6/1/2023 0 Comments The moonstone bookThe original crime in The Moonstone, the theft of the Tippoo diamond after the fall of Seringapatam, is Collins's masterstroke. The Moonstone has this, and more, all of it brilliantly executed. Finally, there's a denouement replete with surprise, excitement and a plausible solution. Its influence continues to animate the work of crime writers such as PD James.Ĭertainly, Collins adheres faithfully to the rules of detective fiction: a mysterious and compelling crime takes place in an English country house a large cast of potential suspects is assembled, each with plenty of motive, means and opportunity an incompetent constabulary is replaced by a celebrated sleuth/ investigator who, after a "reconstruction" of key elements in the crime, comes up with a satisfying explanation of the puzzle, based on a brilliant analysis of the clues. Dorothy L Sayers, a queen of crime in the 1930s and 40s, echoing Eliot, pronounced it "probably the finest detective story ever written". TS Eliot, claiming that the genre was "invented by Collins and not by Poe", declared it to be "the first, the longest and the best of modern English detective novels". The Moonstone is often said to be the godfather of the classic English detective story, its founding text.
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