John Clifford Mortimer

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John Clifford Mortimer's Latest Book

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  • Bibliography:
    53 Books (1 Series)
  • First Book:
    February 1980
  • Latest Book:
    October 2015
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Full Series List in Order

Rumpole

Rumpole of the Bailey (Feb-1980)
Rumpole's Return (Jan-1982)
Rumpole for the Defence (Jan-1984)
The Trials of Rumpole (Jul-1986)
Rumpole's Last Case (Aug-1988)
Rumpole and the Age of Miracles (Dec-1989)
Rumpole at the Bar (Dec-1989)
Rumpole a La Carte (Dec-1990)
Rumpole and the Golden Thread (Nov-1992)
Rumpole on Trial (Nov-1992)
Rumpole and the Judges Elbow (Apr-1993)
Rumpole and the Younger Generation (Sep-1995)
Rumpole and the Angel of Death (Mar-1996)
Rumpole and the Man of God (Jan-1998)
Rumpole Rests His Case (Nov-2001)
Rumpole and the Primrose Path (Nov-2003)
Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders (Nov-2004)
Rumpole and the Reign of Terror (Nov-2006)
Rumpole Misbehaves (Nov-2007)
A Rumpole Christmas (Nov-2009)

Book List in Order: 53 titles

  • Rumpole of the Bailey

    Rumpole

    A collection of stories featuring Rumpole of the Bailey, including "Rumpole and the Younger Generation", "Rumpole and the Alternative Society", "Rumpole and the Honourable Member", "Rumpole and the Married Lady, "Rumpole and the Learned Friends" and ...

  • Come As You Are

    The characters in all four plays are in their twenties to forties and can either be played by the same four artists or by separate casts. The first, Mill Hill, calls for 2 Men and 1 Woman, the remainder, Bermondsey, Gloucester Road and Marble Arch, c...

  • Five Plays

  • Regina V. Rumpole

    "Rumpole is worthy to join the great gallery of English oddballs ranging from Pickwick to Sherlock Holmes, Jeeves and Bertie Wooster" -J. W. Lambert in the Sunday Times What have a tea-leaf, a swede and a rotten egg got in common? The answer of cours...

  • Rumpole's Return

    Rumpole

    Who rose to enduring fame on Blood and Typewriters, told the pregnant Portia of the Chambers it would come out in the end, advised Guthrie Featherstone, Q.C., to adopt a more judicial attitude, returned in the tender gloaming of each evening-via Pomm...

  • A Voyage Round My Father

    John Mortimer’s autobiographical play is the affectionate portrait of a son’s relationship with his father. Growing up in the shadow of the brilliant barrister, who adored his garden and hated visitors, and whose blindness was never mentioned, th...

  • Rumpole for the Defence

    Rumpole

    Whether he is behind several pints of plong at Pommeroy's, or in front of a hostile jury at the Old Bailey, or under the nose of his wife Hilda at a cote' de chez Rumpole, Horace Rumpole is irascible, irreverent, and exceedingly lovable....

  • In Character

    The author's interviews in "The Sunday Times" command an enthusiastic following. Using his powers of cross-examination, and his playwright's ear for detail, he talks to such diverse personalities as Graham Greene, Mick Jagger, Enoch Powell and David ...

  • Paradise Postponed

    Ultraliberal clergyman Simeon Simcox, rector of the village of Rapstone Fanner, leaves his entire fortune to Leslie Titmuss, a social-climbing conservative politician. As Mortimer recounts the gossip and dastardly goings-on in Rapstone Fanner, he cre...



  • Famous Trials

  • The Trials of Rumpole

    Rumpole

    "

    ""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 sto...

  • Character Parts

  • Charade

    Its June 1944 in an English seaside resort and a shy young man has just joined an army film unit making a documentary about army training. While shooting a cliff-scaling exercise a sergeant plunges to his death. It seems like an accident, but the shy...

  • Rumpole's Last Case

    Rumpole

    Rumpole is on the again, with his taste for claret, his penchant for poetry, and his reputation for a good story. Several interesting cases of murder and suspicious doings pass through chambers, and Rumpole uses the refined taste of a garage mechanic...

  • Summer's Lease

    THE PERFECT SUMMER PLACE … AS CHARMING AS IT IS CHILLING The villa near a small Tuscan town is everything the Pargeter family could want for a three-week stay … complete with a pool, magnificent views, and “the world’s greatest small paint...

  • Like Men Betrayed

    It is the tale of Christopher Kennet, a respected solicitor and a private man, who discovers his son's involvement in a mysterious and possibly illegal manipulation of the funds of a longtime client. As the deal unfolds, both father and son discover ...

