Windsor Books

This book is hard to put down.If you were raised in the world of the CRC the content can be disturbing but it touches on issues that should be addressed and delt with. It's time to pull our heads out of the sand and this book uses perfect examples of what the leaders of the CRC have been side stepping for too long.

Daniel Plasman does a wonderful job of thoughtfully exposing the complex nature of religious hatred. He brilliantly unmasks the rampent hypocracy that exists throughout mainstream American religion. Additionally, he shows the human toll that this hatred can exact. This book is a page turner with a heart -- one which should be read throughout the heartland and into the city.

In a world where hate crimes occur on a daily basis, people need to read and discuss this book and the topics found within it. I found the book to be a hard-hitting emotional account that touched me deeply. I think members of the religious right, gays and lesbians, parents and friends of gays and lesbians and members of the general public will not be able to put it down. This captivating account of two ministers caught up in religious persecution and a fatal misunderstanding must be read.

This is a very well written book for a first time author. The characters are well developed and by the end of the book you feel you know them on a very personal level. There are suprises at every turn and Plasman teaches such a wonderful and long overdo morality lesson to his readers. The thing I liked best about this book is how Plasman humanized the main characters, who are ministers, so well. These characters, who are figureheads of their community, make some shocking choices that many would not dare to believe possible. This book is a wonderful, fast-paced read.

Simenon's Chief Inspector Maigret never fails to take me to Paris, to enfold me into the city's daily life and the problems of solving a crime. This is accomplished by an economy of language that somehow includes all the details necessary to create a lucid scene.

This novel begins on a rainy night when Maigret accompanies his doctor friend on an amergency call: a man has been stabbed on a nearby sidewalk. It is no ordinary victim. He is the young son of a wealthy perfume manufacturer. The victim's hobby is secretly taping conversations wherever he goes. It is a pastime that proved fatal--or did it?

Maigret's investigation takes him to cafes and brasseries, from the wealthy to the poor, and piece by piece he solves the crime. Or, perhaps, it should be said that Maigret lets the killer play out and solve the case on his own. In either case it is the journey, not the solution, that ntrigues. There are the sights, and sounds, and smells of Paris. As usual, Maigret chats with his wife, goes to movies, and pauses often to have a beer or wine and to reflect on what he has uncovered to date.

Any lover of crime fiction who has not yet discovered Georges Simenon should do so immediately. Like Arthur Conan Doyle, he is one of the best, not just of crime fiction but of fiction writing in general.

The Maigrets ate on a monthly basis with Dr. Pardon and his wife. Dr. Pardon complained that medical doctors were being changed into clerks because of all of the paperwork required of them. Superintendent Maigret and Dr. Pardon went out to see a young man lying in the street, a victim of stabbing. Maigret had become involved in the case involuntarily.

In reporting the death to the family, Maigret learned that the young man's parents were very rich. The father was a perfume manufacturer. The young man had had few friends. He had an unusual hobby, recording conversations. The tape recorder was recovered.

Maigret called in Janvier. The importance given to the case by the press was surprising to both police officers. A description of the assailant was obtained. Maigret called upon his other two favorites, Lucas and Lapointe, to help with the case.

The young man had identified the places where he had made recordings. The police officers followed in his footsteps. Maigret had known professional criminals well, but he had never been that interested in them. It had all seemed like a game somehow.

On a stakeout four men, presumed art thieves, are arrested. Seemingly the young man doing the recording had stumbled upon a criminal plot. The killer called Maigret. He was a man who had crossed a barrier. It was a matter of diminished responsiblity. The tale is taut, lucid.

When Maigret meets a serial killer, it's a dramatic face to face and, as usually, Maigret can understand why the killer acts in such an horrible way. Maigret don't excuse the killer but can understand. Like said Simenon : "Understand but not judge".

This is one of my very favorite Simenon novels; superbly paced and brilliant characterizations.

