William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist, playwright and short story writer best known for The Woman in White(1859) and The Moonstone(1868). The last has been called the first modern English detective novel. Born to the family of a painter, William Collins, in London, he grew up in Italy and France, learning French and Italian.
The moonstone makes for a good 5 star read. I would recommend the readers to read this book. One of the best mystery novels that I have come across after Sherlock Holmes.
The moonstone which is part of Indian legacy for centuries and safeguarded by three Brahmins in India. Until one day colonel Herncastle takes the precious and highly protected stone back to England. It was one of his usual foul deeds in his life.
His niece Rachel, daughter of Lady Verinder receives The moonstone on her eighteenth birthday. But only to lose the precious stone the very next day. On the other side of the story, the three Brahmins who have been given the responsibility to guard the stone have reached to England to get hold of it and bring the stone back to its place
The mystery of the entire story revolves around finding back the diamond from the culprit. Each character plays an equally important and significant role in retrieving the diamond. I loved a few characters loved in the story.
Miss Virender – Loved her for the fact she stood her ground for her choices and opinions. She held her head high and strong for what she wanted, in a time when it trait preferred more in men than women. She stood for her love too
Sergeant Cuff – I loved him for the fact that he was similar in many aspects to Sherlock Holmes. He knew his way around while working cases. He had an acute sense of understanding of people and a great reader of body language. Although he did a few mistakes, he was right on judging who the Culprit was
There two or three others that I loved them for what they and what they stood.
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