farm for diet and exercise.There is an unexpected occurrence when one of the clients is found dead and Rumpole, of course, acquires the case.

The next story, Rumpole and the Boy, is about a woman charged with blackmail.There is an unexpected twist.

The fourth story, Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces, is actually a couple of plots, one helping one of Hilda's old school friends with some fundraising, and the other defending one of the younger Timsons.This story also appears in the collection, Rumpole Rests his Case.

The Last story, Rumpole and the Christmas Break, finds Rumpole defending a man accused of being a terrorist who murdered a woman.The man is extremely unpopular with the public, but Rumpole has taken the case.As usual, there are some unexpected developments.Rumpole is an expert on blood and blood spatters, and things don't look right to Rumpole.

Overall, the collection is a quick read, with some stories more interesting than others.

The Last Rumpole!
Like other reviewers, I was saddened by the recent death of Rumpole's creator, John Mortimer. However, this book is a fitting end for the series. This is a collection of five Christmas themed Rumpole stories, which have "never before been published in book form". Apparently they have been published in various British periodicals, which may account for the fact that I believe I have previously read at least two of them. I can't imagine how I saw them since I don't read any British periodicals except The Economist.

At any rate, the five stories are quite good. Exactly what one would expect based on previous experience with Mortimer's well lubricated barrister. If you're a Rumpole fan, this will serve as a bit of solace for the passing of Mortimer. If you're not a Rumpole fan, this is a good place to start.

Worthwhile reading
Having seen the television series of Rumpole, one is immediately able to envisage the characters described in John Mortimer's writings. The actual plots in these short stories are far from complicated, but the enjoyment of reading arises from the antics and expressions of Rumpole.

Rumpole's Christmas Stories / Christmas treat
As a great fan of the Rumpole series I was thrilled to get the "lost" stories for Christmas, it would have been better only if Leo McKern had read them.Great stories as usual with all the same wonderful characters.Enjoyed every minute of the book. ... Read more

Product Description
The tremendously dishy life of one of the most admired and lively literary figures today

Novelist, playwright, and barrister Sir John Mortimer has led an extraordinarily rich and daring life, privately and professionally, much of it in the public eye. His own writings, from the play A Voyage Round My Father to his wildly popular books in the Rumpole series, to his three acclaimed volumes of autobiography, and his screenplay for Brideshead Revisited, have rewarded readers and viewers with insight and humor.

Now, for the first time, biographer Valerie Grove has been given full access to Mortimer. A Voyage Round John Mortimer traces Mortimer’s legal and literary career, from his first attempts at writing novels and plays, and the early help he offered his barrister father, through his great triumphs in court, to the creation of Horace Rumpole, one of the most popular characters in contemporary fiction and television. Mortimer’s personal life—including his marriages to Penelope Mortimer and to Penny II, and his many affairs—is as colorful as any fiction he’s written. Correcting the many errors and half-truths found in a previous biography by Graham Lord, Valerie Grove’s book is essential reading for Mortimer’s many fans. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A bit tiresome..
I read with great interest Graham Lords""unauthorized" biography, and was looking forward to the "authorized"one..I found it very disappointing..The author treats our beloved Rumpole creator like a doddering old fool..to put it bluntly..John should lay her out in lavender so to speak for such an unflattering book, I think Lord was much kinder and portrayed John very well, his good and bad side..We did not need to read page after page and the plots of Penny Mortimers books, which I have never read, I found myself skipping these lengthy accounts...It cant be all sweetness and love in the Mortimer extended family of many children and grandchildren..anyone who has raised a large family can tell you immediatey this is completely a fairytale story..Jealousy, spats, word, quarrels, no family is without them..and they do get downright nasty at times..but human nature being what it is why should the Mortimer family be treated any differantly? Cheers to John Mortimer for producing so many wonderful Ruplole books..a great man but hardly even at age 86 with one foot in the grave as the author constantly suggests..!!

Rumpole
Interesting to find his real life---While I love Rumpole, John Mortimer's life seems fraught with indiscretions--of which we dwell on too much.
I guess I wanted him to be more like Rumpole. ... Read more

Product Description
An engaging collection of Rumpole's most recent adventures, including the stories on PBS's popular "Mystery!" series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

great service
The book came on time and in good condition.The price was right and the service excellent.

Having Read 1 and 3, Had to Have 2
One may not always agree with Rumphole, or She Who Must Be Obeyed, but these compilations of short stories are great as a fun read on a recent period in English history and law that one can readily identify with if you don't lead an insular life (that grey area above the U.S. is Canada, and the grey are below it is Mexico on the TV weather maps).

Fun for Rumpole Fans!
We love the Rumpole books.My husband and I have read all the Omnibus books.We've never watched the series, so we have our own images of all the main characters:Rumpole, The Bull, "She Who Must Be Obeyed."Good stories...fun characters.Good threading of plot and characters through all the stories.Love it!

Rumpole
I certainly don't need to review "Rumpole of the Bailey." You know all about it. So, I'll just mention that he's especially good company when you fly. You can read a well-crafted story in what, 30 minutes? Ideal for airports and airplanes. Do this, sit for an hour, do that, sit for another hour, etc.

Reading for a summer afternoon--and week!
What a way to forget the outside world and enter the charming world of Horace Rumbole, barrister. I enjoy his droll humor and uncanny way of seeing things not on the surface to defend his client. ... Read more

Product Description
Horace Rumpole, Hero of the Downtrodden, Returns to Fight the Good Fight--For Anti-Social Behavior!

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) may be the pride and joy of the New Labour Party, but they don't cut much ice with Horace Rumpole--he takes the old-fashioned view that if anyone is going to be threatened with a restriction of their liberty then some form of legal proceeding ought to be gone through first. Not that Hilda agrees, of course, but she's too busy completing her memoirs to dissuade him from taking an interest when one of the Timson children is given an ASBO for playing football in the street. And pretty soon he realizes something fishy is going on. Why are the residents pursuing their vendetta against the Timson boy quite so strongly? Could they have a sinister reason for not wanting him on their street?

Presented unabridged on 3 CDs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

Another murder case
I always enjoyed the Rumpole series on TV, and I have occasionally tried one of the novels.This one is a relatively short quick read to provide some light reading.It involves a number of cases which seem to interlock, and the main case is the type where Rumpole excels, i.e., an impossible case where it appears there is no chance for the defendent.But the defendent has Rumpole to establish reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors.

There are the usual side issues.Hilda has a desire for Rumpole to be elevated to a QC.And there are the usual interactions between people both within chambers and outside chambers.

A fast and furious read
This is a great read.Fast and furious.Mr. Mortimer delivers what we expect and love about Rumpole.