This simple and old-fashioned mystery was a pleasant surprise. There was nothing flashy, or garish, or over-the top about it - a straightforward police whodunit. Some readers might find this a trifle boring - we've gotten so used to multiple storylines and side-stories that it's a little hard to switch gears and wind down to something so basic, but it's worth it. Reminds one of simpler times, and harkens back to the days of Agatha Christie (Poirot, though, not Marple).

It's not precisely a solve-it-yourself, but it does give you plenty of food for thought. Even though it's a very short book, the characters are well-written and interesting, giving you even more incentive to at least try to decipher the ending. It's possible, but I think it's more luck than skill if you figure it out. Granted, there are none of the dizzying twists and turns of more 'modern' mysteries, no technology or romance, but it's still very much worth reading for any true mystery fan.

This is one of those rare detective novels with an excellent plot, well-defined characters, great atmosphere, and in a language without a wasted word. Only Ed McBain, among American detective fiction in the police procedural sub-genre, is a rival.

Chief Inspector Maigret is not hard boiled, no tough talking cop, nor is he exceptionally perceptive or brilliant. He just attaches himself to the case and plods relentlessly. Here a tiny, 86-year old widow is murdered, after complaining to the police that her apartment has been very slightly disturbed several times while she was shopping or sitting in the park. No one in authority pays much attention to her until after she is strangled. Why would someone kill such a harmless person? She has no valuable jewelry, no cache of money. Maigret must find the motive and the killer with meager clues.

Perhaps the most impressive element of this and other Simenon novels is the economy of language, albeit in translation from the French. There is plenty of detail but without wasting a word. The Simenon books should be studied by crime writers for the narrative technique alone.

This is a thoughtful well-plotted mystery. The author does a fine job portrayng Maigret, the other detectives, the victim (an elderly lady), her niece and her niece's son. The writing is simple and easy to understand. Simemon does not waste words but he brings the characters to life. The reader will be kept guessing until the end of the book.

Imagine drinking a glass of Calvados. The title is ambiguous. She was a tiny woman insisting upon seeing Chief Inspector Maigret personally. Madame Antoine, aged, having lived in her apartment for a long time, reported that her things had been moved. There is only the key she keeps in her bag. A niece and her son are her only relatives. She is pefectly aware that a young person might consider her mad. The concierge says she is very much like any other old person living by herself. Her clear gray eyes make an impression on Maigret. Then she is murdered, suffocated, and an investigation ensues. The police search and question, after all this is a police procedural. Maigret discovers that the victim had practiced twenty five years of thrift. A character named Le Grand Marcel is brought into the picture.

The fineness of the writing (translated?) transcends the genre. Picking up a Maigret novel is a matter of dealing in a brand name consumer good. One is never disappointed. The storytelling is simple, classical, felicitous. Simenon used masterful economy in his art. The short bursts of information create an almost Raymond Carverish style. One is transported to Paris in the Spring. Time spent in the company of Maigret and his gifted inspectors Lapointe, Lucas, and Janvier is a pleasure.

Make a Windsor Chair (A Fine Woodworking Book) For amateur or advanced woodworkers this is THE book to have if you are aiming for a great Windsor chair. Michael Dunbar is widely, and justifiably, known as America's most well known Windsor chair craftsman. He has taken the best of his personal furniture making classes and boiled it all down into an easily followed, well illustrated guidebook. If this is your first or even tenth Windsor chair project you will find this book invaluable.

Excellent book dealing ONLY with the construction of the Windor chair. Dunbar takes the reader through the selection and riving of wood, adzing of the seat and turning of the chair legs, through to the finished construction of the chair. Dunbar also explains the construction of a steaming setup and jigs for the bending of wood(s). Dunbar runs a school on the making of Windors and this would be the textbook students use to learn Dunbar's methods. A "can't miss, no regrets" purchase.

