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Blandings Castle #5.5
Lord Emsworth and Others
The wave of crime that was about to rock Blandings Castle broke out on a fine summer afternoon. Ukridge appears on Corky's doorstep requesting his cab fare and a whiskey and soda! The oldest member warns of the folly of love, even if his progress on the golf course has earned him the affectionate sobriquet of the First Grave Digger!
The crime wave at Blandings --
Buried treasure --
The letter of the law --
Farewell to legs --
There's always golf --
The masked troubadour --
Ukridge and the home from home --
The come-back of Battling Billson --
The level business head
The crime wave at Blandings --
Buried treasure --
The letter of the law --
Farewell to legs --
There's always golf --
The masked troubadour --
Ukridge and the home from home --
The come-back of Battling Billson --
The level business head
218 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1937
About the author
P.G. Wodehouse
1,710 books7,129 followersSir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE, was a comic writer who enjoyed enormous popular success during a career of more than seventy years and continues to be widely read over 40 years after his death. Despite the political and social upheavals that occurred during his life, much of which was spent in France and the United States, Wodehouse's main canvas remained that of prewar English upper-class society, reflecting his birth, education, and youthful writing career.
An acknowledged master of English prose, Wodehouse has been admired both by contemporaries such as Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh and Rudyard Kipling and by more recent writers such as Douglas Adams, Salman Rushdie and Terry Pratchett. Sean O'Casey famously called him "English literature's performing flea", a description that Wodehouse used as the title of a collection of his letters to a friend, Bill Townend.
Best known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. He worked with Cole Porter on the musical Anything Goes (1934) and frequently collaborated with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton. He wrote the lyrics for the hit song Bill in Kern's Show Boat (1927), wrote the lyrics for the Gershwin/Romberg musical Rosalie (1928), and collaborated with Rudolf Friml on a musical version of The Three Musketeers (1928).
An acknowledged master of English prose, Wodehouse has been admired both by contemporaries such as Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh and Rudyard Kipling and by more recent writers such as Douglas Adams, Salman Rushdie and Terry Pratchett. Sean O'Casey famously called him "English literature's performing flea", a description that Wodehouse used as the title of a collection of his letters to a friend, Bill Townend.
Best known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. He worked with Cole Porter on the musical Anything Goes (1934) and frequently collaborated with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton. He wrote the lyrics for the hit song Bill in Kern's Show Boat (1927), wrote the lyrics for the Gershwin/Romberg musical Rosalie (1928), and collaborated with Rudolf Friml on a musical version of The Three Musketeers (1928).
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 217 reviews
October 21, 2025
Quite good but it contains a couple of stories about golf which I didn't like
October 28, 2022
The first story with Lord Emsworth and the air rifle, aka Crime Wave at Blandings, was the most memorable for me.
If you don't know him, he's the "master" of Blandings Castle in name only as he lives in perpetual fear of his sister, Lady Constance. Connie resides at Blandings and runs his life through the sheer force of her personality. With the help of Emsworth's much-despised secretary, Rupert Baxter, he has been forced to do all sorts of duties such as signing papers and keeping a schedule.
That is until Baxter left to go work for some American businessman (that Lord Emsworth fondly remembers in his nightly prayers) some while back.
Which is why it was such a nasty shock for Emsworth when he spied Connie's formidable form on the lawn talking to what his grandson would later refer to as that blister, Rupert Baxter.
Is Connie plotting to reinstall his nemesis at Blandings?!
Thanks to the above-mentioned lad's air gun and a wave of childhood nostalgia from every member of Blanding's Castle over the age of 60, this turns one of the shorts that every fan of these books will enjoy.
Having read a fair share of Wodehouse's books, I recognized a lot of the names that cropped up and enjoyed reading a few funny stories about some of his recurring characters. None of the stories were bad, but they blended together in that Wodehouse way, so Crime Wave was probably the only one that I will remember.
If you don't know him, he's the "master" of Blandings Castle in name only as he lives in perpetual fear of his sister, Lady Constance. Connie resides at Blandings and runs his life through the sheer force of her personality. With the help of Emsworth's much-despised secretary, Rupert Baxter, he has been forced to do all sorts of duties such as signing papers and keeping a schedule.
That is until Baxter left to go work for some American businessman (that Lord Emsworth fondly remembers in his nightly prayers) some while back.
