In Money in the Bank, Wodehouse carefully assembles a host of delightful characters in Shipley Hall, Kent before unleashing upon expectant readers an avalanche of humor, all taking place in the space of a single afternoon. Leading the pack is the affable but forgetful Lord Uffenham, who owns Shipley Hall; his lovely niece Anne Benedick; the crook trio Soapy & Dolly Molloy and detective J. Sheringham Adair aka “Chimp” Twist; big game hunter Mrs. Clarissa Cork who has rented Shipley Hall; her nephew Lionel Green, who is secretly engaged to Anne; and of course, the loquacious lawyer understudy Jeff Miller who is in love with Anne.

Money in the Bank is replete with the classic Wodehousian winning formula – impersonations, misplaced diamonds that crooks and the rightful owners are in a race to uncover, and a hilarious sequence of events that ensure the triumph of true over misguided engagements and flimsy infatuations.

Lord Uffenham relationship with Anne is endearing. He ensures that Anne makes the right choice in the man she falls in love with, a theme Wodehouse repeats again in Something Fishy, where Lord Uffenham appears once more, this time with Anne’s younger sister Jane Benedick.

Yet again, I was fortunate enough to lay my hands on the 1942 first edition of Money in the Bank, making this reading experience all the more special.