Mike Dunbar has probably had more to do with the revival of hand made Windsor chairs using traditional tools and techniques than any other person in the U.S. and his book remains the best single guide to making such a chair. I purchased a copy eleven and a half years ago when I took my first class with Mike and when his book was still in print. I have never regretted the fifteen or twenty dollars it cost. Nonetheless it needs to be thoroughly revised and updated. Even Mike admits there are some serious errors in the book, and some of the techniques he and his students have developed since the book was first published will yield a better chair with considerably less effort. My advice would be to spend the six or seven hundred dollars to take one of his classes plus the cost of meals and a motel room for five days, take copious class notes, and then buy the book as a good reference work for subsequent chairs.

I not only have this book, I have made a chair in Mike's workshop in New Hampshire. Mike has been instrumental both through his writings and teachings in the recent revival of interest in the making of Windsor chairs by hand much as they were made hundreds of years ago. His book is my definitive resource for questions about Windsor chair construction when I am working in my shop. In this day and age where most of our furniture is mass produced by machines using wood composites and other man made materials it is refreshing to see how fine furniture was once (and in certain places still is) crafted directly from the forest with nothing but hand tools and the skilled hands of the chairwright

How could anyone who loves to read resist a book by someone named Miss Read? I discovered Miss Read last year in a Christmas display at the library and have now read ten of her books. Miss Read is the kind of writer you want to read lying in a hammock on a summer day or wrapped in an afghan on a winter evening or in the spring or fall when the sun is making patterns on your wallpaper.

There are no dysfunctional people among Miss Read's characters, no sex, and no crime. But these omissions do not make Miss Read's stories sappy or sentimental. Miss Read's characters are ordinary people living ordinary lives, and they are delightful. Her stories are completely satisfying and full of simple pleasures. (This sounds disgusting, doesn't it?) But Miss Read has a bit of an edge that keeps her characters from becoming excessively sweet.

If you like Jan Karon, you may like Miss Read. I myself could not read Jan Karon because she was too treacly.

This is another pleasant story of life in England by Miss Read. Her books are unique because she's able to take the reader into a world, where life seems ordinary, but somehow, totally interesting.

Miriam Quinn has never married. She's a kind, but unsentimental lady. By today's standards, she's still young, but fifty years ago she would have been called an old maid! She's an efficient office manger and has a well ordered life that she enjoys. Her plans to spend a quiet and unadorned Christmas holiday painting her new home are abruptly interrupted. Her brother, a minister with a busy schedule calls upon her to come and help out his family. His wife is in the hospital and he needs someone to care for his two children.

Her winter holiday turns out to be filled with her duties as chief cook, housekeeper and substitute mother for her two nieces. She meets the challenge, but gains new respect for her sister-in-law when she realizes the amount of work that a young mother has to do. Miriam also makes a wonderful Christmas for everyone and meets an old friend from her past.

I enjoyed reading about some of the English Christmas traditions and recommend this story for a cozy Christmas read.

This is one of those genteel, easy-going books that you can read leisurely while on vacation, on a rainy night, or anytime you just need a good escape. It has a gentle pastoralism ("Beech Green...is extremely pretty, with flower-studded banks or wide grass verges, clumps of trees, and a goodly amount of hawthorn hedging") somewhat reminiscent of Kenneth Grahame's writing in "The Wind in The Willows." Although the pace is slow, and the excitement minimal, Miss Read retains your attention with her relaxing yet vigorous prose, her keen observations and precise descriptions, and her loving devotion to the English countryside and its inhabitants.

The characters and plot are somewhat predictable. Miss Quinn, a fastidious and introverted administrative assistant, rents a room in beautiful "Holly Lodge" from recently widowed Joan Benson. She hopes to settle there comfortably when she learns that her sister-in-law (of whom she is not especially fond) is in the hospital. Mrs. Miniver-like, Quinn rushes to the house and bravely takes on the house, the children, and her own prejudices about her sister-in-law. Despite her domestic triumphs and the briefly described attentions of a young man, she decides (perhaps prematurely, perhaps not) that "spinsterhood" (and no children) might best suit her temperament.

A feminist tract this is not; in fact, it seems to have been written at least two generations ago. Therein lie its appeal and its flaws. Some readers may grow frustrated (or weary) with the lack of excitement, the old-fashioned treatment of the children (the author seems to imply that the children need a slap on the arm from Miss Quinn, even though the parents don't approve), as well as an unfortunate analogy with concentration camps. They may wish that Miss Read had slightly more modern sensibilities. Other readers will likely ignore this and delight in the carefully wrought little village that is so simply and beautifully rendered.

I have read this book more times than I can remember!Every Christmas I read it and it warms my heart. Miss Quinn drops all she has planned to care for her brother's family at the Christmas season and rediscovers her own child hood in the process. This is truely a lovely story and I would recommend it to anyone who has lost their christmas spirit.

This book wins on two fronts: it gives a fascinating insight into the development of Los Angeles at the end of the 19th Century, and the emergence of that brash new town, Hollywood; and it is also a great love story, centering first of all around the love of brothers Bud and Vincent van Vliet for Amelie Deane and then of Vincent's son Kingdon for Bud's daughter Tess. I read this book thirty years ago and still love it and re-read it. It is very well-written, the characters are all three-dimensional and I love the history of El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porcunciula (Los Angeles for short), with its railroads, its oil fields, it's Santa Ana winds, and its developing movie industry.

It hasn't dated one bit, and if you can get hold of a copy, grab it.

I actually haven't read this book in years, but it is one of my all time favorites. I love the historical background that the author uses- you get a real feel for Los Angeles as it was at the turn of the century. The characters are very real and have much depth. A great book for a couple of afternoons under a tree or at the beach. This book will stay with you for a long time after you read it.

It was actually several years ago I read this book - a friend of mine had just finished it and recommended it to me.

Prior to telling me about the context of the novel, she had noted several times: "I just finished reading this book the other day, and it has done nothing but perturb me ever since. For some reason I cannot stop thinking about it." It is books like the one she was then rather abstractly describing that pique my interest, so I asked if I could borrow her copy of it, for my own enjoyment (and judgment). I began reading it that afternoon while trying to pass the time at a local theatre rehearsal. Needless to say I was absorbed - the prose was stunning! Poignant, written without regret; magnificently and sharply outlined by the dolorous contemplations of each character.

The plot of the book is vague in my mind. I remember some of the subplots very specifically, however, down to even the most intimate details. It is a love story, but one far too literary to be deemed simply a 'romance'. The novel itself takes place over the course of about three generations in the life of a California family. There is much tenderness and brilliance present - it is ultimately a clever book with a tragic ending. I would like to read it once again, and feel what I did the first time. It did not "perturb" me afterward like it did my friend, but it did leave a weighty impact.

I began to read this book 2 days ago and could not put it down. It is the story of the birth of a city, Los Angeles, which coincides with the settling of the area by two prominent families, the Deanes and the Van Vliets. Through marriage, these two families merge and produce adventurous men who gamble everything on risky business ventures and beautiful women. The Van Vliets take center stage, and the story follows the lives of two brothers, Bud and V3 (short for Vincente.) The older brother Bud is a confident, take-charge sort who intimidates his more introverted younger brother, V3. The younger man always feels that he is in his brother's shadow and so he constantly strives to match Bud in business and in love. This inevitably pits the two brothers against one another, and their sibling rivalry results in rash actions which have consequences on each succeeding generation of the family. The background setting of early Los Angeles is the perfect one for this epic novel, and the well-developed plot and characters make this 25-year-old book one which deserves to be rediscovered by today's readers.

This is the first book in Linda Windsor's Moonstruck Series and it's a winner. Caroline Spencer has agreed to chaperone her daughter Annie's class trip to Mexico. She is seated on the plane by Blaine Madison, whose daughter, Karen, is her daughter's best friend. He is also a Harrison Ford lookalike, and Caroline wants to make a good impression. Unfortunately, she is afraid of flying, and gets a major case of the hiccups. You can hear her all over the plane. She's sure Blaine is totally unimpressed.
Blaine and Caroline are thrown together constantly because of their daughters. Mexico and moonlight madness work their spell, but then the girls get caught up in a smuggling ring and suddenly the trip becomes a disaster.
LInda Windsor's characters are engaging, the humor is relaxed and natural, and there's plenty of page turning suspense. Paper Moon will leave the reader hungry for more. Fortunately, books two and three are available. So if you like exotic settings, humor and plenty of romantic suspense, check out Linda Windsor's Moonstruck Series. You'll be glad you did.

I thoroughly enjoyed Paper Moon. Linda Windsor has such a penchant for humor that you find yourself laughing out loud at the antics of Mrs. C, Annie, Karen, and Blaine. Any parent who has chaparoned a teen trip will relive some of the experiences through the situations Linda conceives for her characters. This is a delightful tale with so much good fun and a little bit of suspense thrown in for good measure. Paper Moon is a great read to take your mind off what ails you.

This read which happens to be the first in the "Moonstruck Series" deftly combines, suspense, romance, humor, and a strong spiritual message into a well rounded story that will have readers anticipating the next in the series.

Single parents Caroline Spencer, and Blaine Madison are both tackling to the best of their abilities of raising teenage daughters. When a on school trip to Mexico these two very different but damaged people find love but this new found love will be tested when their daughters are kidnapped. Will their faith in God, and in each other be strong enough to survive a parents worst nightmare?

Ms. Windsor has penned a very good character driven read. Caroline and Blaine are truly wonderful characters and her use of wit and humor helped to make them very real for the reader. These are not "perfect people" and as a result it was easy to see and believe that these two people were able to find love a second time around with each other. This is a read that I highly recommend you not miss.

Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com

Linda Windsor has a winner in "Paper Moon," Book One of the Moonstruck Series from WestBow Press.

Caroline Spencer is the divorced mother of 16 year-old Annie who, along with her best friend, Karen, want to take a school trip to Mexico. Naturally, they need chaperones, and Caroline joins them on the trip designed to promote family togetherness.

Blaine Madison barely makes the plane to join the school sponsored trip. Traveling with a group of Christian teenagers and their parents to Mexico makes Blaine feel uncomfortable. After all, he lost his faith in God after his wife died. But it will give him an opportunity to spend time with his daughter, Karen.

When he's seated next to Caroline on the plane, her natural humor has the stressed out Blaine smiling for the first time in ages. Then, the night of their arrival in Acapulco, the kids visit the disco club, Banditos, where no liquor is served. There his daughter Karen meets John Chandler, a senior at the University of California in Mexico City, and Blaine's parental instincts get into high gear. It's not only the difference in ages between his daughter and the college student that make him suspicious. There's something about John just doesn't sit right with him.

Unbeknownst to the travelers, John is involved in a ring of thieves who steal priceless stamp collections, meant to be sold abroad. John's goal is to find a naïve target: someone to mail the card carrying the stolen property from the States. Despite the rule of not accepting packages, Karen falls prey to John's request.

As the school group tours Mexico, Blaine finds himself turning to Caroline for help in understanding his daughter. The spiritual depth behind Caroline's words eases the guilt Blaine feels over the loss of his wife, and also helps bridge the gap between father and daughter. And Caroline finds herself attracted to the handsome, lonely widower. As the days pass, her attraction for Blaine continues to grow.

But when John discovers that Karen has lost the envelope he gave her, and then Karen and Annie disappear, Blaine blames Caroline. Caroline trusts in God to keep the girls safe. But is Blaine ready to give God - and Caroline - a second chance?

