Forever Rumpole: The Best of the Rumpole Stories

by John Mortimer, Ann Mallalieu

Overview

A wonderful collection, starring the world's most beloved barrister, including a fragment of a new Rumpole story.

John Mortimer died in 2009, but will never be forgotten. While still a practicing barrister, Mortimer took up the pen, and the rest is literary history. His stories featuring the cigar-chomping, cheap- winetippling Rumpole and his wife, Hilda (aka She Who Must Be Obeyed"), have justly earned their place in the pantheon of mystery fiction legends. The stories became a very successful PBS television series starring Leo McKern as Rumpole.

Forever Rumpole brings together fourteen of Rumpole's most entertaining adventures, together with a fragment of a new story. Rumpole is never less than delightful and this new collection is a fitting tribute to an indelible character and his remarkable creator.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101545874
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/10/2011
Series:	Rumpole Series
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	528
Sales rank:	576,732
File size:	504 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John Mortimer was the author of fourteen other Rumpole books, many of which formed the basis for the PBS-TV series Rumpole of the Bailey. The first book featuring his most famous character, Horace Rumpole, was published by Penguin in 1980. His work also includes many novels and plays and three acclaimed volumes of autobiography. A former barrister, Mortimer, who was knighted in 1998, lived in Oxfordshire, England. He died in January of 2009.

Ann Mallalieu was the first woman president of the Cambridge Union. She has practiced at the Criminal Bar since 1970 and became a Queen’s Counsel in 1988. After becoming a Labour Life Peer, she was elected Peer of the Year by parliamentarians in 2004 and in the same year was named Peer of the Year by the Spectator. She lives near John Mortimer’s old house in the Chilterns.

Editorial Reviews

At the start of “Rumpole and the Younger Generation,” the first story in this posthumous “best of” collection, Mortimer’s curmudgeonly, Wordsworth-quoting barrister, Horace Rumpole, mentions that he’ll be “sixty-eight next birthday.” The case at hand involves a younger member of South London’s nonviolently criminal Timson clan, and a key point in the accused lad’s trial hinges on the date of a Rolling Stones concert that year, 1965. In the penultimate, post-9/11 entry, “Rumpole and the Christmas Break,” Rumpole defends a Pakistani student accused of murdering a history professor, Honoria Glossup (a name borrowed from Mortimer’s literary mentor, P.G. Wodehouse), who wrote a book critical of “the cruelties committed by Islamic fundamentalists.” In the decades in between, in a number of witty, ingeniously plotted adventures that often deal with issues of the day (the women’s movement, animal rights, euthanasia), the ageless, principled barrister must contend with colleagues who scheme to bring about his retirement (when they aren’t hoping for his demise); judges who blatantly favor the prosecution; and his disapproving wife, Hilda (aka “She Who Must Be Obeyed”). A glass or two of Chateau Thames Embankment at Pommeroy’s Wine Bar offers consolation. Ann Mallalieu, a barrister who worked with the, alas, mortal Mortimer (1923–2009) and made the selections, provides an illuminating introduction. A fragment of an uncompleted novel rounds out a volume sure to be treasured by both old fans and new.

Publishers Weekly

"A volume sure to be treasured by both old fans and new." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Horace Rumpole, the claret-quaffing barrister who never quite makes the grade but always makes a point, stars in a new collection of his most outrageous exploits . . . Rumpole’s courtroom antics and politically incorrect gaffes have made him a perennial favorite among mystery fans for decades . . . those uninitiated to the irascible barrister’s charm and wit will have much to relish. The collection is an excellent primer to all things Rumpole.” — Library Journal

“Once detective-fiction hero's enter your mental landscape, they can seem as real as your own friends and family. For a lot of people, Horace Rumpole is just such a vivid and familiar figure . . . Rumpole fans can savor a bailiff’s dozen of Rumpole’s seriocomic adventures in Forever Rumpole.” — The Wall Street Journal

“Fourteen of the best of Rumpole’s cases have been gathered for this compilation . . . the disheveled lawyer fielded cases ranging from petty larceny to Islamic"terrorism" all with his characteristic tilting at windmills and his biting tongue-in-cheek wit.” — Bookpage (December Top Pick in Mystery)

“John Mortimer’s stories combine a Wodehousian wit with a generous humanism of which the world could use another dollop…it is always a pure pleasure to sit down the the Old Bailey hack.” — Christian Science Monitor

“Horace Rumpole. A character Dickens would have been proud to have created . . . Mortimer’s character came as a revelation to those of us who despaired of ever encountering a lawyer we could love. Who knew courtroom drama could be this much fun? The stories are intelligent, witty, and finely crafted . . . So long as there is sympathy for the sinful and muddled mankind, a delight in humor, an interest in justice, and any love of freedom, Horace Rumpole will indeed be forever.” — American Spectator

“Delightful . . . [Rumpole’s] distinctive voice – crusty, orotund, pointed – is key to what makes these tales such a pleasure to read. . . . This excellent sampling will encourage most readers to go on and read more of the many still available.” — The Washington Times

From the Publisher

Delightful . . . [Rumpole’s] distinctive voice – crusty, orotund, pointed – is key to what makes these tales such a pleasure to read. . . . This excellent sampling will encourage most readers to go on and read more of the many still available.

The Washington Times

Horace Rumpole. A character Dickens would have been proud to have created . . . Mortimer’s character came as a revelation to those of us who despaired of ever encountering a lawyer we could love. Who knew courtroom drama could be this much fun? The stories are intelligent, witty, and finely crafted . . . So long as there is sympathy for the sinful and muddled mankind, a delight in humor, an interest in justice, and any love of freedom, Horace Rumpole will indeed be forever.

American Spectator

John Mortimer’s stories combine a Wodehousian wit with a generous humanism of which the world could use another dollop…it is always a pure pleasure to sit down the the Old Bailey hack.

Christian Science Monitor

Fourteen of the best of Rumpole’s cases have been gathered for this compilation . . . the disheveled lawyer fielded cases ranging from petty larceny to Islamic terrorism, all with his characteristic tilting at windmills and his biting tongue-in-cheek wit.

Bookpage

Once detective-fiction heroes enter your mental landscape, they can seem as real as your own friends and family. For a lot of people, Horace Rumpole is just such a vivid and familiar figure . . . Rumpole fans can savor a bailiff’s dozen of Rumpole’s seriocomic adventures in Forever Rumpole.

The Wall Street Journal

Fourteen of the best of Rumpole's cases have been gathered for this compilation . . . the disheveled lawyer fielded cases ranging from petty larceny to Islamic terrorism, all with his characteristic tilting at windmills and his biting tongue-in-cheek wit.

Bookpage (December Top Pick in Mystery)

Horace Rumpole, the claret-quaffing barrister who never quite makes the grade but always makes a point, stars in a new collection of his most outrageous exploits. Created by British barrister Mortimer, Rumpole's courtroom antics and politically incorrect gaffes have made him a perennial favorite among mystery fans for decades. The book begins with an excellent and insightful introduction by barrister Ann Mallalieu who had the pleasure of assisting Mortimer on some of his cases. Collected here are 14 stories total; seven that were previously published in 1993 under the title The Best of Rumpole, and an additional seven from Mortimer's later works. There is also a sliver of a novel, Rumpole and the Brave New World, which Mortimer began shortly before his death in 2009. VERDICT Alas, Rumpole devotees will find nothing new. However, those uninitiated to the irascible barrister's charm and wit will have much to relish. The collection is an excellent primer to all things Rumpole: the Timson clan (his favorite thieving family), his penchant for Chateau Fleet Street, and the indomitable Hilda, long-suffering wife and appropriately titled "She Who Must Be Obeyed."—Amy Nolan, St. Joseph P.L., MI

Library Journal