The story incorporates elements of the legendary origins of the Hope Diamond (or perhaps the Orloff Diamond or the Koh-i-Noor diamond). The diamond is of great religious significance and extremely valuable, and three Hindu priests have dedicated their lives to recovering it. It is a legacy from her uncle, a corrupt British army officer who served in India. Rachel Verinder, a young English woman, inherits a large Indian diamond on her eighteenth birthday. It is protected by three hereditary guardians on the orders of Vishnu, and waxes and wanes in brilliance along with the light of the Moon. It has gained its name from its association with the Hindu god of the Moon, Chandra. The Moonstone of the title is a diamond (not to be confused with the semi-precious moonstone gem). Collins adapted The Moonstone for the stage in 1877. The story was serialised in Charles Dickens’s magazine All the Year Round. It is an early example of the modern detective novel, and established many of the ground rules of the modern genre. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Moonstone is both modern and readable.The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel. Initially serialized in Charles Dickens magazine All The Year Round, The Moonstone was published in 1868 and has never been out of print since. The plot is sensational but relayed realistically and builds to one of the most unusual plot twists in mystery literature, made all the more remarkable by virtue of appearing in the genre's earliest days. Another character, much remarked upon at the novel's original release, suffers from opium addiction, depicted with frightening clarity by Collins, who dealt with that issue firsthand. One of the characters is the detective charged with finding the thief who stole the Moonstone, a huge diamond with a bloody history, and he is a clear precursor to A.C. This is an epistolary novel with a number of diverse and clearly incised viewpoints, displaying the author's skill with both character and the unveiling of the elements of a mystery plot.

The Moonstone justly occupies an exalted position as a groundbreaking novel that opened the way for a great deal of genre fiction, mysteries and thrillers, but it is far more than simply an influence upon later works. A sharp-witted detective investigates the mystery of a gem, plundered from India and now vanished in England, and discovers shifting motives, unreliable testimony and growing danger in this foundational classic of mystery fiction.

The moonstone hardcover