The Moonstone (W. Collins)

The Moonstone, a large, beautiful yet fated diamond, was stolen from an Indian shrine. It is given to Rachel Verinder on her eighteenth birthday and, that same night, stolen again.

Sergeant Cuff is employed by Rachel's mother to find the precious stone and has no shortage of suspects. By turns, those on the periphery and at the heart of the mystery tell their version of events until all is unravelled at the unexpected conclusion.

A pioneer in the art of the English detective novel and a master of innovation, Wilkie Collins was one of the most successful and gifted writers of his generation. In the words of Michael Innes The Moonstone "stands alone in its kind... (there is) a sense of attending upon the birth of the detective story".