Rumpole Primer
This review is not written for the Rumpole faithful, because no matter what I write, you're still going to buy this book. For the rest, Rumpole is an acquired taste, you will either like it, or you won't. I won't review any particular book because one thing that stands out about the Rumpole series is it's consistency, the are all pretty much written on the same level, there are no good or bad Rumpole books. Pretty much, its all one long story.

Well, what is Rumpole? Or rather, who? Rumpole is a fictional practicing English barrister or criminal lawyer and these books are based on a long running English TV series (now over) of Rumpole's trials (and tribulations). Some of the books are short story compliations and some are books (which are almost like short story compilations). There is always more than 1 plot per story, usually the 2nd plot is to do with Rumpole's home life, or something other than the trial. These stories aren't really mysteries, but they are more like trial procedurals and Rumpole is always for the defence. In most of the stories, he investigates the crime and will usually get his innocent client off. And usually arrayed against him are the true criminal(s), the trial judge, members of his own chambers and even his wife known as SWMBO.

So what's so great about Rumpole? To re-iterate, they are an acquired taste. These books are not easy to read, but they are well written. These fictive books are a rare case where I can actually learn new vocabulary and usage of words and terms (for me anyway). People who like Rumpole also find the books very amusing. They are humorous, in an understated English sort of way; they won't make you laugh out loud, but they will leave you amused. And like most good fiction, they develop the characters well so you get to know them well, and that is why people continue to read these books.

As I said, I won't review any particular book for the noviciate since one books is the same as another. If you are new, I would recommend starting at the very first one, Rumpole of the Bailey because the series is continuous. However, I have noticed that the latter books are somewhat shorter and easier to read, so if you would like to start off with an easier Rumpole, you can try any of his books published after 2002 such as Rumpole Rests his Case, and if you like it, go back to Rumpole of the Bailey.

Have fun!

Not your usual slick, handsome TV lawyer
Rumpole is a late middle-aged English barrister, irreverent and a rascal.He lives life on his own terms treading lightly at home around She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed.He sits in his office eating sandwiches, drinking wine and smoking his cigars to the disgust of his fellow barristers and QCs in Chambers, yet he wins his cases.Not your usual slick lawyer from LA Law or Boston Legal.

So When Does He Not Misbehave?
A good Rumpole collection is like a box of fine English toffee, and lasts about as long. As I partook of Rumpole Misbehaves and other titles in this decade's offerings of the Horace Rumpole canon, I began to realize I used to like it better when I could fold my mind into a Rumpole story and forget the outside world for a while, which I so often couldn't in these politically motivated latter-day outings. Still, I understand John Mortimer's desire to rant about the hideous bit of social tyranny that is the Anti-Social Behavior Order and am behind him in thinking that bit of Big Brothering is absolutely atrocious. As I read about it, I kept thinking, "Go get `em, Rumpole!" Still, much of the rest of what was offered here in "Misbehaves" was more in keeping with traditional Rumpole fare, with the Timson clan playing its part, She Who Must Be Obeyed hers, as well as Rumpole's eternal conundrum about becoming a QC. (No spoiler here to say of course he doesn't!) I guess it's true there's very little suspense anymore in these stories and the outcomes are often intentionally telegraphed early on by Rumpole, er, I mean Mortimer, but the journey itself through the life and times of this larger than life character is the real fun of sitting back and delving into these novels. Hard to believe that with Mr. Mortimer's passing we've finally reached the end of a literary era. Good thing we've got thirty-plus years of Rumpole books to read through for consolation, Rumpole Misbehaves among them. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

A well-researched, miserably edited biography
Didn't Graham Lord have an editor?Even making allowance for the loose punctuation habits of contemporary British authors, this gossipy biography is composed largely of one run-on sentence after another.It's repetitious - the author frequently forgets what he's already told us.Moreover, Graham Lord seems to feel that a biographer is entitled not merely to summarize and evaluate, but also to engage in crude, gratuitous moralizing.This is the sort of thing any competent editor would red-line.Nor is the author aware that while a biographer may properly incorporate vulgar or obscene language in a quotation, it should be below his dignity to use it himself to discuss his subject.

This book reads like a 300-page tabloid article.It stakes out a high moral ground, but relies for reader interest principally on explicit, titillating details of John Mortimer's sexual escapades and his lifelong indifference to the truth.Lord obviously put a lot of effort into researching this book; it contains a great deal of information of interest to those of us who admire Mortimer's work.It's a shame more time wasn't spent cleaning the manuscript up.

Like another Amazon reviewer, I was greatly annoyed at the publisher's omission of the photographs in the American edition.
... Read more

Product Description
This compilation of witty mysteries captures John Mortimer's deft writing. Rumpolela Carte, a delightful discourse on the British legal system, takes us from a restaurant battle over Rumpole's mashed spuds to a confrontation with a detective-novelist on a ship. The zany yarns of Rumpole on Trial are ingenious: devil worshippers, Juvenile Court, a mysterious seductress searching for a barrister to defend her husband for a murder not yet committed, and courtroom strategies a little too lunatic force Rumpole to face the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council. Rumpole and the Angel of Death offers a comic commentary on cruelty to animals, human rights, and the fallibility of the justicesystem. The Third Rumpole Omnibus promises insight and laughter from the barrister who's "as much a detective as Sherlock Holmes or Herdule Poirot" (The Boston Sunday Globe).

•Over a million copies sold worldwide
•Rumpole was a popular program on PBS's Mystery! for many years ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Rumpole is always great!
What can I say, this is Rumpole III? As with one and two, always great reading! I miss the Rumpole's on PBS. I hope they rerun soon. The books, of course, are delightful.

Coleen from Kent, Wa

Rumpole
I certainly don't need to review "Rumpole of the Bailey." You know all about it. So, I'll just mention that he's especially good company when you fly. You can read a well-crafted story in what, 30 minutes? Ideal for airports and airplanes. Do this, sit for an hour, do that, sit for another hour, etc.

And Yet More of the Great Rumpole
Horace Rumpole presents himself as just an Old Bailey hack doing run-of-the-mill burglary defenses and the odd car-heist case. In reality he defends the best in the Anglo-American legal traditions against modern forces (for example, the presumption of innocence) - and this was written 20+ years ago!

Rumpole is the lovable defender of the average man and foe to all stick-in-the-muds. His motto "Never plead guilty." It could just as well be comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Hilarious, warm, human, touching, self-effacing and ever-ready to pierce the pompous gasbag - that's Rumpole of the Bailey. Start with the First Rumpole Omnibus and work your way through the rest.

As an American lawyer, I wish someone would create an American legal hero to match Rumpole.

Guaranteed to tickle your funny bone and warm your heart.

