The Moonstone (Rupa) – Wilkie Collins

The Moonstone (Rupa) – Wilkie Collins (Old/Bargain)|Generally considered the first detective novel written in the English language, The Moonstone is an intricate and gripping tale of murder and mystery.

Colonel Herncastle, a corrupt English veteran, acquires the Moonstone a massive diamond through theft and murder during the Siege of Seringapatam. He bequeaths it to his niece Rachel, who is unaware of the bloody history of the stone, and of the legend of the guardians, said to have been chosen by Lord Vishnu himself, to protect it.

Rachel wears the Moonstone on the night of her eighteenth birthday party; it vanishes, and suspicion falls on everyone present. A maidservant behaves suspiciously and ends up dead; three Indian jugglers lurk mysteriously near the house; and Rachel becomes inexplicably furious with her beau, Franklin Blake, for initiating a search after a detective fails to solve the case of the missing gem. Generally accepted to be the first detective novel written in the English language, The Moonstone is a gripping tale of intrigue, mistaken identity, hallucinations and murder.