Title: The Moonstone
Author: Wilkie Collins
Publication: 2006/Project Gutenberg
Original Publication: 1868/Tinsley Brothers, UK
ISBN #: not available
Number of pages:
528
Read in e-book format
Also available in paper format
Discovered many years ago and on the To Be Read list ever
since
The action begins with the Storming of Seringapatam, a
battle in southern India between the British East India company and the Kingdom
of Mysore in 1799. The unnamed narrator is horrified to see his cousin John
Herncastle murdering three Indians and he suspects he has stolen the Moonstone,
a magnificent yellow diamond, set in the forehead of the Indian god of the
moon.
The stone has been around for centuries. After one attempted
theft, Vishnu the Preserver appeared to three Brahmins in a dream, cursed anyone
who stole it and instructed them to guard it forever. They were successful
until the eighteenth century when the Mogul Emperor stole it during a war. The
stone then passed through many hands until Herncastle got it, always with three
Brahmins hovering in the background, waiting for an opportunity to get it back.
When Herncastle died after a life on the run, the
instructions in his will were for his nephew Franklin Blake to give the stone
to his niece (Blake’s cousin) Rachel Verinder on her birthday. Three Indian
conjurers show up at the English estate around the same time. Blake gives her
the stone at her eighteenth birthday party then during the night, it
mysteriously vanishes. Since the Indians are still in the area, it is apparent
they do not have it but who does? Rachel will not discuss the matter with her
family or Sergeant Cuff, the police detective hired by her family to find the
thief and the stone.
From here, the mystery is continued through the
sequential narratives of several intriguing characters. Gabriel Betteredge, the
rather misogynistic house steward to Lady Verinder (Rachel’s mother and
Herncastle’s sister) is guided through life by passages from "Robinson Crusoe".
He narrates a large part of the story. His narrative is followed by that of
Drusilla Clack, Lady Verinder’s god-fearing spinster niece, who pushes her
religious tracts on people at every opportunity. The remaining narratives are
by family lawyer Mathew Bruff, Franklin Blake himself, Ezra Jennings doctor’s
assistant, Mr. Candy the doctor, Sergeant Cliff’s man, a ship’s captain and
finally Mr. Murthwaite, a character who keeps popping out throughout the story.
As a mystery buff, I have wanted to read this book for
years. It is considered the first English language mystery novel (as opposed to
Edgar Allan Poe’s earlier mystery short stories). It was originally serialized
in Charles Dickens’ magazine “All the Year Round”. I am glad I read it, especially since it is
the first example of many elements of the modern detective story: bungling
local cop, red herrings, false suspects, crime reconstruction and a plot twist,
to name a few. But it is a long long book (much like this review). I very much
agreed with Gabriel Betteredge at the end of Chapter XXII when he said “if you
are as tired of reading this narrative as I am of writing it…” At that point, I
was only 35% of the way through the book! Due to the book’s historical
significance, it is worth reading and the plot is quite good. I may read
Collins’ other best seller “The Woman in White”….but not for awhile.
Have you read any mysteries from the late 1800s or early
1900s? Did they stand the test of time?
