Product Description

Justice isn’t blind – it’s just a little short sighted and weak around the knees … A Rumpole novel which takes on New Labour and the Timson family, and includes extracts from the memoirs of Hilda Rumpole, aka She Who Must Be Obeyed … Tiffany Timson's new husband Mahmoud Khan, is arrested on suspicion of terrorism. Rumpole is frustrated in his defence campaign by New Labour laws that render the British legal system a farce – defending a suspected terrorist proves a tricky task even for the great defender ... He insists upon a fair trial, and his fight for justice brings him into confrontation not only with Hilda, but with the leaders of New Labour ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29367 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-27
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 3
• Binding: Audio CD
• 3 pages

About the Author
John Mortimer is a novelist, playwright and former practising barrister. Among his many publications are several volumes of Rumpole stories and a trilogy of political novels (Paradise Postponed, Titmuss Regained, and The Sound of Trumpets) featuring Leslie Titmuss. Sir John received a knighthood for his services to the arts in 1998.

Customer Reviews

The old maestro has not lost his touch
This is a delight - Rumpole and his work brought bang up to date, and this time with wonderful interjections from the memoirs of Hilda, who has doughtily locked herself into the box room to pound a laptop.
Rumpole's defending of a possible terrorist suspect, the familiar insouciance, the refusal to meekly go along with changes to the legal system, are related as sharply and as readably as ever.
Mr Mortimer has certainly not lost his touch, and neither has Rumpole! The loss of the incomparable Leo McKern, who would have portrayed these newest explots on the TV screen with immense gusto, is doubly sad.

Rumpole in the 21st Century!
Bottom line up front: This is another MUST read for all Rumpole fans. One now approaches new books by the octogenarian Sir John Mortimer--especially a Rumpole story--with trepidation. Has the old fox still got it in him? Rest assured he has. This time out Rumpole incurs the wrath of the establishment (as usual) for defending a Pakistani-immigrant doctor accused of collaborating with terrorists. Experienced Rumpoleans, however, will suspect that there is more to the case than meets the eye.

What one must not look for in this book is internal consistency within the Rumpole oeuvre. Mortimer is notoriously careless about the minor details associated with these stories. The address of Rumpole's chambers, for instance, varies from 1 through 4 Equity Court. In this novel the notorious Judge Bullingham, long ago written off as dead, has been resurrected and with a carnal eye for She Who Must Be Obeyed! For that matter the Old Bailey Hack himself must be getting on towards 90 if his "sixty-ish" self-description from nearly thirty years ago was correct. Of course such trivialities may be determined by future scholars to be attributable to the amount of Pomeroy's plonk Rumpole had consumed before setting down his memoirs. Meanwhile: Enjoy!

Rumpole fights on
Horace Rumpole is to me a familiar friend of many years standing, news of whose exploits I eagely await. This familiarity is re-inforced by the book cover's caricature drawing of Leo Mckern's TV portrayal. This is a typical Rumpole tale used to great effect by Mortimer to take a side swipe at not only the reactionary policies of a reactionary government, but also to remind the bleeding heart liberals that in truth there really are some very bad people out there. Horace Rumpole of course is gifted with the all knowing eye so that under the withering gaze of old fashioned forensic advocacy, the truth will out and the innocent are saved. There is also a nice coup de plume as Rumpole's memoirs are intertwined with the memoirs of Mrs Rumpole. I do not know if the book has enough substance to win new fans, but there is plenty here to satisfy the existing ones and on that basis I give it top marks.