Which is why it was such a nasty shock for Emsworth when he spied Connie's formidable form on the lawn talking to what his grandson would later refer to as that blister, Rupert Baxter.
Is Connie plotting to reinstall his nemesis at Blandings?!
Thanks to the above-mentioned lad's air gun and a wave of childhood nostalgia from every member of Blanding's Castle over the age of 60, this turns one of the shorts that every fan of these books will enjoy.
Having read a fair share of Wodehouse's books, I recognized a lot of the names that cropped up and enjoyed reading a few funny stories about some of his recurring characters. None of the stories were bad, but they blended together in that Wodehouse way, so Crime Wave was probably the only one that I will remember.
July 27, 2013
I doubt I've ever seen more mileage gotten out of an air rifle!
P.G. Wodehouse is a master at squeezing the most out of a very little bit. The reader of even a handful of his stories gets a sense of deja vu, but since those stories are always light, airy and full of fun, that's not such a bad thing.
In this collection of stories, based around a few of Wodehouse's recurring characters, it's the title story that struck a hilarious blow to my funny bone. Lord Emsworth is a hopelessly doddering old duffer with the tiniest bit of spark left in him, just enough left to make you love the old fellow.
A chunky section in the middle of the book is filled with a slew of Wodehouse golf-based one-offs, which are fine. I prefer his Blandings Castle work or the Jeeves and Wooster material, but the golf stuff has its moments, especially if you like the game. The remainder of the book is rounded out with tales of Ukridge, his overly confident ne'er-do-well character who never notices that he never does well. I wasn't a huge Ukridge fan, but these few stories revolving around his costly shenanigans actually improved my opinion of him.
All in all, Lord Emsworth and Others bounced between 3 and 4 stars, a respectable rating. Though, I would not suggest the uninitiated embark upon Wodehouse with this collection.
P.G. Wodehouse is a master at squeezing the most out of a very little bit. The reader of even a handful of his stories gets a sense of deja vu, but since those stories are always light, airy and full of fun, that's not such a bad thing.
In this collection of stories, based around a few of Wodehouse's recurring characters, it's the title story that struck a hilarious blow to my funny bone. Lord Emsworth is a hopelessly doddering old duffer with the tiniest bit of spark left in him, just enough left to make you love the old fellow.
A chunky section in the middle of the book is filled with a slew of Wodehouse golf-based one-offs, which are fine. I prefer his Blandings Castle work or the Jeeves and Wooster material, but the golf stuff has its moments, especially if you like the game. The remainder of the book is rounded out with tales of Ukridge, his overly confident ne'er-do-well character who never notices that he never does well. I wasn't a huge Ukridge fan, but these few stories revolving around his costly shenanigans actually improved my opinion of him.
All in all, Lord Emsworth and Others bounced between 3 and 4 stars, a respectable rating. Though, I would not suggest the uninitiated embark upon Wodehouse with this collection.
August 16, 2024
Some hilarious short stories Lord Elmsworth and the air rifle my favorite. Poor Baxter’s posterior.
A few amusing old member golf stories. Finishing with a few Ukridge stories and his adventures with his Aunt Julia punishing and supporting him.
A few amusing old member golf stories. Finishing with a few Ukridge stories and his adventures with his Aunt Julia punishing and supporting him.
September 23, 2011
I only remember the title story, "Crime Wave at Blandings", where an air-gun confiscated from an errant kid inspires the sportsman in everyone - including Lord Emsworth.
July 29, 2023
Wodehouse’s prose shines as always, but - looked at with Twenty-First century sensibilities - the story ‘There’s Always Golf’ may raise a few eyebrows.
November 11, 2021
I love Lord Emsworth but he was not in the book much. Except Crime wave at Blandings, none of the other 8 stories had him. That is what Wodehouse meant by Lord Emsworth and "Others".
Most of the stories were fine. But they didn't stand the Blandings castle occupants. Also, with each story you need to acquaint with a new setup and new characters and it is a bit of overwork if you weren't expecting it in the beginning.
The stories mostly revolve around a young chap and his love interests, the theme changing with setup and situations.
Overall, a fine light read. I listened to it on Audible and Stephen Fry is a wonderful narrator. Read two stories but listening to them was more fun. Next comes Uncle Fred and I'm curious to meet him.
Most of the stories were fine. But they didn't stand the Blandings castle occupants. Also, with each story you need to acquaint with a new setup and new characters and it is a bit of overwork if you weren't expecting it in the beginning.