Linda Windsor has won numerous awards for her novels, including historical and contemporary romances, and after reading "Paper Moon," I can see why. "Paper Moon" is filled with adventure, suspense, marvelous humor and great sensitivity. To say I eagerly look forward to her next release is an understatement. This is definitely a not-to-be missed book!

If you enjoy the arts, colonial history,
Greek mythology, drama...it's in there...Keneally weaved all these teams brilliantly to create a masterpiece in my opinion.

I read this book seveal years ago, before Keneally's name became so widely known as a result of the success of Schindler's List (the movie). This book stands out in my memory for the great ability to transport us to a different time, place and way of thinking. I found it to have been very skillfully written. I subsequently read other books of his as a result of the pleasure derived from this one and was not disappointed.This book deserves to be more widely known.

The earliest days of Sydney, Australia, and the prison colony which was its first population center provide a dynamic setting for this ambitious, old-fashioned novel. With a broad scope, grand design, and sensitive treatment of universal themes, it has the weightiness of an epic, but is far more vigorous and more involving than that, with vivid, sympathetic characters who come fully to life.

Transported halfway around the world to a forbidding and alien landscape, men and women prisoners share their personal struggles, providing a vitality and emotional punch one does not often find in fiction. The reader soon discovers that the prisoners are not all that different, of course, from the civil servants and Marines who administer the colony--everyone in Port Jackson (Sydney) is a prisoner in some way or another, be it physical, spiritual, or emotional.

Lt. Ralph Clark's decision to produce George Farquhar's early 18th century comedy, The Recruiting Officer, with an all-prisoner cast leads to many emotional conflicts. Though the play provides the participants with a way to achieve a measure of dignity, they must still bow to the strictures of the colony off stage. Many prisoners wield cruel powers over other prisoners, while Marines and administrators exert power over both the prisoners and the aborigine inhabitants of the area. The restrictions imposed by the church, in the person of Rev. Dick Johnson, aggravate tensions by concentrating on rules of behavior rather than on the human soul.

Against this backdrop of the restrictions on their lives, Keneally's characters are set in high relief, their humanity contrasting sharply with the impersonal forms of government which are imposed upon them. Meticulously depicting 18th century England, its government, its penal system, and its social structure, along with early Australia, its first western inhabitants, the decimation of the aborigine population, and the social conflicts faced by its characters, this is one of Keneally's greatest novels, a timeless story based on real journals, stunning in its effect. Mary Whipple

This finely crafted work is one of Keneally's most notable. Portraying a man in an agony of moral conflict over his love for a woman convict yet constantly aware of the family left behind in England, The Playmaker addresses human feelings at many levels. Like so many of his books, Keneally has taken figures from history, weaving a plausible tale of the life they might have led. His examination of the mind and heart of Lieutenant Ralph Clark, during the early years of the Port Jackson [Sydney] prison colony, a is deeply moving account. Far from home, these exiled people face disturbing choices. Keneally compares the founders of the Sydney colony with space travellers, isolated in a dangerous situation with limited resources.

Clark's task is the staging of a play in celebration of the king's birthday. Assembling a cast from the convicts, he's confronted with a range of personalities from house maids to forgers. Keneally's research has dredged up backgrounds of these transported felons; the thieves' guild oath is a particularly fine touch. His real talent, however, is in presenting this material through his characters . Each of his figures projects a reality surpassing other writers of historical fiction. While his descriptive narrative may make modern allusions, none of his persona are dragged out of their original time frame. Ralph Clark is particularly well drawn. Keneally has a special talent for presenting us with an 18th Century man's feelings and aspirations as much as it's possible for us to know them.

That this book has been returned to the active sales list is a testament to its value. It should be read by more people. The 18th Century setting is less important than what Keneally has to say about people. Add this book to your shelves with confidence. It's worth more than a single read.

