Hurray!  I finally finished this very long and very drawn out detective story, referred to by T.S. Eliot as “the first, the longest, and the best” of modern English detective stories.  It was originally published in serial form from January through August of 1868 in the periodical “All the Year Round.”  P.D. James, in her introduction to the Oxford Classic edition of the book, called it “one of the most perfectly plotted and technically brilliant novels in the English language moving confidently forward in its variety, its richness, and its sustained excitement.”  She goes on to write that “no major novel conforms more perfectly to the central convention of the detective story: a mysterious crime at the heart of the book; a closed circle of suspects with motives, means, and opportunity for the act; a detective, either amateur or professional, called in to solve the mystery, and at the end of the novel, an artistically satisfying solution based on logical deduction from the clues provided which combines the elements of surprise, excitement, and credibility.”

That brilliant characterization from one of England’s greatest detective writers was reason enough to read the book, but sadly, after James’ Introduction, there wer 542 more pages to get through before we learned who had stolen the famous cursed eponymous jewel.  The details are less important than the process, but it was way too long probably the result of Collins’ need to have readers return to magazine for the next episode.

I can’t describe the plot without giving away the answer to ‘who dunnit’, but suffice it to say that there is a rich group of characters, settings, twists and turns.  If one is confined to a Yorkshire cottage in bad weather, one could do a lot worse that to read “The Moonstone”, but if you’re not in that situation, I’d go with Robert B. Parker, Simenon, or even Agatha Christie, Collins’ descendants.