The Moonstone (Wordsworth Classics) [Paperback]

A whodunit about a lost jewel with several different narrators 'the first English detective story' is so ingenious, so melodramatically rational, so druggy and glittery and cleverly elusive, that it triumphs over all its impersonators Observer A great, bold, theatrical mystery story which never falters, written with huge confidence and style Wilkie Collins, along with Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens is generally acknowledged to be the great-great-grandfather of the modern mystery, but it's hard to think of many modern mysteries as skillfully shaped and psychologically keen as this one. The story flirts with the conventions of Victorian melodrama, but the characters that people it are truly vivid No wonder 21st-century novelists are influenced by the great Victorian serial writers with their rip-roaring plots. A twisting detective thriller Independent The Moonstone is the first detective yarn with, in Sergeant Cuff, the original maverick detective Independent Perfect for long, cold, winter evenings The Times --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

"This Moonstone will surely prove another winner for Broadview’s list." --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

"Steve Farmer's Broadview edition will undoubtedly become the definitive edition of The Moonstone.... [It] deserves a five star rating." --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

'The first... and the best of modern English detective novels' T S Eliot --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

This Wordsworth Edition includes an exclusive 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.

Contains an 8-page plate section with long-unavailable pictures and drawings relating to Wilkie Collins and The Moonstone. Thoroughly edited and extensively annotated. Includes a 10,000-word section on Wilkie Collins's life and works, with a longer chapter on The Moonstone, anecdotes, critical perspectives, adaptations and spin-offs. Lavishly produced on natural, high-quality paper, and affordably priced. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

'The first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels' T S Eliot

When Rachel Verinder receives a gift of an astonishing yellow diamond from her bitter old uncle for her eighteenth birthday, she has no idea that the stone brings great danger with it. When the diamond goes missing during the night the ensuing investigations gradually bring to light the sinister history of the jewel and the passions and plots of those close to Rachel.

'Probably the very finest detective story ever written' Dorothy L. Sayers

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Introduction and Notes by David Blair, Rutherford College, University of Kent