Rumpole and the Angel of Death

By: John Mortimer

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson, Wanda McCaddon

Horace Rumpole, the comic, courageous, and corpulent “great defender of muddled and sinful humanity”, is joined by a winning cast of villains and victims in this collection of six tales in which wry humor and sparkling wit deftly send up the British legal system.

In Rumpole and the Angel of Death, our hero achieves new, resounding triumphs over the forces of prejudice and mean-mindedness. One adventure involves Rumpole in the world of hunters and the hunted, animal rights, and human wrongs, while in another he finds that international justice is as fallible as the domestic variety. And for the first time, Hilda, “She Who Must Be Obeyed”, tells a story all her own.

©1995 Advanpress, Ltd. (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“As always, Mortimer writes with a Wodehousian elan but, unlike Wodehouse, he incorporates a spirited if indirect wrestling with the social and political issues of the day…Rumpole is by turns acutely sensitive and brazenly bullheaded, as Mortimer dances nimbly around thorny subjects with his trademark ease, applying all-knowing wit and painstaking characterization.” ( Publishers Weekly)

“The irascible but always entertaining Rumpole is back, this time in a series of short stories that have him facing the usual assortment of human detritus at the Old Bailey…Mortimer’s stories may lack the gritty drama associated with the hard-boiled arm of the genre, but what he does provide is class, charm, and a wry commentary on a way of life.” ( Booklist)

“Six more briefs for the indomitable defender of the guiltiest-looking defendants the Old Bailey has ever seen…give Rumpole more than his share of hopeless cases…The bonus here, ‘Hilda’s Story,’ gives Mrs. Rumpole, She Who Must Be Obeyed, the chance to recount Rumpole’s defense of an alleged parricide from her own point of view.” ( Kirkus Reviews)

Love Rumpole

I will never be able to say enough good things about John Mortimer's Rumpole. If you like gentle BBC entertainment and sharp witted justice stories - Rumpole is the best.

Delightful listen

Didn’t know about Rumpole before. Loved the stories, writing, narration. Ordered several other Rumpole books and John Mortimer biography.

Great story very funny!

Great story very funny! I love the witticism. I will definitely be reading more of this series.

Wonderful stories

In this case, apparently, the TV scripts came first, then the books written. Either way it is British wit & sagacity at its best!!!