The venerable Rumpole has been “back in the harness” a good three years since his abortive retirement to Florida, and with the exception of a deplorable decrease in crime of late, he is glorying in the mushroom pie, rainy day life of the Old bailey.

Included in this production are these stories: Rumpole and the Genuine Article—Rumpole discovers the true motives behind a third-rate artist’s happy indictment for forgery; Rumpole and the Golden Thread—Rumpole travels to Africa to defend a former student accused of political murder; Rumpole and the Old Boy Net—a new twist on “honor among thieves” when Rumpole defends the owners of a house of ill repute; Rumpole and the Female of the Species—Tony Timson, of a large family of South London villains, has gotten himself into another predictable pack of trouble; Rumpole and the Sporting Life—dragged against his will to the yearly Bar Races, Rumpole finds a good deal more to interest him in several bottles of plonk … and murder; Rumpole and the Last Resort—Rumpole goes to extravagant lengths to collect on a bill.