Wonderful, witty, urbane fiction
The Rumpole books are wonderfully entertaining and well-written mysteries that revolve around an aging English lawyer named Rumpole.

For readers not familiar with the author, John Mortimer, and this series of short stories and novels revolving around Rumpole, the central character, I offer the following introduction.

The author, Mortimer, was an English lawyer who also is well known for his writing.He has written popular British screenplays and television adaptations such as Brideshead revisited.He has written novels.And he has written a series of short stories with a few longer stories about an aging English lawyer named Horace Rumpole.Mortimer's background makes him uniquely qualified for this series.

Rumpole's stories are usually interesting cases the title character has been involved in.The judges, various attorneys, the defendants (Rumpole only takes defense cases), acquaintances and family members are constant characters throughout the series.Rumpole is a cynic who sees the humour (British spelling in honour of Rumpole) and absurdity of modern life.These tales are also quite ingenious mysteries.These tales are loosely chronological, but you can read any of the stories in any order and still get what's happening because Mortimer always reintorduces Rumpole briefly at the start of each collection.Rumpole's wife, Hilda, - referred to by Rumpole as 'She Who Must Be Obeyed' - is a wonderful foil to Rumpole's cynical humor and obstinance.

The collections of short stories came out individually in books containing several stories, and later as a collection of a trio of these books called Omnibus editions.The first three collections - Rumpole of the Bailey, The Trials of Rumpole, and Rumpole's Return - are in the First Rumpole Omnibus.The next three collections - Rumpole for the Defence, Rumpole and the Golden Thread, and Rumpole's Last Case - are in the Second Omnibus Edition.The last of the Omnibus editions, the Third (and the one being reviewed here) contains the collections Rumpole and the Age of Miracles, Rumpole a la carte, and Rumpole and the Angel of Death.There are four other collections that are only available singly, Rumpole on Trial, Rumpole Rests His Case, Rumpole and the Primrose Path, and a prequel Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders.Every single one of these books is a joy to read.Finishing this series left me almost tearful that there were no more of these books and this splendid writing left to read.

Now this volume contains stories that revolve around more modern issues like euthanasia, civil rights in a world of terrorism and the like.But my favorite stories usually involve the humorous foibles of Rumpole's circle.'Rumpole and the Tap End' is a rollicking story about mis-steps of Rumpole's former Head of Chambers who is now a judge.I love the character developments of these kinds of stories.

I often give Rumpole books as gifts and I re-read these stories occasionally when my spirits need a lift from paying the taxman, wondering where my youth went, filling out forms at work, watching my waistline expand as my hopes and dreams dwindle, and wondering why all the inferior beings around me seem to be so much more successful than me.I recommend these stories, and specifically this volume highly.There is also an old TV series that is extremely well done available if your tastes run more to watching than reading.

Rumpole fans, rejoice!

(If you're not already a fan, you will be after you read these tales!)Clever, funny, and moving - as always! ... Read more

Product Description
In the first volume of his bestselling autobiography, novelist, playwright and former barrister John Mortimer relates all the pleasures and paradoxes of his early life. With wit and style, he takes us from his unusual childhood (his father, a blind barrister, insisted that his wife read the sordid details of his divorce briefs in public) to the dilemmas of his life in the law (one of his clients indignantly declared, 'Your Mr Rumpole could've gotten me out of this, why the hell can't you!'). Filled with laughter and a sense of the absurd, "Clinging to the Wreckage" is an extraordinary insight into the rich life of one of the great figures of our time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Rumpole?
This is the first of two autobiographies by John Mortimer. If you'd like to see where Rumpoles come from, this is how you find out. Amusing in many places, serious in others, possibly a bit more revealing than the author intended.

Mortimer remembered...
CLINGING TO THE WRECKAGE is the first of John Mortimer's three-part autobiography (to date--as of 2001 he is 83 years of age and going strong). Mortimer is known to BBC/PBS fans as the multi-talened writer who developed the screenplays for the TV series BRIDESHEAD REVISITED based on Evelyn Waugh's book of the same name; creator of Rumpole, Queen's Counsel (QC) for the underdog; and author of many novels including the Titmuss trilogy, and SUMMER'S LEASE. In WRECKAGE, John tells of his childhood and young adulthood.

Mortimer grew up the son of a British barrister/counselor and his wife a former artist.Against his will he was sent off to boarding school at an early age. However, Mortimer's father lost his eyesight owing to a retinal detachment that could not be repaired. As a result the family source of income was placed in jeopardy and young John and his mother became his father's eyes helping him prepare his legal briefs.

Mortimer says he fell in love with the theater at an early age. His family made pilgrimages to Stratford-on-Avon to see the great Royal Shakespeare company perform the bard's works. There he was able to see Lawrence Olivier, John Gielgud, and other fabulous actors of the period. These theater experiences coupled with his work on his father's briefs, led to his own career as a QC, and planted a love of the English language and the theater in the young John which led to his subsequent success in the theater, on television, and in his many books.

The book also covers his first marriage to Penelope, with whom he formed a family of six childen which included her four daughters from a previous marriage.

Whether or not you have been lucky enough to enjoy the witty dialogue of Rumpole--including his verbal exchanges with wife Hilda (SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED), the clever plot twists of the Titmuss series, or the wonderful and inspirational BRIDESHEAD REVISITED, you will love this book if you love Brit Wit.Mortimer is incredibly human and very funny.

A Masterpiece in Biography
As always Mortimor has shown brilliance in the world of literature. I was surprized to have found this book without a customer review. I thoroughly enjoy it and highly recommend it for readers of biography. Comparable withRobert Graves "Goodbye to All That". ... Read more

Product Description
From the creator of the Rumpole stories—a novel of middle-class do-gooding gone awry

Fans of John Mortimer and his popular Rumpole mysteries will love Quite Honestly, a comedy filled with a delightful cast of characters and Mortimer’s unique and entertaining take on a life of crime. Life couldn’t be better for Lucinda Purefoy—college educated, with a steady boyfriend and a job offer in advertising. With all this good fortune, isn’t it appropriate for her to give something back to society? Armed with only good intentions, she joins Social Carers, Reformers and Praeceptors (SCRAP, for short), a misguided organization that recruits women to becomes guides, philosophers, and friends to ex-convicts coming out of prison. Once she meets her charge, Terry Keegan, the ensuing hilarity and mishaps produce a signature Mortimer tale, full of wit and surprise. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Quite honestly the last -but not the best
Over the years a collector of Rumpole and his other works I have thoroughly enjoyed his writing, some to a greater extent than others.This, his last work ,I believe, is not memorable as it should have been.It appears to be aimed at a teen feminine market as many of the latest movies appear to be.This ,obviously is my own opinion but leaves me wishing for the wit and characters to be found in so many of his other works.The angst between the two main characters has its witty moments but on the whole fail,in my opinion, to achieve any high points.

quite honestly
i was very please with the condition of the book and the speedy delivery as this was a gift for my sister has she could not find the book in her locale.

