John Mortimer

In the first of six witty short stories, 60s-something English barrister, Horace Rumpole, takes on the younger generation both at home and in the hallowed courtroom—while offending his esteemed colleagues and his draconian wife, Hilda...

Lord Titmuss is still a figure with formidable influence in his constituency, but now the Conservatives face a difficult by-election after the strange death of the sitting Tory MP....

When Simeon Simcox, a socialist clergyman, leaves his entire fortune not to his family but to the ruthless....

Whether he's quoting Wordsworth or having words with a particularly obtuse judge, Horace Rumpole always knows what he's doing––even if no one else does. In this delightful collection of stories, Rumpole straightens everyone out in the shocking case of a "bent copper," gallantly teaches a...

Horace Rumpole, the comic, courageous, and corpulent “great defender of muddled and sinful humanity,” is joined by a winning cast of villains and victims in this collection of six tales in which wry humor and sparkling wit deftly send up the British legal system. In Rumpole and the Angel of...

Horace Rumpole, the irreverent, iconoclastic, claret-swilling, poetry-spouting barrister-at-law, is among the most beloved characters of English crime literature. He is not a particularly gifted attorney, nor is he particularly fond of the law by courts if it comes to that, but he'd rather be...

Horace Rumpole—who never prosecutes, whose fame rests on an infinite knowledge of blood and typewriters, whose court scenes are proverbial, whose home is ruled by Mrs. Rumpole (“She Who Must Be Obeyed”)—is back on the defense, as irreverent, as iconoclastic, as claret-swilling...

Here are six delightful tales featuring everyone's favorite barrister for the defense, Horace Rumpole. Eccentric characters such as his wife, Hilda, otherwise known as "She Who Must Be Obeyed," and his philandering colleague Claude Erskine-Brown are back as Rumpole visits a snooty restaurant...

Rumpole is on the job again, bringing along his taste for claret, his penchant for poetry, and his reputation for a good story. These seven irresistible stories run the gamut from simple thievery to murder and espionage. Rumpole recalls three delightful battles with his arch-enemy, the Mad Bull...

Rumpole must now defend a young member of the Timson family, an extended clan of petty thieves who are otherwise decent South London rogues. Adding to Rumpole’s anxiety, his own son now appears to be acquiring some of the less respectable Timson family traits....

In this collection of stories, the beloved barrister must fend off the advances of a mysterious young woman, face the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Council, and take on a group of devil worshippers...

Maggie Perowne is head of Old Masters at Klinsky's auction house in London. Ben Glazier is an art expert. Ben, not as young as he was, is inescapably in love with Maggie....

On England's green and pleasant land there are dark rumblings of concrete mixers, bulldozers and planning committees, local and ministerial....

There's a new wind blowing in this dazzling collection of new Rumpole stories....

ASBOs may be the pride and joy of New Labour, but they don't cut much ice with Horace Rumpole....

Throughout John Mortimer's career, he established profound friendships with people accused of various crimes....

Rumpole isn't particularly fond of Christmas; he finds it has a horrible habit of dragging on as he and She Who Must Be Obeyed go through the usual rituals in Froxbury Mansions....

The irrepressible, audacious defence barrister Horace Rumpole whose court scenes are proverbial, and whose home is ruled by Mrs Rumpole, is back in these short stories by John Mortimer....

Following the best-selling Summer of a Dormouse, Sir John Mortimer - playwright, novelist, octogenarian, and erstwhile QC - offers up more lessons in living and growing old disgracefully....

Affectionately known as the Chekhov of Coldsands-on-Sea....