A Rumpole Christmas: Stories [Hardcover]

John Mortimer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 2009

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As this fine holiday collection shows, Mortimer (1923–2009) could tell lovely tales that end with a gentle punch. Each of the five stories highlights English barrister Horace Rumpole's quirky personality, his love of food and drink, and life with his formidable wife, Hilda (aka She Who Must Be Obeyed). But most of all, each illustrates Rumpole's sense of justice and commitment to the law as well as his dry wit. As usual, Rumpole overshadows plots that often focus on the barrister trying to ignore the holiday. Rumpole and Father Christmas suggests that even a career criminal can get the holiday spirit. A businessman's past is used to secure funds for a church in Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces. The most timely is the twisty Rumpole and the Christmas Break, about a murdered professor and an Islamic student with a religious vendetta against her. This is a perfect stocking stuffer for Mortimer fans. (Nov.)
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About the Author

John Mortimer (1923-2009) was a playwright, novelist, and barrister. He wrote many film scripts as well as stage, radio, and television plays, including A Voyage Round My Father, the Rumpole plays, and the adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. He is the author of thirteen collections of Rumpole stories, three acclaimed volumes of autobiography, and many novels. He was knighted in 1998.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (October 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670021350
• ISBN-13: 978-0670021352
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #490,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The last Noel . . ., November 4, 2009

By 

Leonard Fleisig "Len" (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Rumpole Christmas: Stories (Hardcover)

I was saddened when Leo McKern died in 2002. I cannot think of Rumpole of the Bailey without envisioning McKern. But John Mortimer was still alive and still creating terrific Rumpole books and stories. That ended in January 2009 with Mortimer's death. My sadness was relieved somewhat when I came upon this group of stories that I had not read before. Previously published in the English press these Christmas-themed stories made for a great early holiday gift, one that I shall keep for myself.

You won't find anything new in these stories. Rumpole does what he does best: he harrumphs here and there at Judges who seem not to understand the concept of innocent until proven guilty; he continues to find solace from the rigors of life as a barrister with a glass (or two or three) of his Pommeroy's Chateau Thames Embankment; and his wife Hilda continues to play the role of `she who must be obeyed'. But it seems to me that it is this very continuity that serves to make a Rumpole story the best sort of comfort food. Each story contains the sort of Rumpole remark that reminds me why I love reading them. Behind the gruff exterior and the somewhat shabby appearance beats the heart of someone fiercely devoted to the concepts of law and equity that took him (and Mortimer) to the profession in the first place.

The bottom line for me is that I loved the stories not because they were particularly different or unusual or revealed something new about the characters known to all Rumpole fans. No, I loved the stories because they were just what I expected them to be. And for that I thank the esteemed Rumpole and the learned Mr. Mortimer.
L. Fleisig

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Surprise Christmas Treat from John Mortimer, November 19, 2009

By 

Ronald H. Clark (WASHINGTON, DC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Rumpole Christmas: Stories (Hardcover)

The death early this year of John Mortimer, creator of the Rumpole stories, seemingly would have denied me one of the great pleasures of the holiday season--sitting down by the fire with the latest collection of Rumpole stories to savor. I found Mortimer's Rumpole stories to be among the most enjoyable and humorous pieces I had ever read (his satirical gifts were unmatched)--and I read them all going back many years. The only greater pleasure one could derive from Sir John was to hear him speaking in person, as I did in Washington a number of years ago. Not to worry, fellow Rumpole fans, there is one last collection available made up of Christmas-related stories. This collection consists of 5 short stories never before published in book form, the stories having appeared between 1997 and 2006 in various British publications. Of the stories, one is very short (the initial "Rumpole and Father Christmas"), two are fairly long (over 30 pages each), and the remaining stories fall in between.

All the familiar elements of the Rumpole literature are present here. Wife Hilda forcing Rumpole to a "fat farm" for the holidays; continual run-ins (both official and social) with several of the "dear old darling" judges of which Rumpole is so fond; several challenging murders to untangle; some excellent Rumpole in court scenes; and forced visits again engineered by Hilda to various of her old school friends in remote and freezing locales to spend the holidays. I found the writing as crisp and well-constructed as other Rumpole stories. I was surprised, though, that the stories had relatively little to do with Christmas, which is the theme of the collection.

You can whip through these last stories pretty quickly--I tried to ration myself and was not always successful. As much as one enjoys these further glimpses of Horace Rumpole at work and play, as I drew toward the end of the collection I experienced some sadness since no more stories (as far as we know) will be forthcoming. But there is plenty of enjoyment and fun to be had in these final 161 pages--but I do wish there could be more!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bittersweet, December 12, 2009

By 

Stephen T. Hopkins (Oak Park, Illinois) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Rumpole Christmas: Stories (Hardcover)

There are five enjoyable short stories in a collection from the late John Mortimer titled, A Rumpole Christmas. Fans of the PBS series Rumpole of the Bailey will recognize a familiar cast of character from Horace Rumpole himself, to his wife Hilda ("She Who Must Be Obeyed"), to his chambers colleagues and recalcitrant judges, as well as charming rogues. Each story is set around Christmas and presents a perfect mix and the familiar and the new. John Mortimer died in early 2009, and while these stories had been published individually in English periodicals, this is the first time they appear in a collection. I had a bittersweet reaction as I finished the last story with the realization that I may have read all the Rumpole that has been written. So, I drained the glass of my equivalent of Chateau Thames Embankment and poured another, offering a toast of thanks to Mortimer for creating such a great character. Any reader will find something to like in each of the five stories in A Rumpole Christmas.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)