As a boy, John Mortimer wanted to be an actor, as a young man a writer, but at his father's suggestion he also pursued a career in law - in which, as a defending barrister, he found himself establishing profound but short-term friendships with those accused of various crimes, including murder. The chief lesson he learned from all this was to refrain from judgment, a quality he maintained in his other life.

For alongside his work as a lawyer, Mortimer indulged a passion for writing. As this second career took over his life, it brought enriching yet frequently volatile friendships: with Tony Richardson, John Gielgud, Harold Pinter, David Niven, and Neil Kinnock, among others, from the worlds of theater, film, the law, and politics. John Mortimer brought his two worlds together in the character of Rumpole, for whom his creator is frequently mistaken.

Murderers and Other Friends is John Mortimer's summing up of himself through his friends. With wit, wisdom, and tenderness he has written the story of the second part of his life, of the strangely assorted characters that enriched it, and of his family at its heart.