John Mortimer's Humor Is So Appealing
I first became aware of Mortimer's humor, by way of the "Rumpole Of The Bailey" series on the BBC. I find myself laughing out loud at his observations and wonderful descriptions of people and events. Once you have read a John Mortimer book, you will be hooked for life, anxiously awaiting the next gem from this delightfully entertaining author.

Charming Dry Wit and Deft Humor
Young Lucinda Purefoy wants to do good. To that end she gets involved with an organization that helps convicts when they get out of prison. What happens when Lucinda is assigned her ex-con leads to a bunch of adventures that turns do-gooderism on its head. Mortimer is at his best in this wryly witty look at liberalism at work. What's funniest is that Mortimer is poking fun at his own kind. A delightful read in every way.

Satire and humor by the wizard of words.
How does John Mortimer do it?Everything I read by him is so consistent, so witty, so darn good! I have read and reread the famous Rumpole books, and I love them dearly, but I also apreciate the brilliance of his pen in his non-Rumpole works such as this unpredictable and funny novel of love and crime.As is often the case in his work, Mortimer plays with the concepts of justice, crime, right and wrong, and the result is a delight.It is the story of a see-saw; a woman stands clearly on the side of virtue, and a young man on the side of vice, however the author slowly causes them to slide gracefully towards their oppostie extremes. While this is going on, the feelingof love rears its ugly face, and nothing seems to make sense anymore.
I strongly recommend this delightfully daffy meditation on crime and virtue. ... Read more

Product Description
Fans old and new will welcome this brand-new volume in John Mortimer's hugely popular series-Horace Rumpole's first appearance in six years. The comic, courageous, and corpulent "great defender of muddled and sinful humanity" reenters the fray in a book that sends up the British legal system as deftly as ever. Rumpole Rests His Case brings us seven fresh and funny stories in which Horace triumphs over the forces of prejudice and mean-mindedness while he tiptoes precariously through the domestic territory of his wife Hilda (She Who Must Be Obeyed).

With his passion for Wordsworth, his kindly disposition toward the defendant, and a nose equally sensitive to the whiff of wrongdoing and the bouquet of a Château Thames Embankment, the disheveled Rumpole is back and in impeccable form-perhaps for the last time?Amazon.com Review
How much longer will readers be treated to new stories featuring irreverent and irascible London barrister Horace Rumpole? The character was created for British television in the 1970s by John Mortimer, who once said that he'd continue writing Rumpole tales only so long as actor Leo Kern could portray him on the tube. If Kern's death in July 2002 means that Rumpole Rests His Case is the beginning of the end, then at least this series concludes on a high and humorous note.

The seven yarns collected here find the rumpled Rumpole defending his usual assortment of eccentric clients, while also fending off antismoking zealots, interior designers with a taste for lava lamps, and his domineering wife, Hilda ("known to me only as She Who Must Be Obeyed"). One story teams the elderly advocate with an elusive Afghan doctor who was smuggled into the U.K. in a crate of mango chutney, and now seeks to become a legal resident. In another, Rumpole investigates an assault, apparently committed by an unmanageable teenager with a poetic streak, while a third case has the barrister working for a hypocritical right-wing politician who, after first seducing away the wife of one of Rumpole's colleagues, is accused of a drug offense. Cleverest of all, though, is the title tale, in which a hospital-confined Rumpole builds the defense for one of his roommates, a "reformed" thief with an unlikely connection to the aged major who shot him during a residential break-in. With his own unreformed taste for claret and cheroots, Rumpole persists in being an entertaining, old-fashioned thorn in the silk-covered side of Britain's judicial system. Could somebody please tell Mortimer that it's too soon for this character to hang up his wig? --J. Kingston Pierce ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Rumpole Will Never Really Rest His Case!
Like Sherlock Holmes before him, Rumpole will never truly rest his case, and the sadness of last Thursday's news from across the ocean be damned. At the time he wrote this volume in 2002, John Mortimer (but how I'll miss him....) had lost refreshingly little to the years, nor had his most famous creation, Horace Rumpole (never a QC, no sir). I enjoyed these stories as a re-visitation and as new ground covered in one of my all time favorite series, but as something of a purist, I almost felt there was a little too much commentary on modern events and attitudes. I did enjoy these stories, let me say that again for clarity, but from time to time I also found myself longing for the simpler, non-political tales of vintage Rumpole, circa Omnibus One from the Thatcher years. Back then it was easier for Rumpole to BE Rumpole, sans all the pressure in the anti-smoking movement and among healthy conscious crusaders. In Rumpole Rests His Case we saw our favorite barrister, always an outsider to begin with, just a little too on the ropes, and I hated that. Be all that as it may, this was a very nice collection of tales that are sure to please longtime fans and win new Rumpolleans into the fold. I go now to sip some Chateau Fleet Street in memory of a fine writer and a good man. John Mortimer is gone, but long live Rumpole of the Bailey!

"They all say you're a legend in your lifetime, Rumpole."
John Mortimer's "Rumpole Rests His Case" is a collection of seven short stories starring England's most colorful junior barrister.Each story shows why Horace Rumpole is so beloved by both readers and defendants.He champions the underdog, as always, with relish, wit, and style.Alas, Chambers has become a smoke-free zone (to reduce pollution and global warming), and a disgruntled Rumpole is reduced to standing outside when he craves one of his small cigars.Two of his most irksome adversaries enjoy Rumpole's discomfiture with undisguised glee:Claude Erskine-Brown, QC, the "opera-loving, wine-tasting, inadequate advocate" and Rumpole's irritating Head of Chambers, Soapy Sam Ballard.Both men figure prominently in these pages:Claude is having marital problems;his beautiful and successful wife, the High Court Judge, Phillida Erskine Brown (formerly known as the Portia of our Chambers), has demanded a trial separation from her boring husband.Soapy Sam has a surprising secret which Rumpole gleefully uncovers and plans to use against him.

Rumpole may not look very imposing, but he has a keen mind and a wonderful memory, two attributes that come in handy in "Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces."Although Proust does not figure in "Rumpole and the Remembrance of Things Past," a thirty-three year old skeleton that was buried under the floorboards does."Rumpole and the Asylum Seekers" deals with a complicated case of Doctor Mohammed Nabi, an illegal Afghani immigrant who is smuggled into England in a crate of chutney."Civil Rights.Freedom of the Individual.Defeat for the Forces of Darkeness.That's what you stand for, don't you, Mr. Rumpole," says Ted Minter, who represents Dr. Nabi.In the same story, Hilda alarms her beleaguered husband when she announces that their well-worn and familiar flat is about to undergo an extreme makeover, complete with crystals, lava lamps, and a "talk pit."In the final story, the aging but indomitable Rumpole suffers a minor heart attack, but he still manages to construct a criminal defense for the fellow lying in chains in the adjoining hospital bed.

