Audio Books : Mystery and Suspense : Other quality : English
All recordings are unabridged Mono CBR Fraunhofer MP3 at either 48 kbps/44 kHz or 32 kbps/22 kHz and most are of CD quality,
except #6 and #8 which are only available from cassette tapes. All these titles are narrations, not dramatisations.
The narrators include - Bill Wallis, Timothy West, Tony Britton, Ron Inglis, Patrick Tull and Robert Hardy.
( Bill Wallis is my favorite Rumpole narrator and reads 10 out of the 16 titles here. )
I have paid particular attention to narrators and have chosen the ones that I consider the best for each book,
but sometimes there was little choice due to narrator availability and/or sound quality! The cassette titles are quite rare.
The title numbering is by year of publication of the original book.



The immortal Rumpole - defender of our wilting faith in mankind.

#1. Rumpole of the Bailey [1978], read by Robert Hardy (32kbps / 22kHz )
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
Rumpole and the Heavy Brigade.

#2. The Trials of Rumpole [1979], read by Bill Wallis (48 kbps / 44 kHz)
Rumpole and the Man of God
Rumpole and the Showfolk
Rumpole and the Fascist Beast
Rumpole and the Case of Identity
Rumpole and the Course of True Love
Rumpole and the Age of Retirement

#3. Rumpole for the Defence [1982] , read by Bill Wallis (32 kbps / 22 kHz)
Rumpole and the Confession of Guilt
Rumpole and the Gentle Art of Blackmail
Rumpole and the Dear Departed
Rumpole and the Rotten Apple
Rumpole and the Expert Witness
Rumpole and the Spirit of Christmas
Rumpole and the Boat People

#4. Rumpole's Return [1982], read by Robert Hardy (48 kbps / 44 kHz) Thanks to ADM
Horace Rumpole is supposedly enjoying his well-earned retirement basking in the Florida sunshine. But a colleague's casual request for advice on a difficult case sends him hurriedly back across the Atlantic.
Leaving retirement far behind the irreverent and claret-swilling Rumpole soon finds himself facing a fanatical religious cult, a mysterious letter written in blood and the Pornographer-in-Chief to the fair town of Grimble.

#5. Rumpole And the Golden Thread [1983], read by Bill Wallis (32 kbps / 22 kHz)
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
Rumpole and the Last Resort

#6. Rumpole's Last Case [1987], read by Bill Wallis, Cassettes (48 kbps / 44 kHz ) Thanks to Phyl
Rumpole and the Blind Tasting
Rumpole and the Old Old Story
Rumpole and the Official Secret
Rumpole and the Judge's Elbow
Rumpole and the Bright Seraphim
Rumpole's Last Case

#7.Rumpole And the Age of Miracles [1988], read by Patrick Tull (48 kbps / 44 kHz) Thanks to ADM
Rumpole and the Bubble Reputation
Rumpole and the Barrow Boy
Rumpole and the Age of Miracles
Rumpole and the Tap End
Rumpole and the Chambers Party
Rumpole And Portia
Rumpole and the Quality Of Life

#8. Rumpole a La Carte [1990], read by Rob Inglis, Cassettes (32 kbps / 22 kHz)
Rumpole à la Carte
Rumpole and the Summer of Discontent
Rumpole and the Right to Silence
Rumpole at Sea
Rumpole and the Quacks
Rumpole for the Prosecution

#9. Rumpole On Trial [1992], read by Timothy West (48 kbps / 44 kHz)
Rumpole and the Children of Evil
Rumpole and the Eternal Triangle
Rumpole and the Miscarriage of Justice
Rumpole and the Family Pride
Rumpole and the Soothsayer
Rumpole and the Reform of Joby Jonson
Rumpole on Trial

#10. Rumpole And the Angel of Death [1995], read by Bill Wallis (48 kbps / 44 kHz) Thanks to Phyl
Rumpole and the Way Through the Woods
Rumpole and The Little Boy Lost
Rumpole and the Model Prisoner
Rumpole and the Rights of Man
Rumpole and the Angel of Death

