The Moonstone: Wilkie Collins

The Penguin English Library Edition of The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

`Here was our quiet English house suddenly invaded by a devilish Indian Diamond - bringing after it a conspiracy of living rogues, set loose on us by the vengeance of a dead man`

When Rachel Verinder`s birthday present - the Moonstone, a large Indian diamond - is stolen at her party, suspicion and the diamond`s mysterious curse seem set to ruin everyone and everything she loves. Only Sergeant Cuff`s famous detective skills offer any hope of peace and a future for them all. The intricate plot and modern technique of multiple narrators made Wilkie Collin`s 1868 work a huge success in the Victorian sensation genre. With a reconstruction of the crime, red herrings and a `locked-room` puzzle, The Moonstone was also a major precursor of the modern mystery novel.

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