As usual, Mortimer pokes fun at unreasonable judges, government bureaucrats, and the hyprocrisy of the ruling classes.Although Hilda (She Who Must Be Obeyed) would like her husband to hang up his wig once and for all, Rumpole wants nothing more than a good brief, a puff or two on his cheroot, and a glass of Chateau Thames Embankment in Pommeroy's Wine Bar at the end of a hard day at One Equity Court.For this zealous advocate of the presumption of innocence and trial by jury, retirement is simply not an option.Fans of Rumpole's dry humor, incisive intelligence, and passion for human rights would be delighted if he were to don his yellowing wig and work his magic in court for many years to come.

No erosion of talent here.
Mortimer's talent as a writer has not diminished over the years, and this book is proof of that.This book has seven more stories of the wonderful, curmudgeonly Rumpole, and each one is a special gem.Rumpole runs the gamut in this book from defending someone in a relocation bid, to trying to uncover a sixties murder to defending a known criminal who has been charged with housebreaking and has got shot in the process.I always pick a favourite and in this book I think my favourite story was "Rumpole and the Camberwell Carrot".For those not in the know, a Camberwell carrot is a large reefer.In this book Rumpole's clients have been stuck in a sixties time warp, and it's hilarious how the story turns out.These books are such a joy to read.I look forward to each one.

Penge Bungalow Murders is better
Some might find the title and the ending of RUMPOLE RESTS HIS CASE a bit misleading. No, this is not the last novel in the series and no Rumpole does not die. Since this title was released, two more Rumpoles have been published-RUMPOLE AND THE PRIMROSE PATH and RUMPOLE AND THE PENGE BUNGALOW MURDERS.

Like the Sherlock Holmes stories, the characterization in these stories is far superior to the plots. Rumpole is one of the most loveable characters in British fiction, but even on what he perceives as his death bed, he manages to find a possible client and begins to formulate his closing statement in his mind.

What I found most impressive about these seven stories was Mortimer's weaving of contemporary issues into the stories. The members of chambers, primarily Liz Probert and Soapy Sam Ballard, have decided on a smoke-free environment. If Rumpole wants to smoke his beloved "small cigars," he most do it outside in the foul London weather. Rumpole sets out to blackmail Ballard into letting him smoke. This plot thread persists through several of the stories. In another story, Rumpole defends an Afghan who is seeking asylum in England. In the same story we get a bit of reality TV as Hilda volunteers to have the flat at Froxbury Mansions remodeled on a program called MAKE OVER.

Some of the supporting cast in the Rumpole stories don't change a whole lot. Erskine-Brown is always a "Queer Customer." Liz Probert is a younger version of Phillada; Judge Bullingham is always "The Bull." In this series of stories, Mortimer decides to tweak one of them a bit. When Rumpole sets out to blackmail Sam "Soapy" Ballard into letting him smoke in chambers, his effort has unforeseen consequences, making Ballard a much more likable character.

I liked the Penge Bungalow Murders better than this effort, probably because it's written in more of a novel format and we get to see Rumpole as a young man being stalked by Hilda, but there's enough of the curmudgeonly Rumpole in these stories to give you your yearly Rumpole fix. For instance, he refers to one of the other characters as having "the face of an immoderately self-satisfied Pekinese."

Reading Between the Lines
Rumpole is emboldened by Erskine-Brown's claret to sing.He is to go to Norfolk to Coldsands Church Christmans Day because the rector is a son of a school friend of Hilda, and from Hilda's judgment there is no appeal.Eric, the rector, is having a problem with the church tower.He refers to praying as knee work.Rumpole discovers the rich man Eric hopes to use to have the tower repaired is an old client of his.Rumpole consents to remain mum on that point if the man contributes to Eric's cause.

In another story 'she who must be obeyed' attends a school reunion and learns a past victim of her school girl humor did not leave the establishment for reason of the teasing.In another yarn Hilda has arranged for their flat to be featured on a make-over program on television.Rumpole is thankful when circumstances induce Hilda to leave the flat in its present state.

Rumpole refuses Erskine-Brown'soffer of five hours of Wagner.Claude tells Rumpole that he and Phillada are having a separation.Rumpole undertakes to speak with Philly.It seems she has met someone, a politician, who is set up in a drug matter and becomes Rumpole's next client.In another instance Rumpole has a client who, in front of a judge in the throes of terminal irritation, decides to make a false confession to increase the drama for the sake of the jury.

One judge is characterized as conducting the proceedings as if Old Bailey were a summary and prejudicial offshoot of the Spanish Inquisition.Rumpole collapses.He could be said to have collapsed in the workplace if one were to call Old Bailey a workplace.Hilda tells him that the criminals he is so fond of will just have to go off to prison quietly.

Of course the whole thing is a wonderful amount of fun.John Mortimer's ability to crank out these droll tales is awesome. ... Read more

Product Description
The four murder trials in this volume, each a cause celebre in its day, continue to fascinate and intrigue the reader decades later. Here are four different characters, led to the dock by very different circumstances. Madeleine Smith, a spirited young woman, was accused of administering arsenic to her lover. Oscar Slater was sentenced to death for the alleged murder of a woman whose very name he may never have heard, yet he outlived the judge who presided. Mild Dr Crippen dismembered his wife's body and buried the remains, and his capture was due to the tenacity of a police detective. And Dr William Palmer, a cruel and brutal man, was the first person to be brought to trial for strychnia poisoning. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An example of what can be accompllished in a small volume
John Mortimer selected the materials for this book. The introduction gives an excellent summary of all the pieces included.

Stuffy Little Book
The thrill of these cases must lie in the telling, because I can see now that some of them are unutterable dull when told so flatly.The case of Alma Rattenbury, the most poignant of all classic murder cases, and one which was treated with great depth and honesty in Terrence Rattigan's late play CAUSE CELEBRE, is here just another boring story of adultery and murder, not even worthy of a Lifetime Channel for Women miniseries.F. Tennyson Jesse is better at telling the story of Madeline Smith, and the man who drowned all his brides and inspired the Chaplin film MONSIEUR VERDOUX gets an elegant summing up by Eric Watson, a writer new to me.

