Publisher's Synopsis
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
The novel Moonstone focuses squarely on a priceless yellow diamond. This diamond is highly prized by the Hindu religion of India and is stolen from the head of one of their stone deities. The diamond was guarded by three Brahmins (Hindu priests or preachers). This diamond was not like any ordinary if you can call ordinary diamonds, diamond. This diamond was embedded in his idol of the moon god, which gave him the nickname "moonstone". The stone was stolen by a man named John Hernscastle. The perspective then changes to Lady Verinder. John gives the diamond to Lady Verinder to give to her daughter Rachel Verinder. One night, the night of dinner, Franklin presents the diamond to Rachel. Rachel Verinder takes the diamond into her custody and takes good care of it. Rachel and Franklin were deeply in love and Rachel would not want anyone else. That night her cousin Godfrey Ablewhite arrives and tries to propose to her. Being a known philanthropist, he was a suitable man, but Rachel turned him down. Then while enjoying dinner, Rachel Verinder puts down the diamond (ring) for a bit. Rachel returns to claim her precious but discovers that it has been stolen.
The local police are called and the story begins from there. The investigation is led by Superintendent Seegrave and is eventually relayed to London's stalwart glory, Sergeant Cuff. Cuff thinks the culprit is the maid Rosanna. Rosanna had some personal debts so the reason was present. Unfortunately, Rosanna was found hiding a package and sadly committed suicide. They come to find out that she was secretly in love with Franklin when they delve into the story. The family moves to London to distract Rachel from all the hectic cases. Franklin Blake realizes that for as long as they had the diamond, India and London, they had been secretly followed by suspicious Indians. The group then tracks the diamond to the bank of a moneylender named Septimus Luker.
As stated before, Rosanna committed suicide because she loved Franklin. It was because she had proof that she took the diamond and, in an interview with Rachel, she also confirmed that Franklin took the diamond. Seeing this, Franklin was confused and wanted to clear his name. Fortunately, a local physician's assistant, Ezra Jennings, discovered that by using a dose of opium, someone made Franklin take the diamond on purpose, leaving Franklin with no idea of her crime. Upon discovering that their love was vindicated, they reconciled and became engaged. As for the diamond, Mr. Bruff (the family attorney) traced its location from the bank to a mysterious dark-skinned sailor who lay murdered. The sailor was Godfrey Ablewhite; who gave the opium to Franklin. Franklin then took the diamond and gave it to Godfrey to be kept safely in his father's bank. In secret, Godfrey kept the gem and pawned it for money and had just stolen it. He planned to bring the gem to Europe to be rebuilt and sold. Consequently, he was killed by suspicious Indians who later took the moonstone. Then the moonstone was placed back on the forehead of the idol from which it was first stolen.