"Rumpole has been an inspired stroke of good fortune for us all." --Daily Mail (London)

Horace Rumpole, whose court scenes are proverbial, and whose home is ruled by Mrs. Rumpole, "She Who Must Be Obeyed," is back in these short stories.

"Rumpole has become, seemingly overnight, an institution like Bertie Wooster and Jeeves." --Punch (London)

John Mortimer was the author of the Rumpole series, many of which formed the basis for the PBS-TV series Rumpole of the Bailey. The first book featuring his most famous character, Horace Rumpole, was published by Penguin in 1980. His work also includes many novels and plays and three acclaimed volumes of autobiography. A former barrister, Mortimer, who was knighted in 1998, lived in Oxfordshire, England. He died in January of 2009.