Crime is a funny thing and I suppose they asked John Mortimer to edit (or "select") this volume because of his reputation for writing the famous Rumpole books and his expertise at the law.He is one of the world's most overrated writers so he doesn't really add anything to the book, just gets his name printed in huge letters much bigger than those of the real editors.One of the ironies of today's push for big marketing is that the people who really do the work are often ignored. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

"Sunlight to children of sun, blood to children of dark."
(3.5 stars for novel, 4.5 for acting) Living in "retirement" in Miami, Florida, where their son Nick is head of the sociology department at the university, the irascible Horace Rumpole and his wife Hilda ("She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed") are enjoying the warm winter weather and sunlight. When Tiffany Jones, a young professor at the university, disappears. Simultaneously, Rumpole reads in a London newspaper, sent by friends, that a struggling young accountant has been arrested for the gory murder of a wealthy aristocrat in a London "tube" station. A message written in blood is found beside his body.

Rumpole cannot resist the lure of returning to London to work on this "blood" case, and Hilda soon joins him, but he discovers that his desk in chambers is now occupied by Ken Cracknell, an overconfident young man with no experience defending a murder case. It is Ken who will defend Simpson, the accountant, but he agrees to let Rumpole work as his "assistant" in this sensational murder investigation. The two locations--Florida, where Tiffany has disappeared, and London, where Simpson has been arrested and charged with murder--come together the discovery of a cult, Children of the Sun.

Written in 1982, this mystery is a product of its times, a time when "Moonies" were dominating the news, and the novel's "surprises" are not very surprising when seen from the contemporary vantage point. Side plots involving Rumpole's history with Judge Bullingham, his possible representation of the aggrieved wife of a philandering barrister, the romantic dalliances of Phyllida (Trant) Erskine-Brown with other members of Chambers, and the arrival of his son Nick fill out the novel.

Author John Mortimer has written the Rumpole novels out of chronological sequence and this early novel (in which Rumpole comes out of "retirement") feels flat and unfocused, as if Mortimer were trying to figure out where to go with it--and with Rumpole and Hilda. The reasons for Rumpole's presumed "retirement" seem inconsistent with his enormous arrogance and ego, and are hard to swallow for the devoted Rumpole reader. With its unusually large number of distractions, this novel is one of Rumpole's less organized adventures. Dramatically narrated and well interpreted by Patrick Tull, this audio version is livelier than the novel and considerably more fun, though the novel's problems remain. nMary Whipple

Rumpole and the Angel of Death
Felix in the Underworld
Murderers and Other Friends
The Summer of a Dormouse

"Sunlight to children of sun, blood to children of dark."
(3.5 stars) Living in "retirement" in Miami, Florida, where their son Nick is head of the sociology department at the university, the irascible Horace Rumpole and his wife Hilda ("She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed") are enjoying the warm winter weather and sunlight. When Tiffany Jones, a young professor at the university, disappears, shortly after she has flirted with Rumpole at a party, he is as perturbed as are her many friends. Simultaneously, Rumpole reads in a London newspaper, sent by friends, that a struggling young accountant has been arrested for the gory murder of a wealthy aristocrat in a London "tube" station. A message written in blood is found beside his body.

Rumpole cannot resist the lure of returning to London to work on this "blood" case, and Hilda soon joins him, but he discovers that his desk in chambers is now occupied by Ken Cracknell, an overconfident young man with no experience defending a murder case. It is Ken who will defend Simpson, the accountant, but he agrees to let Rumpole work as his "assistant" in this sensational murder investigation. The two locations--Florida, where Tiffany has disappeared, and London, where Simpson has been arrested and charged with murder--come together when Tiffany and Simpson both prove to have been interested in a cult, Children of the Sun.

Written in 1982, this mystery is a product of its times, a time when "Moonies" were dominating the news, and the novel's "surprises" are not very surprising when seen from the contemporary vantage point. Side plots involving Rumpole's history with Judge Bullingham, his possible representation of the aggrieved wife of a philandering barrister, the romantic dalliances of Phyllida (Trant) Erskine-Brown with other members of Chambers, and the arrival of his son Nick, which leads to his helping Rumpole on the Simpson case, fill out the novel.

Author John Mortimer has written the Rumpole novels out of chronological sequence re Rumpole's career, so it is disconcerting to have Rumpole coming out of retirement at an early point in what becomes a long sequence of Rumpole novels and stories. This novel feels flat and unfocused, as if Mortimer were trying to figure out where to go with it--and with Rumpole and Hilda--at this early stage in the Rumpole series. Rumpole's presumed "retirement" because of his lack of confidence after losing ten cases in a row seems inconsistent with his enormous arrogance and ego, and is hard to swallow for the reader. With its unusually large number of distractions, this novel is one of Rumpole's less organized adventures. n Mary Whipple

Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders
Rumpole Misbehaves: A Novel (Rumpole Novels)
Murderers and Other Friends
Murderers and Other Friends

Please, Please read this series!
I can't believe that I'm the first person to review this book.I hope that people read my review and take the time to read John Mortiomer's excellent series.This is one of the few novels in the long-ruinning Rumpole series, and it's a good one.Most of the time the stories are in short story format, and those are excellent as well.In this book Rumpole has ostensibly retired to live in Florida, but the sun and fun do not interest him.He wants to be back fighting cases at the Old Bailey in England, and when he spies a news story about a murder in good old "Jolly Old"he has to go back.Leaving She Who Must be Obeyed behind, he hops a plane and returns.These books are hilariously funny, and as I read I can't help but picture Leo McKern who played such a truly wonderful HoraceRumpole in the BBC series.If you love English humour, and smashing good mysteries please read these books. ... Read more

Product Description
The official tie-in to Masterpiece Theatre's May presentation of Summer's Lease, starring John Gielgud. The villa near a small Tuscan town is everything the Pargeter family could want for three weeks. But when the idyll turns sour, Molly Pargeter begins to wonder about their mysterious absentee landlord. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

A Wonderful Comic Novel
This is a wonderfully comic novel.Sometimes British humor is hard for me to relate to,
but the character Haverford is one of the funniest I've ever encountered.Meeting him
and the Old Count make this book worth reading.

A British family rents an Italian villa for the summer.Grandpa Haverford comes along
because he blackmails his son-in-law into bringing him.The daughter becomes ob-
sessed with the villa's owners and the mysterious goings-on with the town's water
supplies.

This is a great read!!

Travel, Comedy and Mystery
I enjoyed the book start to finish and the mystery bit at the end was a nice edition to an already funny parody of the typical travel memoir. I think my favorite character in the book was the prince. The accidental confrontation between him and Haverford made me laugh.

