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The Moonstone

by Wilkie Collins (1824–1889)

  • Free to read
  • 13 hours to read
  • 47 chapters
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"The Moonstone" by Wilkie Collins is a novel published in 1868. A cursed Indian diamond, stolen during a colonial siege, arrives as an inheritance for young Rachel Verinder on her eighteenth birthday. That night, the precious stone vanishes from her bedroom, launching a complex investigation involving suspicious servants, mysterious Indian priests, and shocking betrayals. This pioneering detective story unfolds through multiple narrators, each revealing new layers of deception as they race to solve the theft and recover the legendary gem.

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  • England
  • Country homes
  • Police · England
  • Jewelry theft
  • East Indians · England
  • Mystery fiction

Read the opening

Prologue

THE STORMING OF SERINGAPATAM (1799):

(Extracted from a Family Paper.)

I

I address these lines—written in India—to my relatives in England.

My object is to explain the motive which has induced me to refuse the right hand of friendship to my cousin, John Herncastle. The reserve which I have hitherto maintained in this matter has been misinterpreted by members of my family whose good opinion I cannot consent to forfeit. I request them to suspend their decision until they have read my narrative. And I declare, on my word of honour, that what I am now about to write is, strictly and literally, the truth.

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Contents

Show all 47 chapters
  1. Prologue
  2. Chapter I
  3. Chapter II
  4. Chapter III
  5. Chapter IV
  6. Chapter V
  7. Chapter VI
  8. Chapter VII
  9. Chapter VIII
  10. Chapter IX
  11. Chapter X
  12. Chapter XI
  13. Chapter XII
  14. Chapter XIII
  15. Chapter XIV
  16. Chapter XV
  17. Chapter XVI
  18. Chapter XVII
  19. Chapter XVIII
  20. Chapter XIX
  21. Chapter XX
  22. Chapter XXI
  23. Chapter XXII
  24. Chapter XXIII
  25. Chapter I
  26. Chapter II
  27. Chapter III
  28. Chapter IV
  29. Chapter V
  30. Chapter VI
  31. Chapter VII
  32. Chapter VIII
  33. Chapter I
  34. Chapter II
  35. Chapter III
  36. Chapter I
  37. Chapter II
  38. Chapter III
  39. Chapter IV
  40. Chapter V
  41. Chapter VI
  42. Chapter VII
  43. Chapter VIII
  44. Chapter IX
  45. Chapter X
  46. Chapter I
  47. Epilogue

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About this edition

This free edition of The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #155, released 2006-01-12. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Crime, Thrillers and Mystery, Novels, British Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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