Rumpole of the Bailey Audiobook By John Mortimer cover art

Rumpole of the Bailey

The Rumpole of the Bailey Series, Book 1

Preview
Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

Rumpole of the Bailey

By: John Mortimer
Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $14.58

Buy for $14.58

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Horace Rumpole, the irreverent, iconoclastic, claret-swilling, poetry-spouting barrister at law, is among the most beloved characters of English crime literature. He is not a particularly gifted attorney, nor is he particularly fond of the law by courts if it comes to that, but he’d rather be swinging at a case than bowing to his wife Hilda, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed.

In this first title of the popular series featuring Rumpole, all of the major characters who occupy the Rumpole stories make their introductions: the sneaky, slightly effeminate Erskine-Brown, the bumbling Guthrie Featherstone and various and sundry other lawyers and clerks whose lives weave in and out of these stories. These six stories include the "Younger Generation", the "Alternative Society", the "Honourable Member", the "Married Lady", the "Learned Friends", and the "Heavy Brigade".

It's legal: download more of Rumpole's cases.©1978 Advanpress, Ltd (P)1991 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Legal Mystery Thriller & Suspense Thriller Fiction
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup

Critic reviews

“Mortimer has created one of the legendary fictional detectives…a barrister [who’s] as much a detective as Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot.” ( Boston Sunday Globe)
Engaging Stories • Excellent Writing • Exceptional Narrator • Amusing Tales • Replayable Content • Historical Depth
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
Guthrie Featherstone for the prosecution, judge bullingham thundering from the bench, and Nick visiting from Baltimore to watch his daddy defend the Timpson clan from the workings of British justice.

standard Rumpole

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Not my usual but very entertaining, light read. Performance Excellent. It was a refreshing change of pace.

Fun Read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I can listen to these stories over and over again! Rumpole is such a character and Davidson’s reading just seems to capture him perfectly.

Overall wonderful!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

An Absolute delight. The Narrator is a vocal caricaturist of infinite range; a transcendental genius.

Briefs, Bowlers, Barristers and Wordsworth....

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

John Mortimer wrote excellent, very engaging stories. The characters are well drawn. Fredrick Davidson is an exceptional narrator.

Very well read, and very funny

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Rumpole is not always likable, not often successful , at least according to his colleagues, but he has a sense of humor and you, as a reader, root for him.
This book covers quite a long swath of history as lived by the main characters and that is interesting. The crimes described are not particularly complicated. The trial process and the related human interactions is what is important here.
The voice actor is very good. He brought the story to life.

Rambling and irreverent, Rumpole captures you

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

in addition to a good story, the narrator is what prompts me to make a final choice when purchasing an audio. this one has it all!! when you love a story, you never want it to end so i tend to love series. i always loved reading even as a child. sadly as we grow older responsilbities to life seem to overtake the things we loved as a child. as a crafter my hands are always kept busy. so in writing my first review of my first audiobook ever, i am also writing a review about audible. hands down am so happy to discover all that you have to offer!!
my experience with you has opened up a whole new world for me. better yet you make it so easy. the entire site is so user friendly and i thank you from the bottom of my heart. i have already recommended audible to some of my friends and would recommend you to anybody. thank-you, thank-you, thank-you. sincerely, cheryl

rumpole of the bailey series, book 1

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Both the stories and performance are wonderful. Rumpole is a very likable, though challenging man. He's brought out marvelously by the narrator.

Absolutely great stories

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

tend at times to distract from his performance. Nothing that can't be tolerated, but when someone reads so well the production should support it. I'm a Rumpole fan so of course, loved the story.

Davidson is magnificent, but audio problems...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I heard good things about Rumpole, so I thought I'd take a listen to this audiobook. I quit after the second chapter because it ended up being a bit too snobby and critical for my taste. That said, this work is very erudite, and the wordsmithery is impressive. The narration is top-notch, both in terms of performance and mastering. However, the main character's cynicism and critical nature ended up being too grating for me, but I suspect that those who like sardonic, sarcastic humor will enjoy this.

Not my cup of tea

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews