The following review is from July 2012:

I hang my head in shame, as a mystery-lover and Anglophile, for never having read a Wilkie Collins novel before now. This is the man who invented the modern mystery/detective novel!

He was a contemporary (and friend, supposedly, although it depends on who you ask) of Charles Dickens, and even outsold Dickens at one point. Considered one of the most popular writers of the Victorian era, Collins' work has virtually been forgotten until recently, thanks in part to Andrew Lloyd Weber, whose newest musical "The Woman in White" is based on Collin's best-loved novel of the same name. I have not seen it, so I can't comment on it.

I can, however, comment on his other well-known novel, "The Moonstone", which is wonderful and fantastic and a pleasure to read. The story, which involves the theft of a priceless Indian crown jewel, a family curse, numerous tea parties in the English countryside, a clever Scotland Yard detective, a humorous butler, and an eerie supernatural plot twist, could, in many ways, be considered cliche-ridden, except for the fact that this novel was a sensation and completely unique when first introduced.

It is, in fact, the source of virtually every British murder-mystery cliche ever written--a dubious honor, but an honor nonetheless. Reading this will surely bring to mind, immediately, the works of Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Edgar Allen Poe (who is erroneously labelled the Father of the Detective story). Arguably, those other authors may have been better writers, but they would certainly not be as well-known had it not been for Collins' influence.

There stood Miss Rachel at the table, like a person fascinated, with the Colonel's unlucky Diamond in her hand. There, on either side of her, knelt the two Bouncers, devouring the jewel with their eyes, and screaming with ecstasy every time it flashed on them in a new light. There, at the opposite side of the table, stood Mr. Godfrey, clapping his hands like a large child, and singing out softly, "Exquisite! exquisite!" There sat Mr. Franklin in a chair by the book-case, tugging at his beard, and looking anxiously towards the window. And there, at the window, stood the object he was contemplating— my lady, having the extract from the Colonel's Will in her hand, and keeping her back turned on the whole of the company.

That blasted diamond.

I had no idea what to expect from this novel. Sure, it is deemed to be the first detective story. Sure, it is a masterpiece of gothic atmospheric writing. Sure, it had its entertaining moments.
However, the large part of this book just dragged. It dragged even more than The Woman in White! And just as in The Woman in White, the ending was a little illogical and over-complicated: - an opium-induced hallucination?
Collins' reliance on a deus ex machina solution did not work for me in The Woman in White and it did not work for me in The Moonstone.

In the preface to another edition of this book, the author informed his readers that it was his intention with The Moonstone to trace the influence of character on circumstances instead of what he usually did in his stories, which was to trace the influence of circumstances on character. To quote him: "The conduct pursued, under a sudden emergency, by a young girl, supplies the foundation on which I have built this book." In short, this is a character driven novel. He also conveyed that when he was at the one-third mark in the weekly serialization of this story, he suffered two blows that nearly did him in--his mother was near death and he was in excruciating pain due to rheumatic gout from which he was uncertain if he would recover. But the thought of his readers waiting for the next installment of his story spurred him on and allowed him to keep writing by dictation for a time while bedridden. He practically held his breath to learn the results of his efforts at the end when it was published, the overwhelmingly positive reception from readers around the world gratifying him. I wish I could show Mr. Collins my own five star review, however inadequate it is, and however impossible it is since the author passed in 1889.

Speaking of holding one's breath, it's something I always do when starting a classic since I'm uncertain if the language will be archaic or the story dated. There is also the length of such books to consider with my "to read" pile growing daily. It took me two weeks to read this book and it was worth every minute I spent on it. Yes, it was long, which I sometimes complained about, but never was it too long for the story it told. Not a word was wasted on anything that didn't advance the story or the development of the characters driving it forward. Because as Mr. Collins had hoped to achieve, the characters are at the heart of this story and they are the story itself, which has a little bit of everything for just about anyone. There's a fine mystery, a gothic influence, suspense, a bit of the supernatural, romance, humor, tragedy, pathos, and philosophy, among many other things, including revenge and redemption. And no worries about it being dated. It's highly readable and amazingly contemporary in style. It is recognized as the first full length English mystery novel, the one that started it all and influenced those following in its footsteps.

