However, their relationship becomes strained as Cuff's suspect list begins to include many members of the household including Rachel herself. Betteredge also strikes up a friendship with Sergeant Cuff, the renowned detective who takes charge of solving the case. He frequently reads a copy of “Robinson Crusoe” and compulsively refers to it for guidance as if it were the bible. Gabriel Betteredge, the household's head servant and the first narrator in this epistolary novel, is so charming and sweetly funny. It was subsequently published as a book in 1868. 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. There are many side plots and dramatic occurrences within the story which gradually unravels to produce a surprising conclusion. However, it goes missing during the night and it's disappearance concerns much more than simple thievery. It concerns a legendary Indian diamond that's bequeathed to Rachel, an heiress who first wears the stone at her lavish birthday party. 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. 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.

Novel the moonstone