Returned to an old friend as the audio book reading continues. I am a huge fan of the character of Horace Rumpole, the cantankerous old barrister who thrives on saying--under his breath of course--all the things we'd like to say to pompous lawyers, judges, and various other people that tend to a...
Despite the popularity of "Rumpole of the Bailey" on British TV a number of years ago, I am surprised that I have not until now ready anything by John Mortimer. I think I might have to look up more by Mortimer, since I really enjoyed this book.It's a whodunnit but also a gentle satire poking fun ...
This book was published before the last Rumpole I read, The Antisocial Behaviour of Horace Rumpole, and I was at first uncertain as to whether I had read it or not such is the sheer volume of Rumpole product most of which I have ardently consumed. But no, I hadn’t seen this one before and it didn...
Meh. Here's the story in a nutshell: Lucinda is a blithering idiot, the offspring of a mother who is mostly a lush most of the time, and a father who is a bishop in the Church of England, despite his oddly irreligious views. Lucinda graduates from college, blithering idiotness notwithstanding,...
Horace Rumpole has an encyclopaedic memory of his old cases and inevitably he comes across people he has defended from time to time. In the first story - Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces - two people he has come across in the past have cause to regret meeting his again. I particularly enjoyed...
Horace Rumpole turns down yet another invitation to exchange the joys and sorrows of life as an Old Bailey hack for the delights of the sunshine state, where Senior Citizens loll on beaches and the sarcastic tones of the Mad Bull (Judge Roger Bullingham) are heard no more. He settles instead for ...
I have been a fan of Horace Rumpole for many years and I re-read the books on a regular basis. Even when you know what happens the stories are still good reading and I often notice little things that I missed on previous readings. This omnibus contains 'Rumpole of the Baily', 'The Trials of Rum...
Delightful. English people vacationing and living in Italy. Outrageous cast of characters. Peculiar goings on. Vanishing water. A murder!! The BBC mini series is great, and includes a few scenes with Feodor Chaliapin Jr. as the old Prince, Tosti. It is not possible for me to convey his utterly ...
This is an entertaining collection of six short stories starting with Rumpole's escape from the Primrose Path nursing home where he has been sent to recover from his heart attack brought on by a fight in court with Judge Bullingham. Rumpole fears that the body count at the Primrose Path is rathe...
Beloved and bestselling Rumpole is back to solve a new and peculiar mystery Anti-Social Behavior Orders, commonly known as ASBOs, are the New Labour government’s pride and joy. A child who plays or even loiters in an unfriendly street can, on the complaint of neighbors, have an ASBO slapped on...
My mom gave me this book. I wasn't sure how I would like it (mom and I don't always have the same taste in books) but I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the quirky main character. Seriously, if you had told me that I would want to live through the story from the point of view of a stodgy old guy...
John Mortimer can be relied on to turn out out a workmanlike and entertaining piece of fiction and this novel is no exception. The narrator is an accountant with a passion for amateur dramatics who has a lifelong friendship with the eponymous Dunster, whom he first meets at school and who later k...
‘Got what exactly?’ ‘The QC.’ Wetherby appeared to be more anxious about my promotion than about the state of his defence. ‘Not quite yet,’ I told him. ‘But I have been before the selection committee and they as good as told me it was in the bag. The thing has to be rubber-stamped by the Minister...
As magical in its way as Le Nid du Duc, the Pipers’ house is built, like all old Chiltern farmhouses, with brick and flints. It has a long, high barn where John Piper designed his stained glass windows. His other studio was a converted cowshed attached to the kitchen. There is an enlarged cottage...