I love this book! It was made into a superb (and very, very spooky) mini-series by BBC starring Joanna Lumley as Jemima. I hope it gets released on DVD!

It's odd to note that Lady Antonia Fraser, famous for her historical biographies, decided to try writing mysteries as a lark; she turns out to be the best mystery writer I have read since Agatha Christie! Possibly that's because, unlike so many other mystery writers, she does not copy or imitate Christie, Doyle or the other old masters of the genre. Instead, in Jemima Shore, she has created a startlingly original character; one who does not resemble any literary detective of the past. Fraser is also great at characterization (one of Christie's weak points); her creations are vivid and frighteningly real. This is her first Jemima Shore novel; sadly, many of the others are out of print, but if you can find them, read them.

Antonia Fraser (better known to many for her historical novels) is a stellar mystery writer in the classical style. It's been twenty-some years since this mystery book was written, and it doesn't feel stale or dated to read. Jemima Shore is an interesting detective-- conflicted, maturing, and unsure of herself-- she makes an excellent vehicle for exploring a nunnery on the brink of change and for finding a murderer within its walls.

What a good and clever job of a book this is. Antonia Fraser, not surprisingly, writes fluently and well. A nun dies of anorexia, it would seem. There is not much support for the convent in the surrounding community. Convents are too austere, too strange for ordinary people to conceptualize in present day England.

It turns out that an old girl, Jemima Shore, a TV personality, an investigator of causes and outrages, is summoned to look into the matter of the death. The nun is her former classmate. Jemima attended school at the convent for two years during the war.

The dead nun was an heiress. She had ownership of the grounds on which the convent is situated. Through her untimely death, the convent gained the land. She had threatened to turn the property over to poor people. Jemima Shore's television program, unbeknownst to Jemima, had triggered a controversy over the property in the convent community.

Initially Jemima refuses to get involved. When a contemplated trip abroad falls apart, she reconsiders her decision. The number of deaths and inexplicable occurrences grow and Jemima Shore is compelled to enter labyrinths-- physical in terms of the convent lay-out, mental in terms of the minds and personalities of the inhabitants.

Rumpole stories are like getting in touch with old friends after you've read a few of them. There is no ficitional character like the curmudgeonly Old Bailey hack, and we get to see him in six more wonderful stories in this book. The stories are, of course, all excellent, but I always pick a favourite and in this one it's "Rumpole and the Female of the Species". Rumpole's dry wit and acerbic tongue is at its best in this story as he is defending one of his old Timson gang of criminals, as well as trying to get a young female barrister accepted into Chambers. These stories never get stale, and they are all little gems in their own right. I highly recomeend that those who love to read and to laugh read Mortimer's long selection of stories about Horace Rumpole.

I wish that these stories had been narrated by Leo McKern; after all, John Mortimer wrote his Rumpole stories with McKern in mind. But if he wasn't available to narrate them, then Patrick Tull is a more than adequate substitute (which brings up the question: who on earth is Bill Wallis? The Recorded Books version that I rented doesn't mention anyone by that name.).

Tull does a great job of imitating the gruff-but-lovable Horace Rumpole, the barrister who makes courtroom dramas fun. I had not visited the Temple in quite a while, and it was good to reacquaint myself with both Erskine-Browns, Uncle Tom, and Guthrie Featherstone, Q.C., among others. If Patrick Tull is the narrator for any other Rumpole books I'd listen to them anytime.

Another great read about the skill, wit, caustic and irreverant QC, his bumbling confreres, She Who Must Be Obeyed, and a strong statement on English society.

Mortimer is a genius at writing because he makes Rumpole so real and memorable. And, how could anyone forget his wife, She Who Must Be Obeyed? My father, a lawyer, introduced me to Rumpole when it was a series on tv. I loved the TV Rumpole, but the books are even better! If you want a humorous, entertaining, delightful book about the English barristers and courts, this book is the right one. I loved this book and want more just like it!