The Moonstone, a yellow diamond looted from an Indian temple and believed to bring bad luck to its owner, is bequeathed to Rachel Verinder on her eighteenth birthday. That night the priceless stone is stolen again and when Sergeant Cuff is brought in to investigate the crime, he soon realizes that no one in Rachel's household is above suspicion.

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. Centred around a glorious yellow diamond, The Moonstone tells the story of Rachel Verinder, who inherits the stone on her 18th birthday. That very evening, the diamond is stolen and there begins an epic enquriy into hunting down the thief. Told from the perspective of 11different characters, Wilkie Collins' tale of mystery and suspicion was considered the first modern English detective novel at its time of publication.

Only the Woman in White knows the truth of Laura Fairlie's cruel husband. Can Walter Hartwright discover the terrible secret? From the moment Walter meets this mysterious woman, his future and that of Laura are linked forever.

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. 'The woman who first gives life, light, and form to our shadowy conceptions of beauty, fills a void in our spiritual nature that has remained unknown to us till she appeared.' One of the earliest works of 'detective' fiction with a narrative woven together from multiple characters, Wilkie Collins partly based his infamous novel on a real-life eighteenth century case of abduction and wrongful imprisonment. In 1859, the story caused a sensation with its readers, hooking their attention with the ghostly first scene where the mysterious 'Woman in White' Anne Catherick comes across Walter Hartright. Chilling, suspenseful and tense in mood, the novel remains as emotive for its readers today as when it was first published.

'The first and greatest of English detective novels' of T.S.Eliot. A fabulous yellow diamond becomes the dangerous inheritance of Rachel Verinder. Outside her Yorkshire country house watch the Hindu priests who have waited for many years to reclaim their ancient talisman, looted from the holy city of Somnauth. When the Moonstone disappears the case looks simple, but in mid-Victorian England no one is what they seem, and nothing can be taken for granted. Witnesses, suspects, and detectives take up the story in turn. The bemused butler, the love-stricken housemaid, the enigmatic detective Sergeant Cuff, the drug-addicted scientist, each speculate on the mystery as Collins weaves their narratives into a masterpiece of construction and suspense. But The Moonstone is more than just a detective novel or a murder mystery and this new edition features a fascinating introduction by John Sutherland which discusses the themes of Imperialism, Sensationalism and Mesmerism and the way in which they operate in the novel and within its cultural context.

At the centre of Hide and Seek (1854) a secret waits to be revealed. Why should the apparently respectable painter Valentine Blyth refuse to account for the presence in his household of the beautiful girl known as Madonna? It is not until his young friend Zack Thorpe, who is in rebellion against his repressive father, gets into bad company and meets a mysterious stranger that the secret of Madonna can be unravelled. Wilkie Collins's third novel, dedicated to his life-long friend Dickens, is a story in which excitement is combined with charm and humour. In its mixture of the everyday and the extraordinary, Hide and Seek forms a bridge between the domestic novel and the sensational fiction for which Collins later became famous.

«Part of the «Collector's Library» series, this title includes an Afterword, brief biography of the author and a further reading list.»

«Wilkie Collins is a master of mystery, and «The Woman in White» is his first excursion into the genre. When the hero, Walter Hartright, on a moonlit night in north London, encounters a solitary, terrified and beautiful woman dressed in white, he feels impelled to solve the mystery of her distress. The intricate plot is peopled with a finely characterised cast, from the peevish invalid Mr Fairlie to the corpulent villain Count Fosco and the enigmatic woman herself.»

The woman in white first appears at night on a lonely heath near London and is next seen at a grave-side in Cumberland. Who is she? Where has she come from, and what is her history? She seems alone and friendless, frightened and confused. And it seems she knows a secret — a secret that could bring ruin and shame to a man who will do anything to keep her silent. This famous mystery thriller by Wilkie Collins has excitement, suspense, romance, and a plot that twists and turns on every page.

Only the Woman in White knows the truth of Laura Fairlie's cruel husband. Can Walter Hartwright discover the terrible secret? From the moment Walter meets this mysterious woman, his future and that of Laura are linked forever.

«Porthgenna Tower on the remote western Cornish coast. Moments before her death, Mrs Treverton dictates a secret to her maid, never to be passed to her husband as she had instructed. Fifteen years later, when Mrs Treverton's daughter, Rosamond, returns to Porthgenna with her blind husband, Leonard, she is intrigued by the strange and seemingly disturbed Mrs Jazeph's warning not to enter the Myrtle Room in the ruined north wing. Strong-minded and ingenious, Rosamond's determined detective work uncovers shocking and unsettling truths beyond all expectation. A mystery of unrelenting suspense and psychologically penetrating characters, «The Dead Secret» explores the relationship between a fallen woman, her illegitimate daughter, and buried secrets in a superb blend of romance and Gothic drama. Wilkie Collins's fifth novel, «The Dead Secret» anticipates the themes of his next novel, «The Woman in White» in its treatment of mental illness, disguise and deception, and the dispossession of lost identity. Yet a series of comic figures offsets the tension, from the dyspeptic Mr Phippen to the perpetually smiling governess, Miss Sturch. Displaying the talent and energy which made Collins the most popular novelist of the 1860s, «The Dead Secret» represents a crucial phase in Collins's rise as a mystery writer, and was his first full-length novel written specifically for serialization.»

Classic / British English (Available April 2008) The Moonstone is an ancient Indian diamond which brings disaster to everyone who owns it. Rachel Verinder's uncle gives her the diamond as a birthday present, but that same night it is stolen The Moonstone is now seen as the first, and one of the best, English detective novels.

This is a unique collection of strange stories from the cunning pen of Wilkie Collins, author of The Woman in White and The Moonstone. The Star attraction is the novella The Haunted Hotel, a clever combination of detective and ghost story set in Venice, a city of grim waterways, dark shadows and death. The action takes place in an ancient palazzo coverted into a modern hotel that houses a grisly secret. The supernatural horror, relentless pace, tight narrative, and a doomed countess characterise and distinguish this powerful tale. The other stories present equally disturbing scenarios, which include ghosts, corpses that move, family curses and perhaps the most unusual of all, the Devil's spectacles, which bring a clarity of vision that can lead to madness.

Late one night, on a lonely road near London, Walter Hartright, a young drawing teacher, meets a solitary woman dressed in white. This is the opening scene of The Woman in White, a great Victorian sensation novel, full of mystery, excitement, and suspense. Who is the mysterious woman in white, and why is she alone on the road to London at midnight?

On her eighteenth birthday, Rachel Verinder receives a very special present: the Moonstone – a large yellow diamond from India: but that night the Moonstone is stolen… In what T. S. Eliot called ‘the first, the longest, and the best of modern detective novels’, Wilkie Collins tells a story full of mystery, suspense and psychological insight.