Horace Rumpole isn't particularly fond of Christmas Day—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. After the exchange of presents (lavender water for her, a tie for him), they settle down to a supermarket turkey with all the trimmings, followed by a glass of port. The only excitement comes in deciding whether to stand for the national anthem after the Queen's speech.
But at least the criminal fraternity rarely takes a holiday, so over the years Rumpole has found his festive celebrations disturbed in most welcome ways. Whether it's a Father Christmas who behaves suspiciously at Equity Court's Christmas party, or a high-profile murder trial that comes up at the Bailey just before the holiday season or a body discovered at the health spa where Rumpole is gloomily trying to survive a not-so-festive Christmas diet of yak's milk and spinach - there's always something wonderfully unlawful to liven up the dull holiday plans.
When Sir John Mortimer died in January 2009, it was widely agreed that Horace Rumpole was his greatest fictional creation. In these delightful Christmas stories, never before published in book form, the great barrister lives on.
Editorial Reviews
"Rumpole is one of the immortals of mystery fiction." —San Francisco Chronicle
"[A] charming collection of previously published stories…Whether he's drinking yak's milk on a health farm and foiling a false accusation or tricking an ex-con into philanthropy, these cases simply melt in the warm glow that is Rumpole." —The Washington Post
"As this fine holiday collection shows, Mortimer (1923–2009) could tell lovely tales that end with a gentle punch. Each of the five stories highlights English barrister Horace Rumpole's quirky personality, his love of food and drink, and life with his formidable wife, Hilda (aka “She Who Must Be Obeyed”). But most of all, each illustrates Rumpole's sense of justice and commitment to the law as well as his dry wit. As usual, Rumpole overshadows plots that often focus on the barrister trying to ignore the holiday. “Rumpole and Father Christmas” suggests that even a career criminal can get the holiday spirit. A businessman's past is used to secure funds for a church in “Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces.” The most timely is the twisty “Rumpole and the Christmas Break,” about a murdered professor and an Islamic student with a religious vendetta against her. This is a perfect stocking stuffer for Mortimer fans." —Publishers Weekly
"Mortimer has created one of the lengendary fictional detectives...A barrister [who's] as much a detective as Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot." —The Boston Globe
About the Author
John Mortimer was a playwright, novelist, and former practicing barrister who has written many film scripts as well as stage, radio, and television plays, the Rumpole plays, for which he received the British Academy Writer of the Year Award, and the adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. He is the author of twelve collections of Rumpole stories and three acclaimed volumes of autobiography.
