The Moonstone
by Wilkie Collins
Summary
A priceless Indian diamond given to young Rachel Verinder on her birthday vanishes from her bedroom overnight, and the celebrated Sergeant Cuff arrives to untangle a mystery that implicates nearly everyone in the household. Collins assembles the story from testimonies by multiple narrators, including the devoted house steward Gabriel Betteredge, each with blind spots the reader must see past. T. S. Eliot called it the first and greatest of English detective novels, and its devices still structure the genre.
Historical Context & Significance
Collins published the novel serially in Dickens's magazine All the Year Round in 1868, drawing on real cases and contemporary fascination with India. It established conventions, from the country house theft to the brilliant detective, that mystery writers still follow.