Forever Rumpole: The Best of the Rumpole Stories

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The best of the Rumpole stories, in one bumper volume Over a period of thirty years, beginning in the late 1970s, John Mortimer wrote around eighty Rumpole stories (as well as four Rumpole novels). During that period, the world changed dramatically but the old boy remained the same throughout- committed to defending the apparently indefensible, trusting of a jury, scornful of the law's pomposities. He is truly one of the immortal comic characters in English fiction, alongside Mr Pickwick and Bertie Wooster. Forever Rumpole offers the perfect introduction for anyone lucky enough to be coming to Rumpole for the first time. It contains seven stories chosen by the author himself in 1993 as his favourites to that point, together with a further seven from the later period. It also contains a fragment of a Rumpole novel the author had just started when he died. With an introduction by fellow-lawyer Ann Mallalieu, a close friend of Sir John, Forever Rumpole offers the very best of Horace Rumpole.

Reviews

"A volume sure to be treasured by both old fans and new."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Delightful . . . [Rumpole's] distinctive voice - crusty, orotund, pointed - is key to what makes these tales such a pleasure to read. . . . This excellent sampling will encourage most readers to go on and read more of the many still available."--The Washington Times
"Fourteen of the best of Rumpole's cases have been gathered for this compilation . . . the disheveled lawyer fielded cases ranging from petty larceny to Islamic terrorism, all with his characteristic tilting at windmills and his biting tongue-in-cheek wit."--Bookpage (December Top Pick in Mystery)
"Horace Rumpole. A character Dickens would have been proud to have created . . . Mortimer's character came as a revelation to those of us who despaired of ever encountering a lawyer we could love. Who knew courtroom drama could be this much fun The stories are intelligent, witty, and finely crafted . . . So long as there is sympathy for the sinful and muddled mankind, a delight in humor, an interest in justice, and any love of freedom, Horace Rumpole will indeed be forever."--American Spectator
"Horace Rumpole, the claret-quaffing barrister who never quite makes the grade but always makes a point, stars in a new collection of his most outrageous exploits . . . Rumpole's courtroom antics and politically incorrect gaffes have made him a perennial favorite among mystery fans for decades . . . those uninitiated to the irascible barrister's charm and wit will have much to relish. The collection is an excellent primer to all things Rumpole."--Library Journal
"Once detective-fiction heroes enter your mental landscape, they can seem as real as your own friends and family. For a lot of people, Horace Rumpole is just such a vivid and familiar figure . . . Rumpole fans can savor a bailiff's dozen of Rumpole's seriocomic adventures in "Forever Rumpole.""--The Wall Street Journal
"Delightful...[Rumpole's] distinctive voice - crusty, orotund, pointed - is key to what makes these tales such a pleasure to read...This excellent sampling will encourage most readers to go on and read more of the many still available."--The Washington Times
"John Mortimer's stories combine a Wodehousian wit with a generous humanism of which the world could use another dollop...it is always a pure pleasure to sit down the the Old Bailey hack."--Christian Science Monitor

Author Bio

John Mortimer was a barrister, playwright and novelist. He was knighted for his services to the arts in 1998. He died in January 2009. Ann Mallalieu was the first female President of the Cambridge Union. She has practised at the Criminal Bar since 1970 and appeared frequently with John Mortimer. A Labour life peer, she was elected Peer of the Year by parliamentarians in 2004.