Rumpole Rests His Case (2003)

Book Info

Author

John Mortimer

Genre

History & Biography

Series

rumpole of the bailey

Rating

4.12 of 5 Votes: 4

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ISBN

0142003476 (ISBN13: 9780142003473)

Language

English

Publisher

penguin books

Shops

Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble

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About book Rumpole Rests His Case (2003)

Horace Rumpole has an encyclopaedic memory of his old cases and inevitably he comes across people he has defended from time to time. In the first story - Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces - two people he has come across in the past have cause to regret meeting his again. I particularly enjoyed Rumpole and the Camberwell Carrot in which Phillida Erskine-Brown finds an idol has feet of clay.I recall reading the last story in this book when it was first published and wondering whether the last story - Rumpole Rests His Case was actually going to be his last ever appearance. I thought his final speech to the 'jury' in that story was brilliant considering he had so little hard evidence to go on.Once again Rumpole displays his knowledge of human nature, his thirst for justice and his disinclination ever to plead guilty whatever the circumstances and never ever to prosecute. This is an entertaining collection of stories exposing the follies and foible of the great and the good and yet still making some serious points about the stupidity of the law at times. I have re-read the book many times and it loses none of its appeal.

It’s impossible not to like a Rumpole story. I got a bit of a surprise out of this collection though, because I’d just finished Rumpole and the Primrose Path and I found that the first story in that (for which the book is named) follows immediately after the last story here—again the title story. References to earlier cases are common in the Rumpole œuvre, but this is the only case I can think of offhand where the timeline of two tales is so clear and tight. I bought several Rumpoles at the same time (collections I’d never seen before); perhaps I’d better check the GoodReads series ordering before I read any more of them!

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37.tRUMPOLE REST HIS CASE by John Mortimer / Viking 2001 / ISBN 0-670-91085-6 / crime-humour / completed 10.09.10 / I think I must have read this before some time in the past. The titles of some of the pieces seemed very familiar. Still a fun read the second time round (if it was the second time round...)
—Richard Thompson