The Hon. Freddie Threepwood is in financial difficulties of his own devising, along with his henpecked uncle. Dim-brained Freddie wants to start a bookie business and to marry the beauteous and elusive Eve Halliday. His Uncle Joe wants to raise some money on the quiet to help out his runaway stepdaughter. Convinced that the solution to both problems is to steal his wife's necklace, Freddie enlists the services of dashing R. Psmith. Never one to hang back when adventure beckons, Psmith is delighted to pinch Lady Constance's juicy string of pearls. In the guise of a well-known poet, Psmith is invited to Blandings Castle, but finds that being a convincing poet offers some special problems.

Sharply drawn characters, amusing plots and counterplots, and his own captivating brand of humor rank this infectious novel alongside the author's immortal Jeeves books.

PELHAM GRENVILLE WODEHOUSE (1881-1975), an English-born journalist and novelist, lived in several different countries before settling in the United States after World War II. In a career spanning over sixty years, he wrote more than ninety books. During the 1920s, Wodehouse collaborated with Broadway legends like Cole Porter and George Gershwin on musicals, and in the 1930s, he expanded his repertoire by writing for motion pictures. He was honored with a knighthood in 1975.