The Moonstone

A fabulous gem is looted from a sacred Hindu shrine during he siege of an Indian city. With his dying breath one of the shrine's guardians tells Colonel John Herncastle that the Moonstone will have its revenge. Fifty years later, Herncastle bequeaths the diamond to his niece, Rachel Verinder as an eighteenth birthday gift. An act of generosity? Or merely trying to transfer the curse?

Rachel receives the jewel at a family gathering but when the next day dawns it is nowhere to be found. Scotland Yard's famed bloodhound Sergeant Cuff is soon on the case, but is thrown when the prime suspect commits suicide...

Teasing, tortuous and utterly gripping. The Moonstone was hailed by T.S Eliot as the first and best modern English detective novels.