The only thing new here is the fragment of a story Mortimer was working on when he died in 2009. The rest of the collection is made up of the seven stories Mortimer most enjoyed writing and seven selected by others. I'd read all these stories (except the fragment) at least once before but that didn't stop me from enjoying them again. My favorites usually involve Rumple dealing with fellow barrister, Claude Erskine-Brown, or outsmarting Sam Ballard, the head of chambers. And of course, the courtroom scenes and Rumpole's wife Hilda ("she who must be obeyed") are delightful. Anyone familiar with Rumpole from the PBS shows can't help but picture Rumpole in the way he was played by Leo McKern when reading these stories. Reading this almost made me long for a glass of "Chateau Thames Embankment."
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