Money in the Bank (1942)

Glorious, bright and carefree country-house romp, written in 1940 under the grim conditions of a German internment camp in Upper Silesia, a time when Wodehouse could have been forgiven for feeling that life couldn't get much worse. As well as the magnificent new one-off Lord Uffenham (apparently inspired by the character of an eccentric fellow-internee) we get a splendid hero combining the "buzzer" and "rugbyman" types in one, a perfect Wodehouse Girl, a female big-game hunter, and the welcome return of the crooks Chimp Twist and Soapy and Dolly Molloy from Sam the Sudden.

The language perhaps isn't quite as rich as in some of his best books — he didn't take his faithful Bartlett's familiar quotations into captivity with him — but the bright and breezy mood and some wonderful comic set-pieces more than make up for this. ( )

It was pretty good. Several characters appeared that are in at least one other Wodehouse novel, the hero and heroine were decent, if not stellar and Lord Uffenham was amusing. Romantically, everything worked out in the end, but not all the problems were solved by the closing page. There were still some loose ends and Wodehouse left things uncharacteristically uncertain. There were several sparkling scenes, most notably when the hero gets himself a bit too happy celebrating with alcoholic beverages and decides to throw his housekeeper's confections through his neighbor's open window. ( )

Top-of-the range Wodehouse. Lord Uffenham has put all his savings into diamonds and hidden them... somewhere. Problem is, he can't remember where. The result is a typical Wodehousian plot of deception, intrigue and unexpected twists and turns. This is vintage Wodehouse - written with a light hand and perfected comic language, complete with a love triangle, more than one imposter, and halcyon summer days at a country house. Money in the Bank is worth reading just for the endearing character of Lord Uffenham, and for the unrivalled dialogue of the two American crooks. ( )