  • The Narrowing Stream

    Julia Swinton, faithful wife and mother of three young children, harbors a half-acknowledged desire for escape from the thousand obligations and tensions of family life. Then one day, the death of an unknown girl whose relationship with Julia's husba...

  • Rumpole and the Age of Miracles

    Rumpole

    SEVEN STORIES FEATURING THE IRRESPRESSIBLE HORACE RUMPOLE The lovable, irreverent, claret-swigging, Wordsworth-spouting criminal lawyer returns to the fray to fight new battles against injustice in Rumpole and the Age of Miracles. Rest assured tha...

  • Rumpole at the Bar

    Rumpole



  • Titmuss Regained

    Leslie Titmuss is the anti-hero of "Paradise Postponed", portrayed on screen by David Threlfall. In this novel, John Mortimer continues the rise of the complaisant Titmuss, now married to a second unpleasant wife....

  • Rumpole a La Carte

    Rumpole

    Horace Rumpole visits a snooty restaurant and engages in a battle of wills over his adored mashed spuds, takes the unaccustomed role of prosecutor, and confronts a detective novelist. Reprint. TV tie-in....

  • The Rapstone Chronicles

    Charts the rise of the odious arch-Tory Leslie Titmuss from his days as an unpopular schoolboy to his success as the pragmatic and self-seeking Secretary of State. The author also wrote "Paradise Postponed" and "Titmuss Regained"....

  • Murder at Christmas: and Other Stories

    This unique anthology of 12 compelling mysteries of Christmas and murder spotlights well-known, bestselling mystery writers such as John Mortimer, James Powell, Alice Scanlan Reach, Julian Symons, Georges Simenon, and others. Perfect for mystery fans...

  • Great Law & Order Stories

    The creator of the irrepressible barrister-sleuth, Rumpole of the Old Bailey, presents a superb collection of classic tales of mystery and suspense. With stories by such authors as P.D. James and Charles Dickens, Conan Doyle and Raymond Chandler, Edg...

  • Dunster

    A brilliant new novel from the author of the bestselling Paradise Postponed and the Rumpole stories. Philip Progmire once wanted to become an actor but now labors as an accountant for Megapolis Television. His friend and nemesis is Dick Dunster, a co...

  • Rumpole and the Golden Thread

    Rumpole

    This collection includes "Rumpole and the Genuine Article", "Rumpole and the Golden Thread", "Rumpole and the Old Boy Net", "Rumpole and the Female of the Species", "Rumpole and the Sporting Life" and "Rumpole and the Last Resort"....

  • Rumpole on Trial

    Rumpole

    The most beloved barrister ever to sway a jury - or savor a claret - is back on the case. With his passion for Wordsworth, his kindly disposition toward the underdog, and a nose that is equally sensitive to the whiff of wrongdoing and the bouquet of ...

  • Rumpole and the Judges Elbow

    Rumpole

    Rumpole defends Charles Hearthstoke against charges of keeping bawdy houses, in the form of his chain of massage parlors. The case has become quite a scandal since many customers were prominent members of the community and to Rumpole's astonishme...

  • Murderers and Other Friends

    Offering the wise and warm story of the second half of his life, a sequel to Clinging to the Wreckage, the creator of Rumpole reveals friendships with those from the worlds of theater, film, law, and politics. Tour....



  • Rumpole and the Younger Generation

    Rumpole

    The first-ever Rumpole story, introducing many of the characters and setting the scene for the whole series. In reminiscent mood, Horace Rumpole, barrister, looks back to his successful defence of 16-year-old Jim Timson, member of a large and industr...

  • Rumpole and the Angel of Death

    Rumpole

    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. Rumpole's delightful compatriots--the determined and politically correct Miz ...

  • Felix in the Underworld

    Once dubbed the "Chekhov of Coldsands-on-Sea," Felix Morsom has made a decent living writing sensitive, well-received novels of middle-class life in a seaside town. Though he was once a bestselling author short-listed for the Booker Prize, his life i...

  • Rumpole and the Man of God

    Rumpole

    Is the vicar a thief? It doesn't matter, the facts can't be used. Luckily, Rumpole's got other ways to sway a jury. Meanwhile, an old friend's fiancee is looking suspiciously familiar. But from where? Once more, John Mortimer lets Rumpole maintain hi...

  • The Sound of Trumpets

    The Sound of Trumpets is the third installment in The Rapstone Chronicles, and John Mortimer's social savvy dazzles once again. With the literary brilliance of Anthony Trollope and the savage wit of Christopher Buckley, Mortimer skewers political fri...

