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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Viking Adult
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 192
Printing Date: November 29, 2007
Publishing house: Viking Adult
Sale Popularity Level: 18570
Studio: Viking Adult
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Product Description:
Beloved and bestselling Rumpole is back to solve a new and peculiar mystery
Anti-Social Behavior Orders, commonly known as ASBOs, are the New Labour government’s pride and joy. A child who plays or even loiters in an unfriendly street can, on the complaint of neighbors, have an ASBO slapped on him. If he offends again he’ll be found in breach of his ASBO and thrown in jail without a trial. All this, of course, raises the wrath of everyone’s favorite barrister Horace Rumpole when he is called upon to defend a Timson child who has earned an ASBO for playing soccer on a posh street.
As Rumpole tries to get to the bottom of it all, his fellow barristers in chambers decide to highlight the ridiculousness of ASBOs by citing Rumpole for bringing food and his beloved wine into his room, and for causing global warming by lighting small cigars. Another witty tale sure to please the legions of Rumpole fans who eagerly await each new installment.
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Rated by buyers 
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Any new Rumpole book will always be welcome on my shelf, but this is a weak entry. We can forgive Mortimer (in his mid-80s) for running out of steam, but this is really more of a novella than a full-length book. (It's printed in almost large-print type, and takes just a couple hours to read.) It's somewhat of a continuation of his last book, with Hilda keeping up her relationship with the Mad Bull, and considering becoming a lawyer herself. Rumpole of course defends a Timson, and as usual is involved in cases related to current headlines (global warming and human smuggling). I can't really complain: he's always fun to read, but I guess I just wanted a bigger helping.
Rated by buyers 
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ASBO's are the new guideline of the Labour party in England, whereby any behaviour which is deemed unsociable, like swearing, shouting or doing anything which might upset the ecological balance, is cause to be brought before a magistrate for punishment. The Timson family, a family of petty thieves who rely on Rumpole to keep them out of prison, beg for his help when their 10 year old son is accused of playing football in the street, thereby upsetting one particular lady. Rumpole's own heinous crime is that of eating at his desk, having the odd drop of Pomfrey's blue and smoking his beloved cigarillos. To add to his woes, Hilda Rumpole is seriously considering taking the Bar examinations, aided by one of the High Court judges who has taken a fancy to her. Rumpole deals with these aggravations in his own inimitable style, giving the reader a few chuckles along the way, even though this tiny book isn't quite up to John Mortimer's former efforts.
Rated by buyers -
This is the latest of a long-running series written by British author and lawyer John Mortimer about an aging curmudgeon, Horace Rumpole, with a fine sense of justice (as well as a cynical sense of humor). Most of the Rumpole works are short story collections, but this is a novella of about 200 pages in a large print format (in a normal size font I suspect this book would be about 100 pages).
Horace Rumpole is a criminal defense lawyer in London who disrespects authority of any kind, especially overbearing judges. His stable of co-workers provide much of the comic relief and entertainment. His hectoring wife, Hilda, plays a prominent role in all of the books, but especially in this book, as she interacts with a judge who has been the nemesis of Rumpole for years. The main case in this book involves the unfortunate customer of illegally imported prostitutes who is charged with a murder. Rumpole also is working on other cases that turn out to be related to this case in some way. I particularly enjoyed the anti-social behavior charges against a young client who plays soccer on a rich street, annoying some inhabitants. One of Mortimer's recurring themes is that of the nanny-state trying to over-regulate every human endeavor.
Rumpole books are often pigeonholed as mysteries but that is really not true. Often the reader knows the truth of the matter; all that remains to be resolved is the outcome of the case and the antics of the people involved. But I find these books enormously entertaining and I find myself thinking and behaving with more and more of Rumpole's cynicism as I age. If you have ever wondered if you are the only sane person left in the world and why all the lesser beings around you seem to be rewarded, you will instantly find a kindred spirit in Rumpole.
In many of the Rumpole books the author takes a few pages to introduce the characters and circumstances. This book does not do this very well and for that reason I would not recommend it as the very first foray into Rumpoliana. But for a Rumpole fan, this is one more excellent entry in long line of entertaining tales. And since the author is old, I don't expect any more of these books. So read and enjoy while you can. 4 Stars.
Rated by buyers 
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Rupole and his creator John Mortimer continue to reign as the principal heirs to the mantle of P. G. Wodehouse.
Rated by buyers -
Somehow I got to this point in life without having seen the old Rumpole series on PBS or having read any of the books. I dived in with the latest, not usually the good thing to do in a long-lived series, but I found a book that stood alone for me, I got everything, all the in-jokes and who is who. Thus, I do not hesitate to recommend it to a newcomer like me, though I'm willing to bet that someone who has read the long list of previous books in the series will say, oh, it's not half what some of the others are. In fact, it is rather short and the print size large--I actually wondered if I had blundered in to the Large Print section--but that's how it is.
Rumpole and his creator, John Mortimer, are either the originators of a number of humorous detective conventions in the UK vein or they make it seem like they are. Rumpole is probably London's oldest junior barrister, being totally impolitic when it comes to what must be done to achieve higher. His very first person narrative makes it abundantly clear that most that reach senior status, Queen's Counsels, are fools. He calls them Queer Customers. That said, in this outing, he has a shot at a QC, egged on by his wife (She Who Must Be Obeyed) and a client who wishes his defense lawyer was of the QC level. His client gets the best, just not the prettiest. The narrative is witty, articulate, breezy and sharply satiric, especially swatting at the Labor Party's Anti-Social Behavior Order (ASBO). Rumpole is defending a child who has been slapped with two ASBO's for chasing errant soccer balls into an upscale residential street and he gets hit with one by his own partners who claim his cigar habit is contributing to global warming. He does give a very persuasive speech on what it is a defense lawyer does. And he obviously does it very well to the consternation of the establishment. Rumpole is having a ball, and I have to wonder, does he ever behave?
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