Really 3.5 stars. This is the first of the books featuring Lord Emsworth and Blandings Castle. There is no Empress of Blandings in this one. This book was originally written in 1915, but there is no hint of war or desolation on the horizon of Wodehouse's world.
When the absent-minded Lord Emsworth pockets the valuable Egyptian scarab belonging to the future father-in-law of his son, the Hon. Freddie Threepwood, elaborate schemes are set in motion to recover the precious item. A dyspeptic butler, a nosy secretary, two desperately poor writers, and a shady acquaintance who is not averse to using blackmail all converge on Blandings Castle and disrupt the peace of Lord Emsworth.
This book falls short of the comic genius of the later novels, but the bones of Wodehouse's style can be observed. It reads like Gosford Park or Downton Abbey played as a farce.