Other editions of book The Moonstone: By Wilkie Collins - Illustrated

Introduction and Notes by David Blair, Rutherford College, University of Kent The Moonstone, a priceless Indian diamond which had been brought to England as spoils of war, is given to Rachel Verrinder on her eighteenth birthday. That very night, the stone is stolen. Suspicion then falls on a hunchbacked housemaid, on Rachel's cousin Franklin Blake, on a troupe of mysterious Indian jugglers, and on Rachel herself. The phlegmatic Sergeant Cuff is called in, and with the help of Betteredge, the Robinson Crusoe-reading loquacious steward, the mystery of the missing stone is ingeniously solved.

The novel that T. S. Eliot called “the first, the longest, and the best of the modern English detective novels”Guarded by three Brahmin priests, the Moonstone is a religious relic, the centerpiece in a sacred statue of the Hindu god of the moon. It is also a giant yellow diamond of enormous value, and its temptation is irresistible to the corrupt John Herncastle, a colonel in the British Army in India. After murdering the three guardian priests and bringing the diamond back to England with him, Herncastle bequeaths it to his niece, Rachel, knowing full well that danger will follow. True to its enigmatic nature, the Moonstone disappears from Rachel’s room on the night of her eighteenth birthday, igniting a mystery so intricate and thrilling it has set the standard for every crime novel of the past one hundred fifty years.Widely recognized, alongside the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, as establishing many of the most enduring conventions of detective fiction, The Moonstone is Wilkie Collins’s masterwork and one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century.This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

The Definitive Edition of THE MOONSTONE-With beautiful vintage illustrations -Complete, unabridged, and formatted for kindle to improve your reading experience-Linked table of contents to reach your chapter quickly"The first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels in a genre invented by Collins.” T. S. Eliot"Probably the very finest detective story ever written.” Dorothy L. Sayers"Probably the best detective tale in the world." G. K. Chesterton“It's a mystery set in England and the Orient. It's a story of love and betrayal, edging towards madness! I liked all of the characters, including the quirky police sergeant with his rose garden.” Jeannette“A mysterious, cursed jewel, wrested from India, only to be stolen later from a great British mansion. Enigmatic, dangerous priests who follow it across the ocean in hopes of wresting it back. A young, beautiful, rich and courageous heroine . . . And enough twists and turns to keep a reader on tenterhooks until a highly satisfying ending is delivered.” Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, NPR BooksTHE MOONSTONE is a classic mystery and suspense novel by the author of ‘The Woman in White’. Presented in a beautiful edition specially designed for kindle, this is Wilkie Collins’ masterpiece which will haunt you forever.

"The Moonstone" is an epistolary novel, generally considered the first detective novel in the English language. Besides creating many of the ground rules of the detective novel, The Moonstone also reflected Collins' enlightened social attitudes in his treatment of the servants in the novel. Rachel Verinder, a young English woman, inherits a large Indian diamond on her eighteenth birthday. It is a legacy from her uncle, a corrupt British army officer who served in India. The diamond is of great religious significance as well as being extremely valuable, and three Hindu priests have dedicated their lives to recovering it. The story incorporates elements of the legendary origins of the Hope Diamond (or perhaps the Orloff Diamond).Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. His best-known works are The Woman in White, No Name, Armadale, and The Moonstone.

The Moonstone was described by T. S. Eliot as "The first and greatest of English detective novels." Published in 1868, it is one of the two books (with The Woman in White) for which Collins is most famous. Several incidents in the story are taken from the real life Constance Kent Road Case and the plot is Collins at his diabolical best. The Moonstone was immensely successful when it was serialized in the Charles Dickens magazine All the Year Round in 1868. Many of the story's elements have since become classic features of the detective novel: the eventual conviction of the least-likely suspect; a bungling investigation led by local police and taken over by a more perceptive, slightly eccentric detective, the idea of a 'mcguffin' or object (in this case a diamond) that everyone wants and around which the plot pivots - to name but a few of the classic tropes first seen here.The story begins with a brief prologue describing how the eponymous diamond was captured during a military campaign in India by a British officer in 1799. The action moves quickly to 1848 England, where, according to the British officer's will, the diamond has been given to one of the soldier's young relatives, Rachel Verinder. Rachel wears the stone to her birthday party, but that night it disappears from her room. Was it stolen by a relative? A servant? And who are these three Indian men who keep hanging around the estate? The intriguing and absorbing plot is told from the point of view of multiple characters - fracturing the narrative in a structure with built-in suspense and a style that would be much imitated by later novelists.

The Moonstone by Wilkie CollinsHow is this book unique?Tablet and e-reader formattedOriginal & Unabridged EditionAuthor Biography includedIllustrated versionThe Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel, generally considered the first detective novel in the English language. The story was originally serialised in Charles Dickens' magazine All the Year Round. The Moonstone and The Woman in White are considered Wilkie Collins' best novels. Besides creating many of the ground rules of the detective novel, The Moonstone also reflected Collins' enlightened social attitudes in his treatment of the servants in the novel. Collins adapted The Moonstone for the stage in 1877, but the production was performed for only two months.

The Moonstone is a stunning yellow diamond the size of a bird's egg that glows like the harvest moon and harbors a flaw in its brilliant depths. Inherited by the beautiful young Englishwoman Rachel Verinder, it is also a sacred talisman to the Hindu priests who hope to bring it back to their holy city in India, from which it was looted long ago. The diamond's disappearance sets in motion an intricately plotted mystery. Wilkie Collins gives the reader all the necessary pieces to the puzzle, but they are so cleverly disguised that his surprise ending takes the breath away. The elements that make up The Moonstone—a purloined jewel that carries a mysterious curse, an indefatigable British police sergeant, a drama of theft and murder in a spacious country house—have been repeated, in varying guises, throughout much of the avalanche of detective fiction that followed Collins's immensely popular 1868 novel. But none of those books has surpassed the richness and suspense of the storytelling of The Moonstone, the first detective novel and the continuing standard of its genre.Introduction by Catherine Peters

Widely regarded as the precursor of the modern mystery and suspense novels, The Moonstone tells of the events surrounding the disappearance of a mysterious (and cursed) yellow diamond. T. S. Eliot called it 'the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels'. It contains a number of ideas which became common tropes of the genre, including a crime being investigated by talented amateurs who happen to be present when it is committed, and two police officers who exemplify respectively the 'Scotland Yard bungler' and the skilled, professional detective.