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 Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is considered to be the first detective novel in the English Language. And being a huge fan of detective stories I had long wanted to read it, but had never gotten around doing it. So a couple of months ago I joined The Classics Club Challenge and added this book to my list.
What I absolutely loved about this novel, and perhaps the reason it’s considered a classic, is how well Collins developed the plot. The twists, the suspects, the idea of the super detective who comes in to save the day–all of this pretty much from scratch, no template or recipe to follow. The language, naturally, gives it away. This novel was first published in 1868, and the fact that he wrote it as an epistolary novel (written as a series of documents, such as letters or diary entries) made it much easier to read. It changed the pace of the book and kept it interesting.
This novel should be required reading for fans of detective novels. It is almost impossible to think of books by Agatha Christie, P.D. James, or even Arthur Conan Doyle without referring to The Moonstone. Great read!
Book Details:
Title: The Moonstone/Author: Wilkie Collins/Genre: Fiction/Crime / ISBN:9781593083229/Publisher:Barnes & Noble Classics/Rating: 5-Stars/Read: May, 2015.
A Wondrous Bookshelf 
I agree. Great book
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I have a copy on my bookshelf, I must get around to reading it!
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Yes! You should, it’s great!
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I love this book too. A great read – it kept me guessing!
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This was one of my classic club choices and I read it a few months ago for the same reasons really – I love a good detective story. I also loved the book. It really is great isn’t it?
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Yes, I really liked it.
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I read The Moonstone a few years ago and really enjoyed it too. Sometimes it’s nice to read an old-fashioned detective story that doesn’t have any weird twists.
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Yes, I agree.
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I nominated you for The Beautiful Blogger Award http://ajoobacatsblog.com/2015/06/06/the-beautiful-blogger-award/
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Thank you so much!
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You’re welcome
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I just finished a detective novel, The Big Chill, and I didn’t love it. This sounds interesting. So much on the TBR. It will be a while before I get to it.
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Oops…make that The Big Sleep, not the Big Chill.
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Yes. I thought so! The Big Sleep is not my favorite book by Raymond Chandler either.
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Sounds great! I’ll try and get a copy.
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I’m a Wilkie fan too Read “The Woman in White” next. But can’t agree with you about ‘The Big Sleep’!
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Loved this when I read it. Would be fun to reread.
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It’s one of my favorites. I wished I had read it sooner it took me years to actually read it. That’s why Im thankful for this challenge.
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