Forever Rumpole: The Best of the Rumpole Stories by John Mortimer
Meet Horace Rumpole, English barrister and self-described “Old Bailey Hack”. While his is just as likely to be found with a glass of “Chateau Thames Embankment” in Pommeroy’s Wine Bar than in court and his knowledge of Arthur Quiller-Couch’s Oxford Book of English Verse is more extensive than his knowledge of English criminal law, there is no denying that among English barristers Rumpole of the Bailey is second to none.
Girded with a tattered old barrister’s wig (“bought second-hand from a former Chief Justice of Tonga”), armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of bloodstains and typewriters, and shouting his battle-cry “Never plead guilty!” Rumpole charges into the fray ready to do battle against the forces of the English legal system.
Included in this latest collection of stories written by John Mortimer are fourteen classic tales featuring Rumpole of the Bailey including a portion of an unfinished story begun before the author’s death in 2009.
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