The stories mostly revolve around a young chap and his love interests, the theme changing with setup and situations.
Overall, a fine light read. I listened to it on Audible and Stephen Fry is a wonderful narrator. Read two stories but listening to them was more fun. Next comes Uncle Fred and I'm curious to meet him.
November 11, 2021
The Blandings story is the longest and best.
May 25, 2024
'Lord Emsworth and Others' by P.G. Wodehouse.
Rating:
First Read [24th May to 25th May 2024]: Read the three stories involving Ukridge contained within this collection. Rating: 4.25/5. Shall update the rating of the entire collection once I get acquainted with the other Wodehouse characters and decide to revisit this collection.
Review:
I had no intention of picking up another P.G Wodehouse book immediately after finishing his Ukridge collection – not because I didn't like his writing, but because I simply wanted to read something else and return to Wodehouse's works as a comfort read. But, as it turns out, I couldn't get enough of Ukridge's devious schemes! After learning that there were other short stories featuring Ukridge in Wodehouse's other books, the completionist within me wanted to devour them all at the earliest. All of which brought me to yet another collection of his, Lord Emsworth and Others.
Lord Emsworth and Others contains three stories featuring Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge, namely 'Ukridge and the Home from Home', 'The Comeback of Battling Billson', and 'The Level Business Head'. Although a definite chronological order is never mentioned, it can be ascertained from the references and callbacks to the previous stories that these three short stories take place after the events of the short stories contained within the Ukridge collection. Ukridge's marriage to Millie is never addressed in these three stories, but it is revealed that his Aunt Julia has taken him back to her residence at Wimbledon Common.
Ukridge's best friend and the narrator of the Ukridge collection, James Corcoran, plays a much more passive role in these three stories. Unlike the collection, where he finds himself unwittingly involved in one of Ukridge's moneymaking schemes, he serves as an audience for these stories while Ukridge narrates these incidents to him.
'Ukridge and the Home from Home' (Rating: 3.75/5) was my least favourite short story out of the three. It was well-written and filled with humorous instances, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the other Ukridge stories that I have read so far. 'The Comeback of Battling Billson' (Rating: 4.25/5), heralds the return of one of my favorite secondary characters in these stories – the muscular oaf, Battling Billson. It was an incredible tale, full of humorous twists and turns, and much to Ukridge's chagrin, a scheming butler. It also caps off Billson's story in a satisfactory manner, with Ukridge finally making some profits after the boxing match. The final story in the collection, 'The Level Business Head' (Rating: 4.5/5), turned out to be my favourite Ukridge short story in this book. It shows Ukridge at this best – profiteering from a bloke who swindled him and thus getting a much-deserved payback.
All in all, I had a wonderful time reading these three short stories featuring Ukridge. I do plan to get back to the rest of the stories contained within this collection once I get acquainted with the other Wodehouse characters.
'Tell me,' I said, 'has this story got a happy ending?'
'Oh, yes, it ended happily.'
'You did go to prison, then?’
'Prison? What do you mean? Of course, I didn't go to prison. A man of my vision and resource doesn't go to prison.
Rating:
First Read [24th May to 25th May 2024]: Read the three stories involving Ukridge contained within this collection. Rating: 4.25/5. Shall update the rating of the entire collection once I get acquainted with the other Wodehouse characters and decide to revisit this collection.
Review:
I had no intention of picking up another P.G Wodehouse book immediately after finishing his Ukridge collection – not because I didn't like his writing, but because I simply wanted to read something else and return to Wodehouse's works as a comfort read. But, as it turns out, I couldn't get enough of Ukridge's devious schemes! After learning that there were other short stories featuring Ukridge in Wodehouse's other books, the completionist within me wanted to devour them all at the earliest. All of which brought me to yet another collection of his, Lord Emsworth and Others.
Lord Emsworth and Others contains three stories featuring Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge, namely 'Ukridge and the Home from Home', 'The Comeback of Battling Billson', and 'The Level Business Head'. Although a definite chronological order is never mentioned, it can be ascertained from the references and callbacks to the previous stories that these three short stories take place after the events of the short stories contained within the Ukridge collection. Ukridge's marriage to Millie is never addressed in these three stories, but it is revealed that his Aunt Julia has taken him back to her residence at Wimbledon Common.
