John Mortimer. Rumpole on Trial (1992)

     John Mortimer. Rumpole on Trial (1992) Seven stories, all beautifully plotted, all starring Rumpole as narrator and hero. I like these stories, they feed my cynicism while entertaining me with witty writing, and scads of poetic justice, the only kind we are ever likely to find, as the justice system is neither a system nor concerned with justice.

     The title story ends the collection. Rumpole, suffering from toothache, says a few things to the judge that he had better not say, at least not for the record. Claude Erskine-Brown, prosecuting, overhears Rumpole’s apparent interview with his witness, who has not yet finished his testimony. Claude lodges a complaint, hence the trial before the Benchers. Mizz Liz Probert, junior defending counsel, winkles out the crucial fact that Rumpole was talking to his dentist, a fact Claude did not know since he hadn’t actually seen Rumpole speaking, merely overheard him. Thus, Rumpole’s plans to be retired from the bar come to nothing, and he must continue to seek briefs and interesting murders as he has done all his life. **** (2003)