Synopsis "The Moonstone"

THE CLASSIC MYSTERY One of the first examples of the detective thriller novel. A priceless jewel, stolen from India and brought to England, is stolen. Franklin Blake's investigation brings to light a web of intrigue, theft and murder as he closes in on the most unlikely of thieves... Wilkie Collins' novel is now widely regarded as a classic, and one of the most influential crime novels ever written. It introduced many elements which have now become classic tropes of the mystery thriller genre.

Wilkie Collins

(Author)

View Author's Page

(London 1824-1889) Playwright, novelist, and prolific short story writer. At 17, he started working at a tea trading company while writing Ioláni, or Tahiti as it was (Gothic no. 32), a work that was not published until over a century after his death. He studied Law and, although he never practiced, he did use his legal knowledge in many of his works, and critics consider him one of the fathers of the detective genre. In 1851, he met Charles Dickens, with whom he formed a deep friendship and published his main works in his weekly All the Year Around. After Dickens' death in 1870, his popularity waned. He suffered from rheumatic gout which eventually led to an opium addiction. His tombstone epitaph highlights him as the author of the novel The Woman in White.

See less