The story begins dramatically in 1799, in a remote region of India, with horrific bloodshed and a priceless yellow diamond known as The Moonstone stolen, not from a single person, but from an entire people who have used it for religious purposes for centuries. The thief is an Englishman in the military whose actions forced the actions of others. Three Brahmins, and eventually their descendants, go in pursuit of the sacred Moonstone. It passes out of the thief's hands into the hands of his own descendent in 1847 in the guise of a gift which might just be a curse instead. And when the priceless diamond then disappears from the hands of its new owner, a young woman eighteen years of age, that's where this story really begins, from two years into the future, the multiple narrators looking back on their part in the mystery when trying to solve it. But the catch is--and this is where Mr. Collins showed his genius--each narrator may only relate firsthand knowledge of what was happening at the time, even if he now knows more. It's the ultimate set up of withholding information from the reader without teasing or manipulating him. It made for a fine mystery that slowly unraveled with each new tug by each narrator.

If you're anything like me, I love memorable characters. For me, they often make or break a book. In this book, there was no shortage of great ones, all highly individual and flawed. My favorite was Gabriel Betteredge, house steward to the woman whose daughter inherited the Moonstone. He lightened my heart with his wit, his presence of mind, his loyalty, his addiction to tobacco and Robinson Crusoe, a book he read like other people read The Bible. My second favorite narrator was Ezra Jennings, a medical man and virtual outcast from society, trying to escape a past not his own. He broke my heart more than once, as did another outcast, Rosanna Spearman. To the other extreme, my least favorite narrator was Miss Clack, an obsessive compulsive religious fanatic and do gooder. But again, Mr. Collins showed his genius by presenting such a character as perfectly rational and righteous, if only in her own mind. The reader can't help but pity her even while wishing her away.

I see I've already gone on too long about this book without even mentioning that besides being entertaining, it raises some deep and troubling subjects such as xenophobia, chauvinism, the plunders of war being fair game regardless of their sacred value, among many other thought provoking ideas. This is also a morality tale without any preaching. It merely presents choices every single character made which either made that character admirable or not--at that point in time. Because the characters in this book are all very fluid, same as people are in real life. It added to the story's suspense since the reader couldn't ever be quite certain how a character would react and possibly cause a twist to events.

So after reading this mystery over the course of two weeks, did I guess who did what and why? No, not exactly, but I had my suspicions. And in the end, it wasn't as important "who done it" as how it was done, the very sequence of people and events colliding to lead to what happened. So if you enjoy mysteries that will have you thinking forward, backward, and in circles, and if you enjoy wonderful characters, and you haven't read this book yet, I recommend that you do. It's going onto my favorites shelf.

Favorite quotes:

"I am now somewhere between seventy and eighty years of age—never mind exactly where!"

"It is one of my rules in life, never to notice what I don't understand."

"We had our breakfasts—whatever happens in a house, robbery or murder, it doesn't matter, you must have your breakfast."

"Your tears come easy, when you're young, and beginning the world. Your tears come easy, when you're old, and leaving it. I burst out crying."

"People in high life have all the luxuries to themselves—among others, the luxury of indulging their feelings. People in low life have no such privilege. Necessity, which spares our betters, has no pity on us. We learn to put our feelings back into ourselves, and to jog on with our duties as patiently as may be. I don't complain of this—I only notice it."

"This is a miserable world," says the Sergeant. "Human life, Mr. Betteredge, is a sort of target—misfortune is always firing at it, and always hitting the mark."

"Crime brings its own fatality with it."

