SStolen from the forehead of a Hindu idol, the dazzling gem known as The Moonstone resurfaces at a birthday party in an English country home—with an enigmatic trio of watchful Hindu priests hot on its trail. The suspense and drama of this 1868 mystery builds as the narrative passes from one colorful character to the next, drawing readers into a compelling mystery that abounds in romance, humor, and superstition.
Acclaimed by T. S. Eliot as "the best of modern English detective novels" and by Dorothy L. Sayers as "probably the finest detective story ever written," The Moonstone forever changed crime fiction. Author Wilkie Collins instituted many of the genre's conventions, including the introduction of a detective with unusual deductive powers who unravels a  crime through a systematic process of inquiry. Collins' winning combination of the sensational and the realistic continues to influence and enchant modern mystery writers and readers.