#11. Rumpole Rests His Case [2001], read by Tony Britton (32 kbps / 22 kHz ) Thanks to ADM
Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces
Rumpole and the Remembrance of Things Past
Rumpole and the Asylum Seekers
Rumpole and the Camberwell Carrot
Rumpole and the Actor Laddie
Rumpole and the Teenage Werewolf
Rumpole Rests His Case

#12. Rumpole And the Primrose Path [2002], read by Bill Wallis (32 kbps / 22 kHz)
Rumpole and the Primrose Path
Rumpole and the New Year's Resolutions
Rumpole and the Right to Privacy
Rumpole and the Scales of Justice
Rumpole and the Vanishing Juror
Rumpole Redeems Himself

#13. Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders [2004], read by Bill Wallis (48 kbps / 44 kHz)
Throughout his long and distinguished career John Mortimer's most famous character Horace Rumpole has mentioned his early and crowning victory of the Penge Bungalow Murders. And now after all these years Rumpole has decided to write his memoirs and tell of his great victory. When two war heroes are found murdered in their nearby homes the son of one of them becomes the prime suspect. Everything looks bleak for the young man until fate decrees that his junior counsel should be a young untried lawyer Horace Rumpole. Rumpole's leader C.H. Wystan QC plans to involve himself as little as possible and lose with dignity. But if there is one thing that Rumpole is not about to do it is to lose with dignity. The main question is if the accused didn't commit the murder then who did? That is the question that Rumpole must answer if he is going to save the seemingly doomed young man. (KAJ)

#14. Rumpole and the Reign of Terror [2006], read by Bill Wallis (32 kbps / 22 kHz)
Justice isn't blind - it's just a little short sighted and weak around the knees, A Rumpole novel which takes on New Labour and the Timson family and includes extracts from the memoirs of Hilda Rumpole aka 'She Who Must Be Obeyed'. Tiffany Timson's new husband Mahmoud Khan is arrested on suspicion of terrorism. Rumpole is frustrated in his defence campaign by New Labour laws that render the British legal system a farce - defending a suspected terrorist proves a tricky task even for the great defender. He insists upon a fair trial and his fight for justice brings him into confrontation not only with Hilda but also with the leaders of New Labour.

#15. The Anti-social Beaviour of Horace Rumpole [2008], read by Bill Wallis (48 kbps / 44 kHz)
ASBOs (Anti-Social Behaviour Orders) 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 anyone is going to be threatened with a restriction of their liberty then some form of legal proceeding ought to be gone through first. Not that Hilda agrees of course but she's too busy completing her memoirs to dissuade him from taking an interest when one of the Timson children is given an ASBO for playing football in the street. And pretty soon he realizes something fishy is going on. Why are the residents pursuing their vendetta against the Timson boy quite so strongly? Could they have a sinister reason for not wanting him on their street? John Mortimer's delightful new Rumpole novel sees the magician of the Old Bailey and Pommeroy's Wine Bar at his implacable best as he defends our ancient freedoms even as he remains uneasy about what it is exactly Hilda is writing!

#16. Rumpole at Christmas [2010], read by Bill Wallis (48 kbps / 44 kHz)
Pantos puds and a Father Christmas who isn't quite what he seems to be Rumpole isn't particularly fond of Christmas - time has a horrible habit of hanging heavily on the hands as the usual rituals are observed: exchanging presents with She Who Must Be Obeyed (a tie for him; lavender water for her) before settling down round the fire at Froxbury Mansions for a traditional turkey with all the trimmings and a bottle of Chateau Thames Embankment then the Queen's Speech and a glass of port. But at least the criminal fraternity never rests and many is the time Rumpole's 'celebrations' have been rudely interrupted. In these seven Christmas stories previously published only in magazines the call of justice (and a bit of excitement) leads Rumpole as far afield as a health farm in Norfolk and as near to home as a pantomime at the Tufnell Park Empire.


This is a good article on John Mortimer :



Enjoy and Seed!!