The Moonstone

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is a landmark of English detective fiction, a masterfully constructed mystery of theft, deception, obsession, and hidden motives. When a legendary yellow diamond is presented to the young Rachel Verinder on her birthday, the magnificent jewel disappears from her room that very night. Suspicion spreads through the household as servants, relatives, visitors, and investigators offer conflicting accounts of what happened. Sergeant Cuff, one of literature’s earliest professional detectives, follows a trail of clues involving a stained nightgown, strange behavior, secret debts, and memories that cannot be trusted. Told through multiple narrators, the novel combines Gothic atmosphere, psychological suspense, social observation, and ingenious plotting. First published in 1868, The Moonstone helped establish many conventions of the modern mystery novel. This Complete & Unabridged Edition faithfully preserves the original text in a carefully formatted modern edition for readers of classic literature, Victorian fiction, detective stories, crime mysteries, and atmospheric suspense.