Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
John Mortimer's bestselling barrister is back, in his most timely case yet
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 been imprisoned without charge or trial on suspicion of aiding Al Qaeda. Meanwhile, on the home front, She Who Must Be Obeyed is threatening to share her intimate view of her husband in a tell-all memoir. The result is Rumpole at his most ironic and indomitable, and John Mortimer at his most entertaining.
Synopsis
John Mortimer's bestselling barrister is back, in his most timely case yet
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 been imprisoned without charge or trial on suspicion of aiding Al Qaeda. Meanwhile, on the home front, She Who Must Be Obeyed is threatening to share her intimate view of her husband in a tell-all memoir. The result is Rumpole at his most ironic and indomitable, and John Mortimer at his most entertaining.
Publishers Weekly
Mortimer's curmudgeonly barrister, Horace Rumpole, defends a Pakistani doctor accused of aiding al-Qaeda in an up-to-date tale that pits Rumpole against those who use the terrorist threat as an excuse to subvert the British legal system. When Mahmood Khan, who loves the queen, roast beef and cricket as much as any respectable Englishman, is imprisoned on vague charges, Rumpole must use all his wiles including blackmailing the odious home secretary to ensure a fair trial. Meanwhile, wife Hilda (aka "She Who Must Be Obeyed"), as revealed in extracts from the memoirs she's secretly writing, has been flirting with Judge Leonard "Mad Bull" Bullingham, her husband's courtroom nemesis, who winds up presiding in the case against Dr. Khan. If luck as much as clever sleuthing figures into Rumpole's ultimate triumph, this daringly topical entry in Mortimer's cherished series shows that the 83-year-old author remains as skilled as ever at delivering an entertaining mystery. (Nov.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewEighty-three-year-old barrister turned author John Mortimer is back with another installment in his popular mystery series featuring the rotund London criminal lawyer Horace Rumpole. In Rumpole and the Reign of Terror, the grumpy barrister is faced with his most difficult -- and timely -- case to date: defending a Pakistani doctor accused of being a terrorist.
Always ready to defend a liberal cause, Rumpole gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to represent Mahmood Khan, who has been living in England for most of his life. When Khan, a respected doctor who obviously loves his adopted homeland -- he respects the royal family, regularly eats roast beef, and cares deeply about cricket -- is thrown in jail despite the absence of explicit charges, Rumpole rushes to his defense. But with the entire legal system, a fearful populace, and Rumpole's wife, Hilda (a.k.a. She Who Must Be Obeyed), all ready to toss the alleged al-Qaeda operative in prison for life and throw away the key, Rumpole finds himself utterly alone in his fight for justice. To complicate matters, the neglected Hilda becomes the object of infatuation of none other than Justice Leonard "Mad Bull" Bullingham, the judge presiding over Khan's trial…
Fans of the extensive Rumpole franchise -- the long-running BBC television series, the radio shows, the short story collections, etc. -- will be pleasantly surprised by Mortimer's second full-length Rumpole novel (after 2004's Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murder), which tackles touchy themes (racial and religious prejudice, excessive government anti-terrorism initiatives, etc.) with understated wit, panache, and class. Paul Goat Allen