Rumpole for the Defence
by John Mortimer; audiobook read by Bill Wallis (Bolinda, 2016)
originally “Regina v. Rumpole” (Allen Lane, 1981)
Seven further trials, adapted from the 1980 BBC Radio series (plus one Play for Today). Behind Rumpole’s cynical bluster and his numerous personal and professional setbacks, Mortimer offers up ingenious case studies in legal defence. Bill Wallis’s audiobook reading is superbly Rumpole-like.
The Red House Mystery
by A. A. Milne (Methuen, 1922); audiobook read by Bill Wallis (Bolinda, 2015)
Wodehouse without the humour. Milne takes some time to work his way into this murder mystery, almost as if he’s envisaging it as a play rather than a novel. A good read once it gets going, especially as performed by Bill Wallis.
The Trials of Rumpole
by John Mortimer (Penguin, 1981); audiobook read by Bill Wallis (Bolinda, 2014)
Rumpole continues in his oratorically pugilistic, poetic way to champion the virtues of impartial legal defence, winning when his clients are guilty and losing when they are innocent. The book has dated rather better than the show on which it was based.