"I have merely been mistaken for somebody else. I have only been blindfolded; I have only been strangled; I have only been thrown flat on my back, on a very thin carpet, covering a particularly hard floor. Just think how much worse it might have been! I might have been murdered; I might have been robbed. What have I lost? Nothing but Nervous Force—which the law doesn't recognise as property; so that, strictly speaking, I have lost nothing at all."

Ενα καταπληκτικό κλασσικο βιβλίο γραμμένο το 1868 και είναι το πρώτο αστυνομικό βιβλίο στην αγγλική γλώσσα. Πρόκειται για ένα σπάνιο διαμάντι μεγάλης αξίας απο την Ινδία που χάθηκε μυστηριωδώς από τον τελευταίο κάτοχο του. Διαβάζουμε για την πορεία του διαμαντιού από τις διηγήσεις των χαρακτήρων του βιβλίου. Η ιστορία εξελίσσεται την Βικτωριανή εποχή ( από τις αγαπημένες μου ) και ο συγγραφέας δεν μας αποκαλύπτει τον δράστη στο μεγαλύτερο μέρος του βιβλίου. Σίγουρα θα σας αρέσει!!

I was especially keen to read “The Moonstone” since it's credited as having established many of the parameters and rules of the modern detective novel. Elements found in mysteries such as an English country house setting, red herrings, a clever investigator, a large number of suspects and a final plot twist might feel commonplace amongst many books in this genre now, but Collins' novel appears to have been one of the first to successfully combine these into a thrilling story. It concerns a legendary Indian diamond that's bequeathed to Rachel, an heiress who first wears the stone at her lavish birthday party. However, it goes missing during the night and it's disappearance concerns much more than simple thievery. There are many side plots and dramatic occurrences within the story which gradually unravels to produce a surprising conclusion.

It's no wonder this novel was a hit with the general public who read it in serial form when it first appeared in Charles Dickens' magazine. It was subsequently published as a book in 1868. Gabriel Betteredge, the household's head servant and the first narrator in this epistolary novel, is so charming and sweetly funny. He frequently reads a copy of “Robinson Crusoe” and compulsively refers to it for guidance as if it were the bible. Betteredge also strikes up a friendship with Sergeant Cuff, the renowned detective who takes charge of solving the case. However, their relationship becomes strained as Cuff's suspect list begins to include many members of the household including Rachel herself. I found the down-to-earth quality of both these men really endearing especially the way Cuff is actually more interested in retiring and growing roses than he is in seeing justice served.

Read my full review of The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins at LonesomeReader

I read this as a buddy read with my Goodreads’ friend Laura, and it was fun to discuss it as we went along. Reading it with her helped me persist and finish it. I’m appreciative to her for waiting for me while I waited for my library copy and then sometimes waiting for me to catch up with her while we read.

This book is incredibly hard for me to rate and even more difficult to review.

I’m going to settle on 2 stars, possibly coming close to 2 ½ stars. As usual, I’m rating based on my personal reading experience. What’s weird is that I can’t give it a higher rating, but usually I regret reading anything less than a 3 star book and sometimes anything less than a 4 star book. I’m getting pickier and pickier about how I spend my reading time. Yet I’m glad I read this book and I certainly enjoyed parts of it. Mostly it was just okay though. It was easy to put down and usually not easy to pick up, and when I read it was a struggle and rarely a page-turner. Much of the time it felt like work to read it. I read most of it at a glacial pace, and felt frustrated. At times it felt tortuous, at times I got pleasure from reading it.

I usually read everything in a book. Absolutely everything. I didn’t read the two introductions (many pages!) before I read the novel because luckily they warned of spoilers. I ‘d intended to read them after I finished the novel, but I didn’t. I’m skipping them. When I finished the last page of the novel I felt as though I’d read enough and didn’t want to read more about the book, except for some more Goodreads members’ reviews.