  • Rumpole Rests His Case

    Rumpole

    The comic, courageous, and corpulent Horace Rumpole reenters the fray in these seven fresh and funny stories in which the "great defender of muddled and sinful humanity" triumphs over the forces of prejudice and mean-mindedness while he tiptoes preca...

  • Naked Justice

  • Rumpole and the Primrose Path

    Rumpole

    With Rumpole Rests His Case, legions of fans welcomed back the curmudgeonly London barrister they had savored for years. In Rumpole and the Primrose Path's six new stories, Horace Rumpole, despite a heart attack that left him at death's door in the p...

  • Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders

    Rumpole

    The Rumpole renaissance continues to build, and now the beloved barrister's manyfollowers have a special reason to rejoice: a sensational full-length Rumpole novel that at last relates the oft-mentioned but never revealed story of Rumpole's first cas...

  • Quite Honestly

    Life couldn't be better for Lucinda Purefoy. She's got a steady boyfriend, a degree in social sciences from Manchester University, and the offer of a high-powered job in advertising. With all this good fortune, isn't it appropriate for her to give so...



  • Rumpole and the Reign of Terror

    Rumpole

    Just in case Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders gave fans the impression that the Great Defender was resting on his laurels, his new case sends him at full sail into our panicky new world. Rumpole is asked to defend a Pakistani doctor who has bee...

  • Rumpole Misbehaves

    Rumpole

    Anti-Social Behavior Orders, commonly known as ASBOs, are the New Labour government's pride and joy. 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 a...

  • A Rumpole Christmas

    Rumpole

    The first ever collection of Rumpole Christmas stories- just in time for the holidays A Rumpole Christmas is a collection of five holiday stories-never before published in book form- depicting the Old Bailey Hack at his lovable best. In "Rumpole a...

  • Forever Rumpole

    A wonderful collection, starring the world's most beloved barrister, including a fragment of a new Rumpole story. John Mortimer died in 2009, but will never be forgotten. While still a practicing barrister, Mortimer took up the pen, and the rest i...

  • Under the Hammer

    Maggie Perowne is head of Old Masters at Klinsky's auction house in London. Ben Glazier is an art expert. Ben, not as young as he was, is inescapably in love with Maggie, but she has an unfortunate taste for such dubious men as the Hooray Henry in...

  • The Collected Stories of Rumpole

    Horace Rumpole - witty, eloquent, dishevelled and cynical - is one of fiction's best-loved barristers-at-law. In these twenty classic tales, Rumpole battles through the Old Bailey, whether defending various members of an incompetent South London crim...

  • Rumpole at Christmas

    Rumpole isn't particularly fond of Christmas; 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...

  • The Anti-Social Behaviour of Horace Rumpole

    The delightfully unpredictable barrister, Horace Rumpole, returns for another adventure with the legal system. ASBOs may be the pride and joy of New Labour, but they don't cut much ice with Horace Rumpole. He takes the old-fashioned view that if a...

  • Rumpole and the Age for Retirement

    Leo McKern is Horace Rumpole! Here he reads about the life and trials of the eccentric barrister, famous for his inestimable knowledge of blood stains, blood groups and forgery by typewriter. Witty and cynical as ever, Horace Rumpole will once again ...

  • Nothing Is Secret

    Seeking independence from her family in Brewer Street, Soho, London in 1858, Elizabeth Susanna Browning responds to an advertisement placed by 'Zeta' in The Times newspaper. Within days, Elizabeth is appointed housekeeper to 'Zeta', a strange but cha...



  • Angel in the House

    Seeking independence from her family in Brewer Street, Soho, London in 1858, Elizabeth Susanna Browning responds to an advertisement placed by 'Zeta' in The Times newspaper. Within days, Elizabeth is appointed housekeeper to 'Zeta', a strange but cha...

  • Hock and Soda Water

  • Rumpole for the Prosecution

    • / Mystery
    • Buy Buy

  • The Summer of a Dormouse

    • / General Fiction
    • Buy Buy

    In this, the third installment of his memoirs, John Mortimer, best known as the creator of the Rumpole stories, describes what it is like to be seventy-seven years old but to feel like an eleven-year-old at heart. Though he suffers from the afflictio...

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

John Clifford Mortimer has published 53 books.

John Clifford Mortimer does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Hock and Soda Water, was published in October 2015.

The first book by John Clifford Mortimer, Rumpole of the Bailey, was published in February 1980.

Yes. John Clifford Mortimer has 1 series.
Author Series
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