The First Rumpole Omnibus [Paperback]

John Mortimer (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Penguin (1970)
• ASIN: B000PD7XDY
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tales of Rumpole., December 2, 2002

By 

Robert S. Clay Jr. (St. Louis, MO., USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The First Rumpole Omnibus (Paperback)

Horace Rumpole, the Old Bailey hack, shines in this collection of John Mortimer's stories. Rumpole is the master of acerbic wit and keen observation. Donned in a wig and robe, he thrusts and parries his way through the English criminal justice system, soldiering on for his mostly shady clients. One of Rumpole's rules is "never plead guilty." He also stands fast on the principle that hearing the truth from one's client can be dangerous. It usually puts the lawyer in an awkward position. Rumpole fortifies himself with an ample supply of little cigars, modestly priced claret, and an old copy of the "Oxford Book of English Verse," from which he quotes Wordsworth and others from memory. Amidst an hilarious ensemble of reappearing supporting characters, Rumpole goes forth daily to fight the good fight and also keep the legal fees and refreshers coming in to the Rumpole bank account. He fears only She Who Must Be Obeyed. His wife, Hilda, who rules their home in Froxbury Court with an iron hand. Written with humor, affection, and intelligence these stories are pure delight. The stories vary in length, but average 40-50 pages. Take Sherlock Holmes and P. G. Wodehouse, mix with Mortimer's background as a barrister, flavor with amusing vernacular and chatty first-person narrative, and you have good lite reading. Especially recommended for busy readers in the era of weighty tomes that populate popular fiction. ;-)

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crime Doesn't Pay???, August 8, 2000

By 

George R Dekle "Bob Dekle" (Lake City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The First Rumpole Omnibus (Paperback)

"[I]t's crime which not only pays moderately well, but which is also by far the greatest fun."--Horace Rumpole.

The problem with most lawyer stories, even those written by lawyers, is that they bear little resemblance to reality. John Mortimer makes Horace Rumpole as real as any fictional lawyer can be, and in the process, Mortimer perfectly captures the joys and woes of trial practice, giving it all a good leavening of humor--something essential to a trial lawyer's retention of sanity.

Mortimer entertains and enlightens. Not only do you get satisfying mysteries told with just the right amount of humor, you also get insight into the foils and foibles of trial lawyers and judges. The book abounds with dead-on insights into the mechanics of trying cases. Any lawyer would benefit from reviewing Rumpole's maxims of trial practice. A few examples:

"As for me, I'm not sure that I like cast iron alibis. They're the sort that sink quickest, to the bottom of the sea."

"A bit of delay, I have found it an infallible rule, never does any harm to the defense."

"It's no help to the defense in an obscenity case to have anyone actually read the works in question."

Mortimer tries to include at least one lawyerly aphorism in each short story in the collection, and part of the joy I find in reading and re-reading the stories comes from searching for these little nuggets of wisdom.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rumpole - the Anglophile's Best Friend, September 20, 2005

By 

A. Mitchell "She Who Must..." (Far West Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The First Rumpole Omnibus (Paperback)

John Mortimer's Rumpole is so satisfying that this is my second copy - I wore the covers off the first SET of the three omnibuses (or is it omnibusi?) I've read every Rumpole story in existence, as far as I know. While there are tiny inconsistencies in the names of characters and small subplot variations from story to story (that only a committed Rumpolean would notice), Rumpole remains a literary sustaining gulp of claret and a warm and fuzzy blanket on a cold foggy night. Long after the belly laughs passed and every crime and misdemeanor was committed to memory, I've still enjoyed the comfortable reek of Rumpole's small cigars and the warm memory of Leo McKern in the title role of "Rumpole of the Bailey."