Just in time for the holidays comes John Mortimer’s delightful A Rumpole Christmas. This slim collection contains “Rumpole and Father Christmas,” “Rumpole’s Slimmed-Down Christmas,” “Rumplole and the Boy,” “Rumpole and the Old Familiar Face,” and “Rumpole and the Christmas Break.” My favorite among this group was “Rumpole’s Slimmed-Down Christmas” where Rumpole’s wife Hilda (aka, She Who Must Be Obeyed) arranges for a stay at a health resort for the holidays. Of course, a murder changes everyone’s Christmas plans. If you haven’t read any Rumpole stories, this is a good place to start. If you’re a Rumpole fan, you’ll enjoy the holiday spirit in these wonderful stories. GRADE: B+
(This completes the final month of my 2010 Short Story Reading Challenge. I read and reviewed one short story collection per month in 2010. To find out more about the Short Story Reading Challenge, be sure to click: “http://theshortstorychallenge.blogspot.com/”>Short Story Reading Challenge.
Good choice. Your last Rumpole review made me check which ones I hadn’t read and, voila! This was one of them. I read it in May.
I thought I’d read all the Rumpoles, Jeff, until I found this one.
I have a few collections, in single paperback, but not this one. I’ve not read a Rumpole story that I wouldn’t give an “A” to, so I am curious why this collection gets a B+ instead of your highest grade. I wish I had this one in hand right now. Sigh.
These Christmas stories were written for various newspapers and periodicals, Rick. Although the stories are good, they are not great.
Is this the first book publication for all these stories, or a repackaging?
I’ve read one of the stories before in another Rumpole collection, Evan. The other Christmas stories seem to have been written for various British periodicals.
I wondered that too, Evan. I’ve got to believe this is a re-package.
The dates on the stories are from 2003-2007, Rick. At least one of these stories showed up in one of the Rumpole collections previously, but I think the other four are appearing in A RUMPOLE CHRISTMAS for the first time.
I think that’s right, George. One had been collected before but not the others.
Thanks for the confirmation, Jeff. A RUMPOLE CHRISTMAS is an enjoyable holiday collection.