Rumpole of the Bailey

The Rumpole of the Bailey Series, Book 1

By: John Mortimer

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Horace Rumpole, the irreverent, iconoclastic, claret-swilling, poetry-spouting barrister at law, is among the most beloved characters of English crime literature. He is not a particularly gifted attorney, nor is he particularly fond of the law by courts if it comes to that, but he’d rather be swinging at a case than bowing to his wife Hilda, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed.

In this first title of the popular series featuring Rumpole, all of the major characters who occupy the Rumpole stories make their introductions: the sneaky, slightly effeminate Erskine-Brown, the bumbling Guthrie Featherstone and various and sundry other lawyers and clerks whose lives weave in and out of these stories. These six stories include the "Younger Generation", the "Alternative Society", the "Honourable Member", the "Married Lady", the "Learned Friends", and the "Heavy Brigade".

It's legal: download more of Rumpole's cases.©1978 Advanpress, Ltd (P)1991 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Mortimer has created one of the legendary fictional detectives…a barrister [who’s] as much a detective as Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot.” ( Boston Sunday Globe)

standard Rumpole

Guthrie Featherstone for the prosecution, judge bullingham thundering from the bench, and Nick visiting from Baltimore to watch his daddy defend the Timpson clan from the workings of British justice.

Overall wonderful!

I can listen to these stories over and over again! Rumpole is such a character and Davidson’s reading just seems to capture him perfectly.

Fun Read

Not my usual but very entertaining, light read. Performance Excellent. It was a refreshing change of pace.

Very well read, and very funny

John Mortimer wrote excellent, very engaging stories. The characters are well drawn. Fredrick Davidson is an exceptional narrator.

Briefs, Bowlers, Barristers and Wordsworth....

An Absolute delight. The Narrator is a vocal caricaturist of infinite range; a transcendental genius.