Mortimer has created one of the legendary fictional detectives . . . a barrister [who's] as much a detective as Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot. -- The Boston Sunday Globe

Wonderfully amusing . . . full of pithy writing . . . witty and opinionated. -- The Wall Street Journal

The Rumpole novels have garnered legions of fans who show no sign of abandoning their favorite curmudgeonly British barrister. Now in Rumpole Misbehaves, our hero takes on nothing less than the New Labour government when their ridiculous new Anti- Social Behavior Orders land a Timson child in front of the bench for playing soccer on a posh London street. However, Rumpole quickly discovers that the complainant is hiding some nefarious secrets of her own. As he investigates the murder of a prostitute with links to white slavery and unscrupulous dealings in a government department, Rumpole must also wrangle with his fellow barristers as they threaten him with an ASBO for bringing food, wine, and small cigars into his room in chambers.

Of the late Sir John Mortimer's many beloved characters, Horace Rumpole is widely considered his greatest fictional creation. Here, collected in book form for the first time, are five delightful tales that capture the beleaguered barrister at his grumpy yet warm-hearted best.

Rumpole isn't particularly fond of Christmas Day--he finds it has a horrible habit of dragging on as She Who Must Be Obeyed leads him through the usual rituals. But at least the criminal fraternity rarely takes a holiday. Whether it's a suspicious Father Christmas or an unseasonably nasty murder trial, there's always something wonderfully unlawful to liven up Rumpole's dull holiday plans.

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.

With wit and style, Mr. Mortimer takes you from his unusual childhood (his father, a blind barrister, insisted that his wife read the sordid details of his divorce briefs in public) to the dilemmas of his life as a barrister (one of his clients indignantly declared, Your Mr. Rumpole could have gotten me out of this, why the hell can't you!).

Filled with laughter and a sense of the absurd, Clinging to the Wreckage makes it clear why John Mortimer has been called Noel Coward, P. G. Wodehouse, and Evelyn Waugh rolled into one.

Fans of John Mortimer and his popular Rumpole mysteries will love Quite Honestly, a comedy filled with a delightful cast of characters and Mortimer's unique and entertaining take on a life of crime. Life couldn't be better for Lucinda Purefoy--college educated, with a steady boyfriend and a job offer in advertising. With all this good fortune, isn't it appropriate for her to give something back to society? Armed with only good intentions, she joins Social Carers, Reformers and Praeceptors (SCRAP, for short), a misguided organization that recruits women to becomes guides, philosophers, and friends to ex-convicts coming out of prison. Once she meets her charge, Terry Keegan, the ensuing hilarity and mishaps produce a signature Mortimer tale, full of wit and surprise.

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