The Moonstone
First published 1800 · English · 356 pages
- Novels
- Historical fiction
- Mystery and crime
A novel of mystery set in Victorian England. A great yellow diamond, taken from an Indian shrine, is left to a young woman, Rachel Verinder, on her birthday. That same night it vanishes from her country house. Suspicion falls on several people, and a famous detective, Sergeant Cuff, is called in. The story is told in turn by different witnesses, each with their own habits and blind spots. Collins mixes puzzle, humour and social observation, and the book helped shape the modern detective story.
Quotes
We had our breakfasts--whatever happens in a house, robbery or murder, it doesn't matter, you must have your breakfast.
Rosanna Spearman had been a thief, and not being of the sort that get up Companies in the City, and rob from thousands, instead of only robbing from one, the law laid hold of her, and the prison and the reformatory followed the lead of the law.
Your tears come easy , when you're young, and beginning the world. Your tears come easy, when you're old, and leaving it.
Every human institution (Justice included) will stretch a little, if you only pull it the right way.