Customer Reviews

Rumpole Rests His Case

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The underlying thread in this collection of stories is freedom -- specifically, Rumpole's "right" to smoke in chambers. He is more a champion of the underdog than most leftists today, yet maintains a wonderfully conservative suspicion of social engineering. The stories are stand alone. The best in my view is the teenage werewolf. A great read....

John Mortimer wrote RUMPOLE RESTS HIS CASE after a hiatus of six years away from Rumpole stories. Taking into account the television scripts and the short story collections, Mortimer has been writing about this character since the late 1970s. And the one thing fans and detractors would have to agree on is that he is utterly consistent. Rumpole is the same charismatic, charming character. The plots turn on the same style of points of law, helpful coincidences and plonk-inspired deduction. The stories touch on the same themes of hypocrisy, humor and a certain humanity. And yet there's enough freshness to the stories, that even if you've read many or all of the Rumpole stories up to this point, you'll probably not get tired of this.

In short, if you liked the earlier stuff, you'll like this. If you hated the old stuff, you won't find much to enjoy.

Count me in with the fans. If I were to describe the tone of the experience of reading a collection of Rumpole stories, I think the best single word to use would be "comfortable." It's a horrible cliché to say, but I think this is one of the few cases where it's true to say that settling down to read a Rumpole collection really is like sitting down with an old friend.

The short stories in this collection are mostly standalone although a few plot strands can be seen running through several tales. Rumpole's determination to keep smoking his small cigars in his office chambers will not be new to fans. The revelation of Soapy Sam's previous life as a punk rocker, on the other hand, is probably something that would have familiar readers taking a double take at. It's to Mortimer's credit that both the familiar and the new slot in very easily, and even things that would appear to be completely out of character still fit in.

While the character of Rumpole has not aged appreciably since his introduction almost 25 years ago, the stories themselves are keeping up to date with several "ripped from the headlines" style plot lines. I appreciated seeing Mortimer's take on, say, asylum seekers placed right next to standard stories of Rumpole solving a murder.

I hate repeating myself, but I think it bears repeating: if you've liked the previous Rumpole stories, then you're almost certain to enjoy these. The familiar atmosphere of the Rumpole tales is here, but there are enough differences to keep long time readers from becoming bored. And if you're new to the series, then this is as good a place as any to get started.

After a long hiatus, John Mortimer brings back the venerable Horace Rumpole, everyone's favourite (he deserves an English spelling) crochety, cheroot-chomping lawyer. For fans of the series, She Who Must Be Obeyed, FIG Newton, the Timsons, and Chateu Thames Embankment are all back. And as ever, in this collection of cases, Rumpole does not always emerge victorious.

This batch of cases is wonderfully up to date. Rumpole deals with smoking bans and defends Afghan refugees and pot-toking right wing hypocrites. As ever, he fights off modernity, career advancement, and interior decorators with wit as caustic and prose as crisp as ever.

I won't spoil the big ending but for fans of the series, what can one say to old Horace but "welcome back!"

In memory of Leo Kern.

Let's get this straight up front: I love Rumpole of the Bailey stories!! From the time I began watching the late, great Leo McKern portray the sarcastic and bombastic barrister on PBS, and right up through reading the Rumpole stories, I have been delighted, both by the writing, and by the actors in the series. As an attorney myself, I can identify to a certain extent with Rumpole, although the American system of justice is very different from the British. There are gleasms of recognition with various of the characters in the stories, both Rompole's legal chums and the always unusual judges whom he encounters. The stories are excellent, the characters, both important and minor, extremely well-drawn, and I just can't get enough of these tales. I'm only sorry that there will be no further television Rumpoles, but I look forward eagerly to every new edition of stories. Long may they continue!

Those of you familiar with dear old, unique if you will, Rumpole who never bothered with the "Silk" will enjoy this work.

A final collection of Rumpole stories, some of which involve characters from his psst. Rumpole never obtained the silk of a Queen's Counsel (QC), but has a reputation for winning difficult cases (although not always). Very often he is working in the capacity called a Public Defender in the USA. The stories involve characters from Chambers, various clients, his wife Hilda, etc.

The lead off story, "Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces," involves an invitation to spend Christmas with and old school chum of Hilda. This leads to some unexpected results as Rumpole becomes involved with some fundraising. A second case involves one of the Timsons, a disappointing member of their younger generation who is charged with a crime that seems beyond his abilities.

