Rumpole Misbehaves

October 29, 2007
At the start of Mortimer’s winning new novella to feature Horace Rumpole (after 2006’s Rumpole and the Reign of Terror
), the quirky English barrister agrees to defend 12-year-old Peter Timson, who’s been served with an “Anti-social Behaviour Order” (ASBO) for playing soccer in the streets of a posh London neighborhood. Later, Rumpole takes on a more serious case: a shy civil servant, Graham Wetherby, stands accused of murdering a prostitute, an illegal Russian immigrant. Since Wetherby prefers to be represented by a “QC” or Queens Counsel, Rumpole schemes to become a QC in an amusing subplot. Rumpole fans will cheer the barrister’s vigorous defense of his clients as well as his cutting comments on the nanny state that gives rise to laws like ASBOs. As always, the character of Rumpole overshadows the mystery solving: his hedonistic pleasure in food and drink, his acerbic, manipulative wit and his love for the legal underdog. Wife Hilda—“She Who Must Be Obeyed”—narrates the occasional chapter to great comic effect.

Starred review from November 1, 2007
Mortimers short stories about Horace Rumpole, barrister of the Old Bailey, defender of criminals and poetry, and survivor of marriage with the formidable She Who Must Be Obeyed, have delighted readers for decades. Since 2004 (with Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders, followed by Rumpole and the Reign of Terror), Mortimer has moved Rumpole from short story to novel, an expanse that allows scope for greater contemporary social satire. In this, the third full-scale Rumpole novel, Mortimer lambastes the new Labour governments Anti-Social Behavior Orders, civil orders that can be slapped on people for the most trivial offenses and which can result in the offender being imprisoned without a trial. Rumpole is asked to defend a 12-year-old sprout of the Timson clan who has been served with an ASBO for kicking a soccer ball into a posh street. The eco-freaks in Rumpoles Chambers soon award Rumpole his own ASBO for contributing to the greenhouse effect by smoking cigars. A murder case, in which a civil servant has been found in a locked room with a Russian prostitute, also comes Rumpoles way. Mortimer ties the ASBO plot to the murder and to an illegal smuggling operation in a way that, with lesser writers, would seem too pat. With Mortimer, the ties never seem forced, only intriguing. As usual, theres humor everywhere: with the backbiting characters in Chambers; with the humorless, narcissistic judges; in his wifes efforts to read for law; and in his courtroom battles. Another Mortimer masterpiece.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)