by Wilkie Collins
ages: adult
First sentence: “I address these lines — written in India — to my relatives in England.”
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Ten things about this classic mystery:
1. Basic plot summary: sacred diamond taken from India, gets bequeathed to flighty high-class (Victorian) girl, gets stolen same night. Who done it?
2. I did like this book a LOT better than I liked Woman in White.
3. Though, I think it had some similar problems — it was too slow for almost too long, and all the characters were pretty one-sided. But…
4. About 2/3 of the way through, it takes a sharp left turn which, no matter how clever you are, you will most likely not see coming.
5. And that totally makes the novel.
6. As for characters: I liked Sargent Cuff: he was very clever, though Collins didn’t let us know how much Cuff knew until the very end.
7. Which is kind of cheating, you think?
8. However, Betteredge was a HILARIOUS narrator. As was Miss Clack.
9. In fact, this one was funnier overall than Woman in White. (Which means it really wasn’t all that suspenseful.)
10. That said, it lacks the good baddies that Woman in White had. There really wasn’t a real bad guy in this one, and I felt that loss. One wants a good bad guy to hate.
Overall, though: a fun mystery. Glad I read it.
The Book Nut 
Sounds intriguing. This has been on my TBR pile for a long time . . . I need to get to it!
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I didn't feel like the characters in Woman in White were one sided at all. I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to this one.
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I am relieved to read that you liked Moonstone better than Woman In White since while I enjoyed the latter I didn't think it was all that great and I already own Moonstone so your liking it relieves some of the anxiety I feel about reading it.
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good review! Strangely enough, I am reading Drood at the moment, and part of what I read today was Wilke talking to Dickens about a book he was going to write concerning a cursed “gem” and the detectives name would be Sargent Cuff! and then i log on to the reviews and you had this particular review… *i think i hear suspenseful music playing in the background!” hehehe
I have the woman in white in my tbr pile it sounds like I may have to add this book to my wish list!
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Wahoo! I thought this one WAS a GEM 🙂 Glad you liked it 🙂 I think I liked it better than Woman in White too, for the reasons you mentioned.
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I really need to read this one!
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Everyone keeps saying this is even better than The Woman in White, which I'm in love it. So I really must read it before the end of RIP!
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