Project Gutenberg 2006-01-12 Public domain in the USA. 2247 Collins, Wilkie 1824 1889 Collins, William Wilkie The Moonstone Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moonstone John Hamm and David Widger "The Moonstone" by Wilkie Collins is a novel written during the late 19th century and is often regarded as one of the earliest detective stories in English literature. The book revolves around the mysterious disappearance of a valuable diamond known as the Moonstone, which is steeped in Indian legend and believed to carry a curse. The narrative begins with a prologue that sets the stage for a family feud and introduces key characters, including the enigmatic Colonel Herncastle and his cousin, the protagonist Gabriel Betteredge. At the start of the novel, the narrative unfolds through a letter that recounts the tension between two cousins stemming from a conflict related to the diamond and a historical backdrop steeped in intrigue surrounding its origins in India. The opening chapters reveal Herncastle's violent and shadowy character, emphasizing the weight of the Moonstone's legacy and the potential curse that comes with it, raising questions of guilt and the supernatural. The themes of theft, revenge, and moral reckoning are hinted at, promising a complex web of suspense as the various characters' lives become entwined with the fate of the fabled gem. This rich opening sets the tone for an engaging mystery that invites readers to solve its riddles alongside the characters. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 80.9 (6th grade). Easy to read. en England -- Fiction Country homes -- Fiction Police -- England -- Fiction Jewelry theft -- Fiction East Indians -- England -- Fiction Mystery fiction PR Text Detective Fiction Mystery Fiction Category: Crime, Thrillers and Mystery Category: Novels Category: British Literature 1186272 2025-07-01T04:27:25.724926 text/html 1235031 2022-09-09T12:41:11 text/html 661958 2025-07-01T04:27:36.818901 application/epub+zip 662252 2025-07-01T04:27:26.919936 application/epub+zip 557729 2025-07-01T04:27:26.326907 application/epub+zip 942177 2025-07-01T04:27:44.798847 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 888449 2025-07-01T04:27:36.332852 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 785244 2022-09-09T14:00:32.754125 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1135556 2025-07-01T04:27:24.570914 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 1135325 2022-09-09T12:42:56 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 20335 2025-07-01T04:27:44.936826 application/rdf+xml 35457 2025-07-01T04:27:26.449901 image/jpeg 4902 2025-07-01T04:27:26.387908 image/jpeg 410796 2022-09-09T12:43:23 application/octet-stream application/zip 891872 2022-09-09T12:44:01 application/octet-stream application/zip 889005 2025-07-01T04:27:25.817940 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia