Rumpole and the Angel of Death

by John Mortimer Narrated by Frederick Davidson, Wanda McCaddon

Overview

Horace Rumpole, the comic, courageous, and corpulent “great defender of muddled and sinful humanity,” is joined by a winning cast of villains and victims in this collection of six tales in which wry humor and sparkling wit deftly send up the British legal system.

In Rumpole and the Angel of Death, our hero achieves new, resounding triumphs over the forces of prejudice and mean-mindedness. One adventure involves Rumpole in the world of hunters and the hunted, animal rights and human wrongs, while in another he finds that international justice is as fallible as the domestic variety. And for the first time, Hilda, “She Who Must Be Obeyed,” tells a story all her own.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

After a two-year break, the indomitable barrister Horace Rumpole returns in six sprightly new capers, including one told by his long-suffering wife Hilda, who proves to be every bit as canny as her crafty curmudgeon of a husband. As always, Mortimer writes with a Wodehousian lan but, unlike Wodehouse, he incorporates a spirited if indirect wrestling with the social and political issues of the day. In the title piece, an old judge with Alzheimer's is a posthumous figure in a case involving a doctor who is charged with unduly hastening the judge's end. In "Rumpole and the Way Through the Woods," animal-rights activists clash with fox hunters, and the wife of Horace's old friend dies mysteriously. When the widower finds new romance with indecent haste, the wily Rumpole has to consider more than just heated politics. Dealing elsewhere with sexism and child kidnapping, Rumpole is by turns acutely sensitive and brazenly bullheaded, as Mortimer dances nimbly around thorny subjects with his trademark ease, applying all-knowing wit and painstaking characterization. (Mar.)

JULY 97 - AudioFile

This is a new collection of the popular Rumpole adventures, six more stories not yet televised on the popular PBS series, “Mystery.” One of the stories is told by “She Who Must Be Obeyed,” Rumpole’s wife, Hilda, and is narrated by Jill Tanner; the others are narrated by Patrick Tull. As always, the allure of the stories is in Rumpole’s witty musings, unique outlook and the work of the Old Bailey. Tull makes a wonderful Rumpole, complete with a deep, rumbling voice; his interpretations of the secondary characters are appropriate, also. There’s no problem understanding the various British dialects because Tull’s diction is exceptionally clear. Unfortunately, Tanner’s rendition isn’t as successful. Her high-pitched voice portrays Hilda as much younger than she should be (in her 60’s), reducing the success of an otherwise fine recording. S.S.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169547252
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	08/08/2012
Series:	Rumpole , #10
Edition description:	Unabridged

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