Rumpole book 1 · 1978
Rumpole of the Bailey
Stories of Horace Rumpole, a defence barrister at the Old Bailey, and the clients, judges and colleagues he deals with.
Spoiler-free summary written for The Recurring Cast.
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Book facts
- Author
- John Mortimer
- Series
- Rumpole, book 1 of 16
- Published
- 1978
- Setting
- Set in London
- Story order
- Book 2 by the story’s timeline
- Characters charted
- 5
- Chart confidence
- High
In story order: after Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders and before The Trials of Rumpole.
Who is in Rumpole of the Bailey
5 recurring or key characters from John Mortimer’s chart. Introduces Horace Rumpole, Hilda Rumpole, Guthrie Featherstone, Claude Erskine-Brown and 1 more.
Lead 1
- Horace RumpoleFirst appearanceOld Bailey defence barrister
Major 1
- Hilda RumpoleFirst appearanceHis formidable wife, She Who Must Be Obeyed
Minor and cameo 3
- Guthrie FeatherstoneFirst appearanceHead of chambers, later a judge
- Claude Erskine-BrownFirst appearanceOpera-loving barrister in chambers
- Phyllida TrantFirst appearanceYoung barrister, later Erskine-Brown's wife
Also featuring these characters
Other John Mortimer books that share the most characters with Rumpole of the Bailey.
- Rumpole's Return1980 · Rumpole · 5 shared charactersBuy on Amazon
- Rumpole for the Defence1982 · Rumpole · 5 shared charactersBuy on Amazon
- Rumpole and the Golden Thread1983 · Rumpole · 5 shared charactersBuy on Amazon
- Rumpole's Last Case1987 · Rumpole · 5 shared charactersBuy on Amazon