Ukridge's best friend and the narrator of the Ukridge collection, James Corcoran, plays a much more passive role in these three stories. Unlike the collection, where he finds himself unwittingly involved in one of Ukridge's moneymaking schemes, he serves as an audience for these stories while Ukridge narrates these incidents to him.
'Ukridge and the Home from Home' (Rating: 3.75/5) was my least favourite short story out of the three. It was well-written and filled with humorous instances, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the other Ukridge stories that I have read so far. 'The Comeback of Battling Billson' (Rating: 4.25/5), heralds the return of one of my favorite secondary characters in these stories – the muscular oaf, Battling Billson. It was an incredible tale, full of humorous twists and turns, and much to Ukridge's chagrin, a scheming butler. It also caps off Billson's story in a satisfactory manner, with Ukridge finally making some profits after the boxing match. The final story in the collection, 'The Level Business Head' (Rating: 4.5/5), turned out to be my favourite Ukridge short story in this book. It shows Ukridge at this best – profiteering from a bloke who swindled him and thus getting a much-deserved payback.
All in all, I had a wonderful time reading these three short stories featuring Ukridge. I do plan to get back to the rest of the stories contained within this collection once I get acquainted with the other Wodehouse characters.
August 7, 2024
Another collection of classic Wodehouse. He really did specialize in stories about people telling stories! I found this book much stronger at the start; 'The Crime Wave at Blandings' is delightful, as is 'Buried Treasure' with its mustache mayhem. I didn't enjoy the other tales as much. The portrayals of the women in the gold-oriented stories was rather cringe-worthy, and the repeated characters of Wimbledon Commons just didn't appeal.
December 7, 2022
There was only 1 Blandings castle story 'Crime wave at Blandings'. That was the best of the 9 stories in this collection. Others were Golf stories, Mulliner and Ukridge, which were average. As always, Stephen Fry's audible narration was delightful.
April 23, 2022
I think this my favourite set of short stories I've read from Wodehouse. Lots of hilarious plots as well as laugh out loud moments.
June 3, 2020
The sole Lord Emsworth story was sheer delight, but the rest were a motley assortment and I’d already read some in an earlier collection. It was too soon to recycle them in a new publication, especially one that didn’t have the excuse of an overriding theme.
August 1, 2011
Pure fun. Who knew the upperish classes of England could be laugh out loud foolish. Wait, I forgot how the Royal family actually behaves. This is still better.
February 25, 2020
Nobody writes better short stories than Wodehouse
Delightful tales from Blandings, The Oldest Member and Ukridge to enjoy
Perfectly plotted and delightful dialogue
5 stars
Delightful tales from Blandings, The Oldest Member and Ukridge to enjoy
Perfectly plotted and delightful dialogue
5 stars
November 3, 2023
In this collection of nine stories, Wodehouse, as always for me, delivers some laugh-out-loud moments. Many of his more popular creations are here, including Ukridge, Mr. Mulliner, and the Oldest Member, as well as the gangs from the Drones Club and Blandings Castle (though we don’t meet Lord Emsworth’s prize-winning sow, the Empress of Blandings). It’s all fun stuff if you’re already a Wodehouse fan, but there are better introductions to these characters elsewhere.
February 10, 2022
An excellent collection of short stories - Wodehouse doing Wodehouse things very well.
September 9, 2017
November 2020 — Well, I can tell you two things about Wodehouse. 1) Lord Emsworth is my favorite character. He always has my sympathy. So I was quite disappointed that the book was lord emsworth AND OTHERS 2) He only has one story, which he just keeps retelling over and over, such that I didn't even realize I'd already listened to this book three years ago (or I wouldn't have listened to it again). I was going to give it three stars, but in a fit of magnanimity, I shall let my older rating stand.
Also, as I'm typing this on my phone, I look up at my laptop monitor, whereupon is a browser window open to the YouTube homepage, whereupon I notice a video, posted this very day, of "We Plow the Fields and Scatter," to which was made an allusion in the final story of the book under review. Now I'll have to give it a listen, since I only know the Godspell tune.
September 2017 — Some stories (like the first one) were five stars. Others were three (too much golf). So I'll average it out to four. Reader good.
Also, as I'm typing this on my phone, I look up at my laptop monitor, whereupon is a browser window open to the YouTube homepage, whereupon I notice a video, posted this very day, of "We Plow the Fields and Scatter," to which was made an allusion in the final story of the book under review. Now I'll have to give it a listen, since I only know the Godspell tune.
