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This was a read that was quite unexpected. I am familiar with Wilkie Collins�� work and have enjoyed The Woman in White but I had no idea how much I was going to love The Moonstone!

Wilkie Collins was a law student before he became an author. His friendship with mentor Charles Dickens played an important part in his success having collaborated together on several plays and stories. Dickens published the novel in his magazine, All the Year Round in serial fashion. The Moonstone is often thought to be the first English detective novel introducing Detective Cuff to readers in 1868. Victorian readers would have been utterly captivated by the compelling plot and the intriguing case of the mystery surrounding the Moonstone.

The Moonstone will have its vengeance yet on you and yours!

The story is told by various characters through letters that they write. After the gem has been missing for 2 years, Franklin Blake has entrusted each individual to help in getting to the bottom of the mystery. Each narrative presents its writer as responsible for getting at the truth of the mystery via the epistolary style. The longest narrative is written by Gabriel Betteredge, the overseer of the Verinder house. He catches the “detective fever�� brought on by our significant Detective Cuff. Betteredge also seeks out life’s guidance from his well-worn and loved copy of Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. It’s as if he gains some type of spiritual direction from the passages he reads and interprets. And this added personality quirk is just a joy to take part in. Betteredge finds joy in his favorite reading material and it translates to readers in the same way. He has some rather archaic views on women but I didn’t find them derogatory (some might) but just a quirk of his personality.

We also get the perspective of Miss Drusilla Clack who is a self-righteous Christian lady who is a cousin to the Verinder’s. Her eavesdropping tendencies and mission to save everyone from their sins with tracts that she disperses about the house for the purpose of edifying those who found and read them provide some humor. Her charity work for the Mother’s-Small-Clothes-Conversion-Society puts a satirical spin on her character. I found her a pitiable character for the way she just doesn’t give up her personal mission of soul saving. I just thought she could have used a bit of grace in her delivery.

Miss Rachel Verinder is the benefactor of the moonstone and a very independent minded young woman. We get to know her character through the narration of the other characters quite well and question some of her behaviors; however, patience in getting to the end of the complex story and plot that Collins has created will shine light on her stubbornness eventually. We never view the story from her perspective though.

As the plot unfolds, readers will wonder whether the moonstone has cursed the Verinder family. But there is a lot going for this story. There is romance, innocent characters wrongfully suspected, sinister Hindoo men lurking about, an English manor house setting and one of the most intriguing characters, the doctor’s assistant, Ezra Jennings who brings an enigmatic atmosphere to the narrative. And finally, the fact that we get to meet the eccentric rose-loving Detective Cuff makes this a perfect reason to pick up this story. And if you think you are a regular armchair detective and will be able to figure this mystery out, beware, Collins�� outdoes himself with keeping readers guessing until the very end!