A thinking person's summer book
The book is set in Tuscauny, where an English family is renting a home.Odd things happen, water disappears, and then someone dies.The mother, Molly Partiger, becomes obsesses with getting to the heart of these mysteries, and with meeting her mysterious landlord.It is a particular pleasure to see Mortimer's love of Shakespeare come through in Molly's Falstaff of a father, and the Hamlet-like play-within-a-play which gives Molly the final clue to the murder.Interwoven with the plot is an homage to Piero della Francesca (although it has been written that Mortimer gets everything wrong about Piero's Flagellation).The book ends with typical Mortimer poigniancy.Summer's Lease is light in the way that a Tom Stoppard play is light -- an intelligent guilty pleasure.

Fantastic book!
this book is fantastic.the masterpiece theatre production was awesome too.i would like to buy a copy of the video if anyone has one.this is definitely worth reading - and watching too!

ALMOST LIKE A TRIP TO CHIANTISHIRE!
I read this book because I saw the Masterpiece Theatre production on TV in the early nineties and fell in love with the characters and the story.This is the type of detective mystery novel where one can truly relate to the detective as she is an average person with a highly developed sense of curiosity. While I shared Molly's intense curiosity about her absent landlord and her outrage at the so called "water racket",I would not have gone as far as she did to satisfy that curiosity.Molly is rather reckless (if not stupid) towards the end and doesn't realize the consequences of her actions until too late - and even then chalks it up to coincidence.All in all the book is a quick and delightful read that will have you longing to travel to those Tuscan hills.I wish Masterpiece Theatre would rerun the film or make it available on video.You've got to see the film. The cast was so well chosen and the locations are beautiful, especially the terrace on La Felicita. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

WHAT PARADISE?
John Mortimer is brilliant, and there can be no two ways about that. He is a cynic and he is a wit, and talented enough for that to put him almost in the company of Swift. He was also a lawyer, there is usually a legal thread even in his non-Rumpole novels, and there is one here, the mysterious case of a clergyman's will which seems to have left his entire fortune to a very unexpected and unwelcome beneficiary.

I found the plot-line in this novel very good indeed. The main mystery is cleared up in a very unexpected way, all hints and suggestions really lead somewhere, and while I suppose I would have to call it contrived, it is clever enough to be convincing in its own way. It is clever in the sense of being complex, but also in the way that Mortimer keeps switching the time-focus between different eras. He takes us from the start of Attlee's Labour government in 1945 all the way to the reign of Margaret in the 80's. The story of the will would not by itself have required a 40-year elapse. What requires that is the introduction of Leslie Titmuss, depicted starting with his modest boyhood and ending, in this book, with his fictional presence in Thatcher's cabinet. It needs no great legal genius to perceive that he is going to be good for a few more books, and so, of course, it has turned out.

So there is a political angle too, and if you know your author you will have expected that. He was one kind of leftist, and a kind that I greatly like. He had a privileged background, and he was `anti' just by nature. He was a rationalist and he was a libertarian. He found the toffs with origins similar to his own to be absurd and repulsive, but he was no Orwell, no wholesale convert to some other side. The colonel's lady and Judy O'Grady are sisters under the skin, after all. It's a human skin, and it's humanity in general that is prone to being absurd.

The characterisation is largely drawn from a political slant, therefore. Mortimer is not pushing any party-political programme all the same. Just describe some Young Conservatives, I suppose, and further comment would be superfluous. However the reverend himself, whose strange-seeming will forms the core of the narrative, is depicted as a self-caricaturing lefty, while Mortimer is conspicuously restrained in anything that might be construed as hostility to Titmuss, whose views must have been in many respects antithetical to his own. Malcolm Muggeridge, in his latter days as a born-again Christian and reactionary, had an excellent description for a whole tranche of C of E clergymen of this period, with their `feeble-minded confusion of the Christian faith with better housing, shorter hours of work, the United Nations and opposition to apartheid.' These are the polar examples. The others - I found them brilliantly drawn and developed altogether.

However in Mortimer there is always a good deal of social commentary, with minor characters put there for the overall picture and not for themselves. In many ways this is the best thing in the book, and it comes mainly at the beginning. You can't tell me that the schoolmates of Fred and Henry at their fictitious public school on East Anglia are not drawn from life. Mortimer attended Harrow School (as did Churchill), and they used to tell them there that the wind from the Urals hit Harrow-on-the-Hill without encountering any intermediate obstruction. Mortimer borrows this piece of lore for his school here in the book, so I infer that the incidental personae who come and go in the first chapter or two are real, with only the names changed to protect the questionably innocent. In particular there was apparently one boy who had a premature 5-o'clock shadow and was a great masturbator. He features in just a sentence or two, is never heard of again, and one is left wondering whether his onanistic eminence was a matter of a record level of activity, or whether he needed both hands simultaneously for the job, or exactly what it was. Somebody still alive might still remember.

The style of writing is of course delightful, but I caught Mortimer recycling a sentence that I had heard him use on television at least once, to the effect that there is no pleasure worth denying oneself for the sake of a few years in a sunset home in Weston-super-Mare. Poor old Weston-super-Mare. It is 60 years since I was there last, but having been warned off in this way I am electing to manage my later years by attending a gymnasium and eating and drinking less. Advancing age makes the latter pleasures less attractive anyway, to me at least. The book also features an elderly doctor who is largely there for the purpose of saying witty things, rather like Lord whatsisname in A Picture of Dorian Gray. This is entirely welcome. The doctor belongs properly in the narrative, and I would only utter a mild remonstrance for the pageful of his bons mots that is only there because Mortimer could not fit them into the story.

Behind the upper-middle-class English flippancy there is also a darker side to all this, and mentioning the doctor above reminds me of that. To me, it is all a potent brew, and I recommend the book thoroughly. Sir John Mortimer left our society only recently, but not before he had used at least one of his books to sound a coded but powerful warning of the threats to liberty that were being enacted by the over-plausible and endlessly self-justifying Tony Blair. The libertarian mentality runs through Mortimer's output, the threats to liberty depend on the eternal vigilance that is trumpeted so often by some of the people who threaten liberty most and are trying to hijack the vocabulary to their own political cause. Mortimer is good for our mental health.

Look Back And Linger
This novel is quite a lark in the reading of it.The dialogue, for which Mortimer has an uncanny ear, sparkles with wit, and the characters all come across as both believably quotidian and quirky.Mortimer also manages to deftly sketch the changes in English society between the war years and 1985 into the background of all these intertwined goings-on.What fun!

Oh yes, there's also the mystery of the will of Simeon Simcox, late pacifist, socialist vicar which bequeaths all to weaselly Conservative Cabinet MP Leslie Titmuss. The narrative is a bit rum on this point in that the said Simeon Simcox is actually alive throughout most of the novel as the story backtracks through time or rather hopscotches around it - more often than not from paragraph to paragraph, with no clear demarcation given - which takes a bit of getting used to, whilst also keeping the reader on his/her toes.

