Interviews
A Letter from John Mortimer
Dear Reader:
The joy of mystery or detective novels is that they have to tell a story, they have to surprise readers and, in the end, they have to offer explanations for the bewildering problems of life. Rumpole, a well-seasoned, eccentric criminal barrister, is also a detective, a defender of our human rights, and, I hope, an endearing comic character. I love writing him because by now he seems practically to speak for himself. He has been a great friend to me and I don't think he'll die before I do.
The Penge Bungalow Murders is the first full-length Rumpole novel; until now, he has only appeared in short stories and on television. He has always talked of the Penge Bungalow case that he won "alone and without a leader." But that story, like Sherlock Holmes's case The Giant Rat of Sumatra, has never been told before.
Now it is told, as Rumpole remembers his youth. In the course of that, he also remembers the cunning way in which he was steered into marriage by his formidable wife, Hilda, always known to him as "She Who Must Be Obeyed." I think this book is a good introduction for new readers of Rumpole. They can meet him here in both his maturity and in his ambitious youth. It also has much to offer seasoned Rumpole readers, who will finally learn why the Penge Bungalow case was so important to Rumpole, both in the Old Bailey and at home with "She Who Must…"
Has Rumpole changed over the years? Of course! He has become more experienced, more confident in court, better at laughing at and making jokes about pompous judges and serious barristers. But I think his courage, his tolerance, his passionate belief in human rights and true justice have always been with him -- certainly ever since he won the Penge Bungalow murder case alone and without a leader.
Writing The Penge Bungalow Murders, I had to remember our society in the '50s, just after World War II. Many things were changing, but we still imprisoned homosexuals and we still had the death penalty. So, in defending Simon Jerold on the charge of shooting his ex-RAF officer father, Rumpole was fighting for his client's life, which hasn't been the case in any of his more recent murder trials.
It's a real pleasure for me to hear from readers, or to go out on book tours and meet readers whom I hope I've given pleasure and entertainment. It gives me the strength and confidence to go back to the lonely job of telling stories, luring readers into turning the pages to find out what's going to happen next, and to think about the mysteries of life and, I hope, to sometimes laugh.
Regards,
John Mortimer