Forever Rumpole

Forever Rumpole: The Best of the Rumpole Stories by John Mortimer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

John Mortimer died in 2009. Although this book was published in 2011 and is a collection of his shorter works, I don't seen any reference to an editor so I think the stories were selected by Mr. Mortimer himself.

Although this is a work of short stories, they range mostly between 30 and 40 pages so they aren't all that short; nevertheless, they are interesting to read. There wasn't one that I would suggest was out of place in the book. A few pages of what would have been a novel had Mr. Mortimer lives were included at the end and I doubt that the author had anything to do with that but I suspect he chose the rest. They portray Rumpole at his best, irascible, sly, witty, and frequently at odds with the judges he faces.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it. Not being in the legal profession myself I can't say how close the author comes to the reality of the court system in Britain, and, frankly, some of it seems a little questionable; but this is a work of fiction so I think a few liberties might be taken. For those who are taken with character arcs or more modern trends in writing this may not be an ideal book but for everyone who likes seeing a mystery unraveled I recommend it.



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