Order of John Mortimer Books
Sir John Mortimer was an English lawyer and author who was best known for his Rumpole series of books. As a young man he had hopes of being an actor and then a writer, but his father encouraged him to get into the law. During his law career he worked in defense of many high profile obscenity cases including defending Gay News editor on charges of blasphemous libel and Virgin Records over their use of the work “bollocks” for the famous Sex Pistols album.
It was the barrister Horace Rumpole that was ultimately Mortimer’s greatest contribution. The character was created based on his father and debuted on BBC Play for Today played by Leo McKern. The short was such a success that it later became it’s own series.
Publication Order of Rumpole of the Bailey Books
| Rumpole of the Bailey | (1978) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole’s Return | (1980) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Trials of Rumpole | (1981) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Regina V. Rumpole | (1981) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole for the Defence | (1982) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole and the Golden Thread | (1983) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole for the Prosecution | (1986) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole's Last Case | (1988) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole and the Age of Miracles | (1989) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole and the Age for Retirement | (1989) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole a La Carte | (1991) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole on Trial | (1992) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Best of Rumpole | (1993) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole and the Younger Generation | (1995) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole and the Angel of Death | (1995) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole Rests His Case | (2002) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole and the Primrose Path | (2003) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders | (2004) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole and the Reign of Terror | (2006) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Anti-Social Behaviour of Horace Rumpole / Rumpole Misbehaves | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Rumpole at Christmas / A Rumpole Christmas | (2009) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Forever Rumpole | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Rapstone Chronicles Books
| Paradise Postponed | (1985) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Titmuss Regained Tie In | (1990) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Sound of Trumpets | (1998) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| Charade | (1947) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Like Men Betrayed | (1953) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Narrowing Stream | (1954) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Summer's Lease | (1985) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Dunster | (1992) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Felix In The Underworld | (1996) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Quite Honestly | (2005) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Chapbooks
| The Scales of Justice | (2005) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Plays
| A Voyage Round My Father. John Mortimer | (1971) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| The Fear Of Heaven | (1978) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Clinging to the Wreckage | (1982) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Character Parts | (1986) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Oxford Book of Villains | (1992) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Murderers and Other Friends | (1994) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Summer of a Dormouse | (2000) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Where There's a Will | (2003) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Zerah Colburn - Spirit of Darkness | (2005) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| In Other Words | (2008) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Anthologies
| Great Law and Order Stories | (1990) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Death Cruise: Crime Stories on the Open Seas | (1999) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Fanfare: Fourteen Stories on a Musical Theme | (1999) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Murder Most Merry | (2002) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Midsummer Nights | (2009) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| A Christmas Anthology | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
If You Like John Mortimer Books, You’ll Love…
Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders is a full-length novel that tells the long-awaited story of Rumpole’s first case. A an is accused of murdering his father and his father’s friend with a pistol taken from a dead German pilot. This is the case and trial that put Rumpole on the map and helped shape him into the barrister that he would become. This book is considered a great jumping on point for new readers as well as a must-read story for fans of the classic character.
The character of Rumpole is very much of his era, but that idea was thrown for a loop in Rumpole and the Reign of Terror as he is given a very modern case in our new world. He is asked to defend a Pakistani doctor who has been imprisoned for suspicion of aiding Al Qaeda. The man has not been charged or put on trial and it is up to Rumpole to set things right. Meanwhile, his wife is causing him some problems as well as she threatens to write a tell-all memoir.