A very lively, satisfactory read indeed, except that one is still left pondering why exactly the Bertrand Russell reading, seemingly atheistical Simcox became a vicar in the first place.Oh well, it's just as well to have something on which to chew after one turns the last pages.

Mortimer is particularly deft in employing literary quotations to summarise entire sections of the book.The Kierkegaard quote summarising Part Three might well be employed to give the prospective reader an idea of the entire book's underlying theme and motif:

"Life must be lived forwards, but it can only be understood backwards."

Mortimer's best non-Rumpole book
I'm biased: I think John Mortimer's Rumpole stories are so perfectly written that I've never thought his longer works quite measure up. This one comes the closest; in Paradise Postponed, Mortimer follows a disparategroup of characters from the Second World War up through the late 1960s,using their stories to reflect developments in England during the sameperiod. As you might expect from the creator of Rumpole, there's also aninteresting mystery, but the real focus is on the relationships anddynamics between the characters, as Mortimer centers on a young man from aworking class background who eventually becomes a powerful politician.Mortimer has an uncanny knack for creating characters who are believable,quirky individuals, and he makes us care about their struggles. Thedialogue crackles, which one might expect since Mortimer was writing the TVadaptation of Paradise Postponed at the same time he was writing the novel.Paradise Postponed has had two sequels, which don't have quite the samescope either in terms of character development or time periodcovered.

What surprises me is that the TV adaptation of ParadisePostponed has never been released on video, at least in the U.S. There'd bea large market for it. ... Read more

Product Description
The Rumpole renaissance continues to build, and now the beloved barrister’s many followers have a special reason to rejoice: a sensational full-length Rumpole novel that at last relates the oft-mentioned but never revealed story of Rumpole’s first case, the Penge Bungalow affair. Looking back half a century into a very different world, Rumpole recalls a man accused of murdering his father and his father’s friend with a pistol taken from a dead German pilot. It was this trial and its outcome that put Rumpole on the map and shaped him into the cantankerous defender of justice that readers know and love. This is a must-read for every Rumpole fan and a compelling invitation to new readers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (55)

Penge Bungalow Murders is Great
I bought this book because throughout the Rumpole television series, there are references to winning the Penge Bungalow Murder trial without a leader.The book reflects the excellence of the series.Rumpole, then a young attorney, was given the opportunity by the absence of his leader and head of chambers to take over the cross examination of the medical examiner.Rumpole's spirited cross inspired the defendant to fire Rumpole's leader and insist upon Rumpole being his barrister.

The book also explains Rumpole's love interests, primarily Hilda which is combined with forward flashes to the present to put it all in context.The book will certainly be re-read in the future as my memory fades.

At last, Penge Bungalow is no longer a mystery.
Throughout the many Rumpole stories, there is frequent mention of his triumph in the Penge Bungalow Murder trial. Until now it has piqued the curiosity but raised a thirst that could not be slaked. No more thirst,the story has finally been told.
John Mortimer is a master of description of his characters, a gift lost in the television abbreviation of Rumpole. His descriptions are entertaining and strike many familiar chords. They add immensely to the enjoyment of the stories, and would even be worth reading without the stories. The stories, however, are also excellent.
All Rumpole is worth reading more than once.

Rumpole and the Pinge Bungalow Murders
John Mortimer is at his delightful best in bringing us Rumpole's recollection of that famous case we waited for throughout the Rumpole series. As Rumpole writes his memoires we also learn how he came to marry She Who Must.If you are a Rumpole fan, this is what you have been waiting for.

An answer to the question asked by mystery fiction readers.
And what, you may ask, is the question I'm talking about?Here it can only be to ask author John Mortimer what happened in the Penge Bungalow Murders.At long last, we have his answer.

If you are a fan of the Rumpole of the Bailey mystery series, you have spent years and years wondering about the case Horace Rumpole uses to define the beginning of his career in representing defendants in criminal cases.Throughout the many books we readers have been given hints of what that case involved, glimplses into how it changed Rumpole and his career in chambers at Equity Court.Now, in this volume, Rumpole decides to write his memoirs and we are given the details of the Penge Bungalow Murders where Rumpole appeared alone and without a leader.How this all came about and what the outcome of it all was makes for a very entertaining story.

The story takes place in the early 1950's when the happenings of World War II are still fresh in the memories of those involved in that horrific conflict.A group of men who served together as combat pilots get together for a reunion of sorts.When the next day dawns, two of the men are dead and the son of one of those murdered is accused of the crimes.Rumpole must learn his way around a criminal courtroom very quickly if he is to save Simon Jerold from a guilty verdict and a date with the executioner.

This was a very interesting story for me, not so much because it is a good mystery (it is rather a weak story), but because it put all the characters I have come to associate with Rumpole in their proper places.It filled in the background for Rumpole himself, gave me information about him as a young man and a young lawyer.It detailed how Hilda became not just involved with him, but married to him.I've always known that Rumpole and Hilda were not exactly a match made in heaven, now I understand how their partnership came about.It was also nice to find out that Rumpole had friends, both male and female outside the law profession, before She Who Must Be Obeyed came on the scene.I thoroughly enjoyed reading the story to complete my knowledge of a fictional character I've "known" for many years.

Rumpole for all time
The Penge Bungalow Murders is the perfect introduction to the Rumpole series if you are new to it, even though it was published later in the canon.Horace Rumpole is the curmudgeonly London defense attorney who first appeared in a British television series in the 1970s.Early volumes of the books were creator John Mortimer's short story treatments of the television episodes.In the 1990s, Mortimer began publishing new Rumpole stories and then novels.He made some necessary adjustments in the character's age-related history to bring him into conformity with current events since Rumpole serves as a topical social observer.

This volume has Rumpole in the present deciding to write his memoirs of his entrance into the legal profession and the case that made his reputation as an ace defense attorney who wins despite the odds.The odds against him past and present are a fusty court system that persists in social biases and outmoded traditions, that is irritated by the nonconformists and authority challengers like Rumpole. The judges cut him no slack and set up obstacles; his own chambers censor him left and right over inconsequential transgressions.And then he goes home to wife Hilda, aka She Who Must Be Obeyed.It is amusing to see Rumpole as a comparatively callow and respectful young man who is totally clueless that his senior partner's daughter--that would be Hilda--has designs on him and is in her own way aiding his case.It is his belief in the fundamental values of the law that the officers of the court put second to their own ambitions that push him into action.

The humor, the irony of the then and now comparisons, and the mystery are wonderful.If fact, this is probably the best constructed mystery of the series. Best, however, is Mortimer's sharp portrait of the post-war culture and the unresolved fears and problems of soldiers who returned to workaday lives in a world that expected them to carry on as if the door had closed completely on their horrors. ... Read more