Part of my difficulty, I think, is that it had been many years since I’d read books from this era. It took me time to get used to the writing style. Anachronisms abound but since the book was written in the mid-1800s and the bulk of the story does take place during 1848-1849 I could forgive the sensibilities expressed. The sexism, nationalism, classism, and possibly racism were to be expected. The book was published as a serial and I could tell. It felt slow and meandering and sometimes confusing, and a lot happens, but I didn’t like the flow of the narrative. Also, the chapter numbers showed up just anywhere on the pages and were not highlighted for noticing in any way. I didn’t like the structure. My copy at least had a Contents page that showed the different narratives with the names of the characters narrating and their corresponding page numbers. That helped a lot. I sent that information to my buddy because she didn’t even have that as a guide of what was to come in her edition.

There were multiple narrators and that I found fun. I liked quite a few of the characters. Some just got dropped though, never to return. A couple of the characters are real hoots. I did enjoy a lot of the humor in the book. It is funny and witty and there is a lot of irreverence, all positives. I did smile and chuckle frequently. I did enjoy portions of it.

One main aspect re the solving of the mystery less than thrilled me (though it could have been worse) and I did like the two main resolutions. I also liked the unsolved mystery about one character. I thought that having that loose end made the book better. I have read that this is considered the “first modern mystery” and if that’s true it’s a decent one.

When I realized that one of the main characters was an avid fan of the book Robinson Crusoe I looked up that book’s plot and interpretations since I haven’t read it, and I was afraid I’d dislike this book because of what I learned about that novel, but it turned out to not really interfere with what enjoyment I had.

One thing that surprised me was that one of the characters, an attorney, said “Cool!” and used the expression in the way we would today. I thought that meaning of the word originated in the 1950s. I guess not.

I know that this book has mostly high ratings here and I look forward to seeing why others feel as they do about the book. I’ve read some reviews of it over the years. Now I’ll read more. Other than that I’m happy to be done with this book. Of all the Wilkie Collins books I thought I’d like this one best though I guess I’ll leave Woman in White on my to read list, at least for now.

Update March 2022: I just love this novel! It’s so compelling. The story is a twisty mystery, told by a series of unreliable or limited narrators. There’s great love, deceit, hidden lives, and a variety of addictions. It easily lends itself to discussions of class, culture, colonialism, prejudice, and the origins of the genre. But mostly it’s fun to read. Which I’ve done several times now, over the course of many years, and each time it is a completely lovely, completely absorbing distraction.

Original Review:
Satisfying on so many levels. Collins is a master of the unreliable narrator. I listened to the audiobook version created by Recorded Books and available through Audible. It is the best ensemble recording I've ever come across. Really just wonderful. I did a thorough review there for fellow listeners at http://www.audible.com/pd/Classics/Th... under the title "Satan Under the Tea Table" by Naesmile.

As good as anything I've read by Dickens. What a wonderful gallery of characters! House steward Gabriel Betteridge, with his overall loyalty and decency, and constant use of Robinson Crusoe as a guide through life, is one of the great characters in literature. That said, I found the haunted doctor Ezra Jennings to be one of those secondary characters that stay with you forever. Anyway, as many have noted, The Moonstone is considered the first, and still among the very best, of detective novels. I suppose so. It has a great detective in the rose loving Sgt. Cuff, but the reading impact of this book goes beyond the guilty pleasure of a genre read. The novel is bookended in such a way -- with the theft and eventual recovery of the diamond -- as to leave you feeling that you've just finished a piece of great and epic literature. Collins' obvious swipe at the human cost of British imperialism must have been considered bold stuff at the time.

someone tell betteredge robinson crusoe isn't the only book

Rereads generally work very well for me, as I have memory like a sieve. However, some books are more rewarding when re-reading than others and I usually only find out once I have committed to the reread. I first read The Moonstone decades ago and I enjoyed it very much, unfortunately even my poor memory still retains the outrageous denouement to the central mystery of the theft of the eponymous diamond. Still, I was curious to reread it as I remember enjoying it so much.


The Moonstone is about the theft of an Indian diamond from a country house on the night of a birthday party for eighteen-year-old Rachel Verinder. The theft and its continued disappearance have serious repercussions for the two main characters of the novel throughout the book which spans about a year. It also, directly and indirectly, causes the death of several characters. First published in 1868, this novel is deservedly lauded as the “proto-detective” novel.

