The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel, generally considered the first detective novel in the English language.

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Easton Press Editions

  The Moonstone - The Collector's Library of Famous Editions - 1959

Franklin Library Editions

  The Moonstone - World's Best Loved Books - 1984
  The Moonstone - Library of Mystery Masterpieces - 1988

The Moonstone was originally serialized 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 characteristics of detective novels, The Moonstone also represented Collins' social opinions by his treatment of the Indians and the servants in the novel. Collins adapted The Moonstone for the stage during 1877, but the production was performed for only two months.  

Plot summary

The story concerns a young woman called Rachel Verinder who inherits a large Indian diamond, the Moonstone, on her eighteenth birthday. It is a legacy from her uncle, a corrupt English colonial army officer. The diamond is of great religious significance as well as being enormously valuable, and three Indian Hindus have dedicated their lives to recovering it. The story incorporates elements of the legendary origins of the Hope Diamond (or perhaps the Orloff).

Rachel's eighteenth birthday is celebrated with a large party, whose guests include her impecunious beau Franklin Blake. She wears the Moonstone on her dress that evening for all to see, including some Indian jugglers who happen to call on the house. Later that night, the diamond is stolen from Rachel's bedroom.

Rachel rejects the attentions of Franklin Blake and leaves in an emotional turmoil for London. She refuses to allow the police to question her or search her possessions raising suspicions. No one can figure out how the stone was stolen since no one was in her room. The Hindu jugglers are taken into custody but no stone is found. The young housemaid, Rosanna, who also happens to be in love with Franklin Blake, also acts suspiciously and then commits suicide by throwing herself into quicksand.

Characters

Rachel Verinder – heiress and inheritor of the large Indian diamond known as "The Moonstone"
Franklin Blake – Rachel Verinder's cousin and suitor
Godfrey Ablewaithe – philanthropist, also Rachel Verinder's cousin and hopeful suitor
Gabriel Betteredge – the head servant, first narrator
Rosanna Spearman – second housemaid, ex-thief, suspicious and tragic character
Drusilla Clack – cousin to Rachel Verinder, second narrator, a self-righteous, religious tract-dispensing lady
Mr. Bruff – family attorney, third narrator
Sergeant Cuff – famous detective with a penchant for roses
Dr. Candy – the family physician
Ezra Jennings – Dr. Candy's unpopular and odd looking assistant, suffers from cancer and uses opium to control the pain
the three Hindu jugglers – also referred to in the novel as "Hindoo"s 

 

Source and additional information: The Moonstone