"Rumpole and the Remembrance of Things Past" involves a murder case, something where Rumpole normally excels.

"Rumpole and the Asylum Seekers" is a case involving an Afghani seeking refuge status in the UK. That is complicated by the fact that the refugee owes money to the "Tourist Agency" that got him into the country. All is not as it seems.

"Rumpole and the Camberwell Carrot" brings Rumpole into a case defending a Member of Parliament (MP) charged with drug use, and the tactics of a tabloid newspaper looking for a scandal. There is a side issue of a marital problem between Claude and Phillida, members of Chambers.

"Rumpole and the Actor Laddie" is a case involving an actor accused of stealing a ring, who seems more concerned with playing a scene than in defending himself.

"Rumpole and the Teenage Werewolf" involves a teenager charged with harassing a young woman who is a fellow student. With a little help from investigator Fig Newton, Rumpole finds some unexpected information.

The last story, "Rumpole Rests his Case," finds Rumpole in the hospital and advised to retire. But the next bed is occupied by a man accused of housebreaking, shot by the homeowner. Rumpole becomes involved, via investigator Fig Newton, in looking into the case.

I have asked myself how much I would have missed had I not encountered Horace Rumpole, John Mortimer's aging London barrister. The answer is quite a lot. The many moments of pure enjoyment felt while reading any of the Rumpole stories can only be treasured without attempting to fully describe them.
What a character!!! Witty, a treasure-trove of humor, ingenious in his solutions to his cases, the very opposite of a bore. And, absent the story-telling genius of Mortimer, a nostalgia-spouting old coot can be quite a bore........ which Rumpole definitely is not. His wife, "She Who Must Be Obeyed", as he calls her, adds to the picturesque nature of these stories, while the members of Rumpole's law chambers each add their bit of spice and humor to the plots.
The fascinating descriptions of the daily workings of the British system of justice also add to the enjoyment of reading these stories. Inevitably, one does ask oneself, does British justice work and serve better than American justice?
"Rumpole Rests His Case" is a collection of stories, each about a different case, but with the continuity of a series. It is similar to the many other Rumpole books of stories and each is a true gem of the genre.
May Rumpole continue to defend, never prosecute, cases at the Old Bailey for the enjoyment of the millions who read his adventures.
Ray

I love all my Rumpole books and I used to think it was impossible to pick one as my favorite, but I think this is it. This book is by turns funny and sad, and from the ending it is easy to see why Rumpole fans thought this would be the last Rumpole book. (Fortunately, there are two more.) I like this book for many reasons. First, Rumpole's Head of Chambers, Soapy Sam Ballard, is shown to be more human and sympathetic than he has ever been. Second, Rumpole discovers an unexpected ally in his new Chambers colleague, the annoying Archie Prosser. Third, this book is unusually full of rich images; I especially enjoyed Rumpole's descriptions of the luxuriously appointed bathroom at a client's house and of a sumptuous lunch he had with a wealthy client at a hotel by the River Thames. Fourth, all the stories are exceptionally good. I enjoyed "Rumpole and the Remembrance of Things Past," about a man accused of killing his wife; "Rumpole and the Asylum Seekers," about a political refugee from Afghanistan; "Rumpole and the Camberwell Carrot," about a Member of Parliament accused of using prohibited drugs; and "Rumpole and the Teenage Werewolf," about a teenager accused of stalking a school friend. The title story and the last in the book, "Rumpole Rests His Case," is one of the best Rumpole stories ever.

...Or does he?

That's the question long-time readers are left pondering after that irascible, curmudgeony barrister Rumpole solves his last case in the book from a hospital bed.

It's a sad thought to consider, especially after reading seven delightful new stories featuring all of one's favorite Rumpole characters, from She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed to Claude Erskine-Brown to Mizz Liz Probert. Still, it is Rumpole that one truly reads for, and Mortimer has once again crafted a comfortable but multi-layered lead character who is at once off-putting and likable, plain-spoken yet charmingly witty. Although Mortimer plays with the Rumpole character and the traditional Rumpole story -- if only slightly but always successfully -- one gets the idea that he wanted to really have some fun with Rumpole should this be their last outing together. And the result is that we all have fun.

Indeed, reading Rumpole is like sitting with a favorite uncle as he regales you with tale after tale -- you always want there to be just one more story, one more evening with a larger than life character that you love.