The novel is structured in the epistolary format where multiple characters narrate sections of the story through their written accounts of their involvement in the case. The different narrative tones are very skillfully written, with the distinctive personality of each narrator coming through clearly. Some of the narrators are rather eccentric and unreliable and this adds a lot of flavors and humour to the narrative. I particularly like the grumpy butler Gabriel Betteredge who uses the book Robinson Crusoe as if it is  The I Ching , the fanatical evangelist, and – best of all – the almost Sherlockian Sergeant Cuff who would have solved the crime single-handedly if not for the stupid meddling kids (basically the two main characters Franklin Blake and Rachel Verinder.

There are quite a few other colorful characters I could mention but, if you are interested to read this book, the less you know about it the better.

There are a couple of issues with this book for me, the solution to the mystery stretches believability, but I suppose that is what makes it so memorable. The other issue is the depiction of Indian characters as inscrutable, sinister people, too foreign to be understood, not to mention evil. Racist much?

Sinister foreign types on this edition’s cover.

Neither flaws are too injurious to the overall quality of the book, it is a product of its time after all, and even ahead of its time in some ways. If you have never read Victorian literature before The Moonstone may be the ideal starting point, it is very readable even for modern readers who are not familiar with Victorian prose style. Wilkie Collins’  The Woman in White is even better than this (a lot better I would say) so I would recommend that as a starting point also.

Rating: 5 stars for the first read, 4 stars for the reread.

Note:
I mostly reread this book in  audiobook format, provided free by Librivox . As with the printed edition the book has multiple narrators, unfortunately, this is to the detriment of the audiobook as some readers are better than others; ranging from perfect to awful. The Mrs. Clack chapters are particularly hard to listen to. Ah well, can’t complain, they all graciously narrated the book for free, for which I am grateful.

Addendum: I just found an  alternate Librivox edition narrated by a single reader, Tony Addison, it does not sound like an improvement on the multiple readers one to be honest, but you may want to listen to some samples.

Quotes:
“the nature of a man’s tastes is, most times, as opposite as possible to the nature of a man’s business. Show me any two things more opposite one from the other than a rose and a thief; and I’ll correct my tastes accordingly.”

“Sergeant Cuff never laughed. On the few occasions when anything amused him, he curled up a little at the corners of the lips, nothing more.”

“Cultivate a superiority to reason, and see how you pare the claws of all the sensible people when they try to scratch you for your own good!”

“The cook looked as if she could grill Mr. Superintendent alive on a furnace, and the other women looked as if they could eat him when he was done.”

Sergeant Cuff is awesome!

I didn't expect much of this book, as I only decided to read it because it was on the 1001 list and I've often been disappointed by that list. But instead I ended up loving it! I love the writing style and I love the story, I love the characterization of the characters made through their different narratives of the story. In short, I love everything of this book. Collins doesn't write like a 19th century author at all, the feel of the book is very modern. I certainly want to read something else by him.

Well thank goodness for that!
I got a little bit bogged down with this one, maybe because I had two other books going at the same time which were quite fast paced and kept my attention.
I ended up liking the story of the diamond stolen from an Indian sacred statue but mostly I liked it for some of the characters who tell the story in 11 different narratives. My special favourite is Betteredge the old steward of the country house where much of the story takes place who relies on Robinson Crusoe for advice (it works for him) and the wonderfully imagined and named Ezra Jennings who turns up quite late in the proceedings but ultimately has a hand in the resolution of the case.
If you want a victorian (the "first" ) mystery complete with a detective, lots of villans, a suicide, a murder, a stolen jewel, a trio of Indians, an unrequited love and more then this is for you. If however you want a punchy, fast paced police crime book then give it a miss.
All in all I'm glad I read it but it was very tough going in the middle though the denouement was very satisfactory. :)