Rumpole Omnibus: 3rd [Hardcover]

Product Details

• Hardcover: 752 pages
• Publisher: Viking
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670869465
• ISBN-13: 978-0670869466
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,187,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, witty, urbane fiction, July 21, 2006

By 

Mark E. Baxter "Inquirer" (Layton, UT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Third Rumpole Omnibus (Paperback)

The Rumpole books are wonderfully entertaining and well-written mysteries that revolve around an aging English lawyer named Rumpole.

For readers not familiar with the author, John Mortimer, and this series of short stories and novels revolving around Rumpole, the central character, I offer the following introduction.

The author, Mortimer, was an English lawyer who also is well known for his writing. He has written popular British screenplays and television adaptations such as Brideshead revisited. He has written novels. And he has written a series of short stories with a few longer stories about an aging English lawyer named Horace Rumpole. Mortimer's background makes him uniquely qualified for this series.

Rumpole's stories are usually interesting cases the title character has been involved in. The judges, various attorneys, the defendants (Rumpole only takes defense cases), acquaintances and family members are constant characters throughout the series. Rumpole is a cynic who sees the humour (British spelling in honour of Rumpole) and absurdity of modern life. These tales are also quite ingenious mysteries. These tales are loosely chronological, but you can read any of the stories in any order and still get what's happening because Mortimer always reintorduces Rumpole briefly at the start of each collection. Rumpole's wife, Hilda, - referred to by Rumpole as 'She Who Must Be Obeyed' - is a wonderful foil to Rumpole's cynical humor and obstinance.

The collections of short stories came out individually in books containing several stories, and later as a collection of a trio of these books called Omnibus editions. The first three collections - Rumpole of the Bailey, The Trials of Rumpole, and Rumpole's Return - are in the First Rumpole Omnibus. The next three collections - Rumpole for the Defence, Rumpole and the Golden Thread, and Rumpole's Last Case - are in the Second Omnibus Edition. The last of the Omnibus editions, the Third (and the one being reviewed here) contains the collections Rumpole and the Age of Miracles, Rumpole a la carte, and Rumpole and the Angel of Death. There are four other collections that are only available singly, Rumpole on Trial, Rumpole Rests His Case, Rumpole and the Primrose Path, and a prequel Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders. Every single one of these books is a joy to read. Finishing this series left me almost tearful that there were no more of these books and this splendid writing left to read.

Now this volume contains stories that revolve around more modern issues like euthanasia, civil rights in a world of terrorism and the like. But my favorite stories usually involve the humorous foibles of Rumpole's circle. 'Rumpole and the Tap End' is a rollicking story about mis-steps of Rumpole's former Head of Chambers who is now a judge. I love the character developments of these kinds of stories.

I often give Rumpole books as gifts and I re-read these stories occasionally when my spirits need a lift from paying the taxman, wondering where my youth went, filling out forms at work, watching my waistline expand as my hopes and dreams dwindle, and wondering why all the inferior beings around me seem to be so much more successful than me. I recommend these stories, and specifically this volume highly. There is also an old TV series that is extremely well done available if your tastes run more to watching than reading.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Horace Rumpole - What more can be said?, August 9, 2002

By 

Laurence Lazarus (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Third Rumpole Omnibus (Paperback)

Other than Sherlock Holmes, Horace Rumpole is arguably the best and most fully described character in crime fiction. The depth of his character, and indeed the whole ensemble of characters in the Rumpole stories, even outdoes those in the Peter Wimsey, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple tales. We know Horace Rumpole as well as we know any friend or relative. We also know Hilda - she who must be obeyed. We know Guthrie, Claude Erskine-Brown, Liz Probert, Bollard. Need I go on.

This could be due to Leo McKern's portrayal of Rumpole on television. It was such a tailor-made role that one wonders whether Rumpole defined McKern or McKern defined Rumpole. Be that as it may, we can never go wrong with a good Rumpole story. And any collection, such as this, will bring joy to those who like eccentric personalities and crime fiction.

The crimes themselves are sometimes secondary to the interplay of the cast of characters.

Enjoy, with a touch of Pomeroy's plonk - Chateau Thames Embankment.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another superb Rumpole collection, September 2, 2000

By 

Tom Gillis (Kensington, MD USA) - See all my reviews

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

Well, I've read all the previous Rumpole collections, and seen all the PBS Rumpole episodes. I'm sure you're not surprised to hear that this one doesn't disappoint.

One hundred years from now, people will still be reading Rumpole (even if Titmuss is unknown), just as we read Sherlock Holmes today. Why? Because Rumpole is a great character -- like all great characters of literature, he reminds us of ourself. Sure, we're not all lawyers, nor drink red wine to excess at the end of each day, nor enjoy reading from the Oxford Book of English Verse, nor are we all married (empty nest) and close to retirement. But, we know all the people he works with, and we are really Rumpole. You know it.

My only regret reading this book is that it may be the last we see of Rumpole. I'd wish him a happy retirement, but I don't know what he'd do outside of chambers. Perhaps some pro bono work, with extended hours at Pommeroys.