This is the second Jeeves book written by Ben Schott, following on from 2018’s Jeeves and the King of Clubs, and continues on with the conceit established in that book that Jeeve’s club, the Junior Ganymede, is a front for British Intelligence, and that Bertie has been co-opted in to help out when necessary, in this case by returning to Cambridge and foiling the rise of Roderick Spode and his Black Shorts.

The book is described on the cover as ‘An homage to P.G. Wodehouse’, and while he makes a valiant effort of it, I’m not quite convinced that Schott always hits the right note. His Bertie seems a tad bit brighter and more athletic than he was in the originals, and some of the language doesn’t seem quite right. I’d also suggest that the sub-plot involving the financial difficulties of the Drones club seems more “Wodehousian” than the espionage escapades of the main storyline.

Overall, though, I’d say that Jeeves and the Leap of Faith was an amusing and enjoyable read, but just didn’t quite hit the right spot for me.

A wonderful antidote to dark evenings and pandemics. Peopled with a cast of over the top characters replete with wonderful nicknames, the reader is carried along with the plot which is quite complicated and serious (fighting the rise of fascism) at times, but manages to incorporate laugh out loud moments.
Thank you to netgalley and random house for an advance copy of this book

Schott manages to bring Jeeves and Wooster back to life in perfect style.
A great romp through Cambridge, the Drones and the fight against the 'Black Shorts'. As ever, Jeeves is the brains behind the adventure, saving Wooster from many a scrape!
Excellent fun!

What a treat to get an unexpected sequel to Ben Schott's excellent "Jeeves and the King of Clubs".

I'm usually wary of Wodehouse pastiches – anyone wanting to see what bilge they can be might want to consult any recent speech by our beloved PM – but Schott captures the joy of PG's writing. His linguistic dexterity is more than up to the task (this review could easily be a stream of quotes from the book) and he gets the often-unrecognised tightness of Wodehouse's writing. All with a brand new set of japes and angles for Bertie to be drawn into.

Just the thing for dark and gloomy evenings in dark and gloomy times. Top-hole.

What a corker!

Classic Jeeves and Wooster just as I remember it, faithfully reimagined by Ben Schott.

As ever, Bertie's friends are engaged left, right and centre and he's trying to avoid joining them; Jeeves is solving all Bertie's problems; Aunt Agatha is on the warpath, and there are some highly amusing episodes about wallpaper.

Hilarious, loved it!

I have not actually read P G Wodehouse, but if the books are anything like as good as this one, and I assume they must be, I am already inclined to read them. The book was amusing, it made me laugh so much at some of the jokes, I want to repeat the experience. I have no hesitation in recommending this book. A truly excellent author.

This was exactly the book I needed to read at the moment - delightful and entertaining, light and heart-warming. I felt lost in the world of Bertie and his chums, following their escapades involving everything from secret spy missions to huge bets on the horses to save the Drones club, to avoiding possible fiancees and rescuing Fink-Nottle!
I am by no means a Wodehouse expert, but I've read some of the stories, and I fell completely in love with the characters in the Fry & Laurie TV series. I could hear their voices through this book, and I really feel Schott has captured both the leading characters really well, as well as some of the additional side characters too.
It's an almost calamitous amount of plot and sub-plot, but it's knackily done, and as it caught me unawares at the start with a laugh out loud situation, I found myself caught up in the story and entertained throughout.
The ending comes with a snap and is incomplete, so hopefully that means there is more to come.

I come away from Jeeves & Wooster stories feeling spiffy and wanting to shout 'What Ho!' at people in the street. Maybe the world would be a little cheerier right now if I did.

Absolutely brilliant! A witty, clever and perfect homage to P G Wodehouse, which I read with a permanent smile on my face. Just the book to cheer us all up in these uncertain times, and I am looking forward to Ben Schott's next Jeeves book.

Love it. Love it. LOVE. IT. Ben Schott returns with another addition to the history of Jeeves, Wooster and a cast of assorted upper class twits and intelligence. He has captured the spirit of our heroes and their creator but added a layer of something verging on reality that occasionally comes into view. I can but hope that there will be more. Surely we all want to know if Bertie flies off to France....

Thank you to Netgalley and Cornerstone for an Advance Reader's Copy.

What jolly good fun and silliness it was to read about Jeeves and Wooster's latest antics and getting embroiled in spying, horseracing, night-climbing and dodging the fixes Wooster and his chums manage to find! And of course, Jeeves is forever on hand, or behind the scenes to save the day!

It's been a long time since I've entered the world of Jeeves and Wooster - books or TV - but Ben Schott has managed to immerse the reader, at least me, back into it very quickly.

A much-welcome dose of fun and silliness only Jeeves and Wooster can manage - especially at the time of reading, during yet another covid lockdown. Thank you.

A spiffing good yarn! Not really my cup of tea, did read it to the end, no great improvement of the original books or tv series. A good story if you like this genre.

4.25 stars


What an absolute joy this was to read. From a few lines it,it had me smiling,just the usual Jeeves and Wooster banter.
But as the storyline got more ridiculous,as every story involving Bertie Wooster does,I had a few laugh out loud moments.
There were so many familiar names and places in this book,that it felt a bit like an old familiar friend.
Very very well done.

Writing a sequel can be a difficult exercise, more than seems obvious from a cursory consideration of the issue; the writer needs to be creative as any fiction author, but while working within the straitjacket imposed by the characters and milieu of the original. And because the Jeeves and Wooster series is so well known, unless it’s pitch perfect any story featuring these two much-loved creations of the genius of P.G. Wodehouse will be jarring and lacking authenticity. Ben Schott’s second volume continues the first (reviewed in HNR 88). There we learnt that Jeeves’ club, The Junior Ganymede, is a front for British intelligence in the mid-1930s as Europe slipped into another global war, and ludicrously enough the arch-chump Bertram Wooster has been recruited to participate in intelligence operations, with the more cerebral involvement of Jeeves, of course. There is a myriad of subplots, which makes for a bit of a challenge when reading, including more romantic interest for Bertie with Iona, who appeared in the first volume, and it would seem that he may be moving to an engagement that he doesn’t want to enlist Jeeves’ assistance to extricate him from.
A range of familiar characters appear, including Gussie Fink-Nottle, the dreadful Roderick Spode (ludicrously the seventh Earl of Sidcup) and the formidable Aunt Agatha Gregson. While the bumbling fascist Spode is spot-on, I’m not sure Schott’s Aunt Agatha is quite in line with the “real” Wodehousian Aunt. It’s a complicated and busy plot for a light-hearted humorous story, and the ending is abrupt and unresolved, with a third episode in the series clearly flagged. Nevertheless, this is wonderfully entertaining, clever and an irresistible read for Wodehouse’s countless admirers. The detailed endnotes demonstrate the dependable historical and cultural context in which Ben Schott places his inspired narrative.