September 2017 — Some stories (like the first one) were five stars. Others were three (too much golf). So I'll average it out to four. Reader good.
July 20, 2022
P.G. Wodehouse is definitely one of my favorite authors of comfort reads. No matter how you're feeling he transports you to the roaring 20s and 30s through the wacky derring-dos of some memorably hilarious characters. Here the iconic Lord Emsworth and family feature only in one story but the "Others" of the title are equally entertaining reads. Case in point being me never understanding the ABCs of golf, yet here I was able to find the three stories centered around golf to be absolutely hilarious! I also found another favorite character in the form of Stanley Ukridge. Overall a highly enjoyable collection of stories and I was sorry to see it end.
July 5, 2026
The first story, The Crime Wave at Blandings, is laugh out loud funny, especially if you are already familiar with the characters. Seeing some of the most proper characters at Blandings go awry because of a twitchy finger and an overused airgun is comic genius. I don't believe you will find the same level of hilarity I did unless you have read at least one of the previous full length novels in the series.
The remaining short stories are still entertaining but not as good. Some I liked more than others and some I had already read/heard before in other short story compilations.
The remaining short stories are still entertaining but not as good. Some I liked more than others and some I had already read/heard before in other short story compilations.
July 1, 2023
Somehow my rating for this is on the audio CD edition...wut? Anyway, this is worth getting before the modern redactors ruin it. I've read The Crime Wave at Blandings to several different people over the years, and it's hilarious every time. I also remember laughing out loud while trying to read the golf story to my dad and brother as they drove me home from college. I couldn't care less about golf, but Wodehouse can make anything funny.
November 15, 2023
Ok I may be at the point now where all the "privileged guy gets into trouble but, mostly due to luck, hauls himself out and wins the girl of his dreams" stories are rather blurring into one but it's still a beautifully written one.
November 21, 2024
Cuando necesito alegría y reírme mucho, P.G. Wodehouse no me falla; sin embargo, las historias de este libro no son tan graciosas como la serie de Jeeves y Bertie. Me gusta el humor de este autor, pero este libro no me hizo reír tanto.
February 10, 2019
Oh! my aching sides!
September 6, 2021
Nothing brings a smile to your face like Wodehouse.
February 14, 2023
The first story about everyone shooting people with air guns at Blandings Castle was absolutely hilarious!! The stitches from my dental surgery almost came out from the pressure of laughing!
August 30, 2025
Very funny collection of short stories, the first story 'The Crime Wave at Blandings' was an absolute scream!
August 3, 2022
A collection of short stories. The first story was especially fantastic.
This P.G. Wodehouse kick I’ve been on will only end when I can’t get my hands on any more.
This P.G. Wodehouse kick I’ve been on will only end when I can’t get my hands on any more.
September 7, 2026
4 ⭐️
I really enjoyed listening to this collection of short stories. I always love the Blandings Castle stories, but I find myself enjoying the Ukridge and golf stories more and more as well as I get more exposure to them. This was a fun collection overall, and I enjoyed the silliness of it all. I am not a golfer, but the golf stories almost make me want to go play when the weather gets nice!
Potential spoilers in the content review below:
Content:
•One story makes a joke out of a lady who wants a very domineering husband where the guy accidentally keeps physically hurting her (it is played for laughs, and she doesn’t like guys that aren’t like that?- hard to explain in this, but it is very much lighthearted and played for jokes with the guy actually just wanting to dote on the lady)
•Dead dog described (not the death, but just inspecting the already dead dog- not explicitly described)
I really enjoyed listening to this collection of short stories. I always love the Blandings Castle stories, but I find myself enjoying the Ukridge and golf stories more and more as well as I get more exposure to them. This was a fun collection overall, and I enjoyed the silliness of it all. I am not a golfer, but the golf stories almost make me want to go play when the weather gets nice!
Potential spoilers in the content review below:
Content:
•One story makes a joke out of a lady who wants a very domineering husband where the guy accidentally keeps physically hurting her (it is played for laughs, and she doesn’t like guys that aren’t like that?- hard to explain in this, but it is very much lighthearted and played for jokes with the guy actually just wanting to dote on the lady)
•Dead dog described (not the death, but just inspecting the already dead dog- not explicitly described)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 217 reviews