Wilkie Collins
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First published serially in 1868, Wilkie Collins's "The Moonstone" is generally considered the first full length detective novel in the English language. The Moonstone, a large and valuable, yellow diamond, plundered from an Indian temple by Colonel Herncastle during the Siege of Seringapatam, is rumored to bring bad luck to its owner. The Colonel bequeathes the diamond to his niece Rachel Verinder on her eighteenth birthday. At her birthday party,...
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I am going to try if I can't write something about myself. My life has been rather a strange one. It may not seem particularly useful or respectable; but it has been, in some respects, adventurous; and that may give it claims to be read, even in the most prejudiced circles. I am an example of some of the workings of the social system of this illustrious country on the individual native, during the early part of the present century; and, if I may say...
4) No Name
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No Name is a 19th-century novel by the master of sensation fiction, Wilkie Collins. A country gentleman is killed in an accident and his wife dies shortly after him. The blow is double for their daughters, who discover that they were born before their parents were married. Their sudden illegitimacy robs them of their inheritance and their accustomed place in society.
5) Antonina
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In preparing to compose a fiction founded on history, the writer of these pages thought it no necessary requisite of such a work that the principal characters appearing in it should be drawn from the historical personages of the period. On the contrary, he felt that some very weighty objections attached to this plan of composition. He knew well that it obliged a writer to add largely from invention to what was actually known - to fill in with the...
6) Armadale
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If you can't get enough of classic British mystery novels, dive into this spine-tingling tale of mistaken identity penned by Wilkie Collins, the author of The Woman in White and The Moonstone. The tale, told partly through letters and documents, recounts the intertwined lives and fates of two distant cousins who both happen to bear the name 'Allan Armadale.'
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William, the narrator and faithful servant to rich widow, Mrs. Norcross, tells the story of his mistress' unhappy second marriage to James Smith. A detective lawyer's clerk, Mr. Dark, both confirms Smith's bigamous remarriage and, following his disappearance, proves Mrs. Norcross and William innocent of murder. Dark also recovers jewelry stolen by the maidservant and establishes her guilt.
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When Lord Montbarry dies suddenly in his Venice palace, and his courier goes missing, suspicion is instantly thrown on his new wife, the beautiful Countess Narona, who has collected his life insurance and fled to America. Montbarry's former fiancé Agnes, still harboring feelings for him, and Henry Westwick, Montbarry's younger brother, decide to investigate this tragedy and head for the palace, now a hotel. Not long after their arrival they experience...
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A fascinating short story by the renowned author of The Woman in White, Captain Stanwick and Lionel Varleigh are old friends, but after falling out over their attentions to Bertha Laroche, they fight an illegal duel in Herne Wood. Stanwick, wrongly convinced he has killed Varleigh, goes mad and attempts to kill himself with a razor … when his supposed victim returns like an apparition from the dead.
11) The Yellow Mask
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The Yellow Mask, a gothic romance filled with mystery and suspense that will hold you riveted from beginning to end. A scheming priest, Father Rocco of Pisa, decides the inheritance and great wealth of Count Fabio d'Ascoli was stolen from the church many generations ago and aims to steal it back. In order to do so, the priest manipulates Fabio's true love, the sweet model Nanina, to leave Pisa. ather Rocco then engineers a wedding between Fabio and...
13) The Evil Genius
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Kitty is the child of Herbert and Catherine Linley, a spoiled, coddled little girl who is at the same time-in the tradition of all Victorian children-adorable. The Evil Genius begins with the story of Kitty's ill-fated governess Sydney Westerfield, a girl thrown aside in the grand tradition of Jane Eyre and David Copperfield. And now an "evil genius" is threatening to rip apart the fabric of the Linley home. Who is it, and why? Is it the orphaned...
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Artist Walter Hartright arrives at Limmeridge House to instruct wealthy half-sisters Marian and Laura Fairlie. Their peaceful lives are marred by a strange woman dressed in white, who brings disturbing warnings to the family. When Laura announces her engagement to the dashing Sir Percival Glyde, it seems the darkness haunting them is lifting. But new dangers lurk closer than ever, and the only hope for averting disaster lies with the secret held by...
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Tells of a pair of half sisters whose lives end up caught in a grand conspiracy revolving around a mentally ill woman dressed in white. As the story unfolds, murder, love, marriage, and greed stand between the two women and happy lives. Their only hope is the secret the woman in white waits to tell them.