The Anti-Social Behaviour of Horace Rumpole
by John Mortimer
Viking £18.99, pp19

Horace Rumpole is back at the Old Bailey and defending our ancient freedoms - and this time he's taking on Blair's legacy and the 'state nanny'.

Mortimer pulls no punches in this cross-examination of the Asbo. Eating, drinking and - God forbid - smoking in his office, Rumpole finds the reaction of, and treatment from, the powers-that-be uncomfortably similar to the legal procedures that little Peter Timmons must face for playing football in the street. No trial, no swearing-in of witnesses and little or no prior investigation into the alleged offence is what the accused can expect to receive in an Asbo hearing.

Whether or not one gives Mortimer a fair hearing, it is impossible to deny the grace with which he presents Rumpole. Here, one can expect to find these two subtle and persuasive old chaps on top form.