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William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian era. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and which eventually led to paranoid delusions and the deterioration of his health. The first full length novel by Collins, «The Dead Secret», was originally written for serialization. A tale of unrelenting suspense and penetrating characterization, «The Dead Secret» tells of a mystery surrounding an untold secret of a dying wealthy woman. This woman's secret is shared only with her servant. Despite the woman's dying wish, the servant does not expose this secret but ends with an unpleasant result. Eventually the secret is revealed and all is understood in this blend of romance and Gothic drama.

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Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian Era. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and which eventually led to paranoid delusions and the deterioration of his health. «The Black Robe» (1881) is an epistolary novel written later in Collins' career, when his severe opium addiction led to a decline in the popularity of his writing. The story centers around Lewis Romayne, whose misadventures in life and love demand sympathy from any reader. Although criticized in its time for a perceived anti-Catholic bias, the novel is today appreciated for being, like most of Collins' work, a highly readable piece.

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William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian era. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and which eventually led to paranoid delusions and the deterioration of his health. «Man and Wife» is an involved novel of two generations of marriages that end in disaster. However, the novel is much more than the story of a helpless Victorian bride at the mercy of her tyrannical husband. Instead, «Man and Wife» explores the complex laws surrounding Irish and Scottish marriages in the 19th century. At that time, people in Scotland were considered married if they simply announced it. Collins's interest in the law, especially marriage and divorce, led to this novel with endless legal loopholes concerning what constitutes a marriage and what doesn't.

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William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian Era. Aside from his highly successful novels, Collins' short stories were eagerly awaited as they appeared in serial form in many English and American periodicals, including those of his close friend, Charles Dickens. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and which eventually led to paranoid delusions and the deterioration of his health. This edition contains Collins' entire collection of short fiction, including: «A Terribly Strange Bed,» the dark and suspenseful tale of a young man in a precarious hotel room, «The Frozen Deep,» and «The Dream Woman,» to name a few.

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Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian Era. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and which eventually led to paranoid delusions and the deterioration of his health. This collection of novellas, although varied in style and plotline, is a wonderful example of some of Wilkie's later work, as it became increasingly laden with social commentary. «Miss or Mrs.?» is a fast-paced story of malice, blackmail, marriage and fraud; «The Haunted Hotel» is perhaps Collins' last lucid work, its eerie and suspenseful story influenced heavily by Collins' severe opium addiction; and «The Guilty River» is the psychological and violent tale of two men in love with the same woman.

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Considered one of the first mystery novels, «The Woman in White» is Wilkie Collins's epistolary novel that tells the tale of Walter Hartright, who encounters a woman all dressed in white on a moonlit road in Hampstead. Hartright helps the woman to find her way back to London. The woman warns him against an unnamed baronet and when they part he discovers that she may have escaped from an asylum. Hartright travels to Cumberland where he takes up as an art tutor and meets two half-sisters, Laura Fairlie and Marian Halcombe, who are somehow entangled with this mysterious «woman in white».

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Generally considered as the first detective novel in the English language, «The Moonstone» is the story of a young woman named Rachel Verinder who inherits a large Indian diamond, the Moonstone, on her eighteenth birthday. At her eighteenth birthday party, Rachel wears the Moonstone for all to see, later that night the diamond is stolen and quickly an investigation ensues to discover the identity of the thief and recover the jewel. A genre defining novel, «The Moonstone» is a classic, one of Wilkie Collins best loved works.

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Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian Era. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and which eventually led to paranoid delusions and the deterioration of his health. «Armadale» is a semi-epistolary novel that was serialized in the 1860s, published as a novel in 1866. Although the book was popular, and sold for much more than similar works of the time, it was ultimately a financial failure for Collins and his publishers. The intricate story recounts the lives and relationships of two Allan Armadales, cousins who are seemingly destined to suffer for the sins of their fathers, the villainous Lydia Gwilt, a beautiful but fortune-hungry governess, and a slew of other dramatic and entertaining characters.

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First published serially in 1868, Wilkie Collins’s “The Moonstone” is generally considered as the first full length detective novel in the English language. The novel concerns a large valuable diamond plundered from India by Colonel Herncastle during the Siege of Seringapatam. Herncastle, who has been shunned by his own family, decides to bequeath the diamond to his niece Rachel Verinder on her eighteenth birthday. At her birthday party, Rachel wears the Moonstone for all to see, later that night the diamond goes missing from her room and quickly an investigation ensues to discover the identity of the thief and recover the jewel. Suspicion quickly falls upon three Indian jugglers at the party who are actually disguised Hindu priests who have dedicated their lives to recovering the diamond which has great religious significance. Despite the efforts of Sergeant Cuff, a renowned detective, the night ends with the mystery unsolved. Described by G. K. Chesterton as “probably the best detective tale in the world”, “The Moonstone” is one of Wilkie Collins’s most popular works which influenced the development an entirely new genre of fiction. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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Stolen from the forehead of a Hindu idol, the dazzling gem known as «The Moonstone» resurfaces at a birthday party in an English country home — with an enigmatic trio of watchful Brahmins hot on its trail. Laced with superstitions, suspicion, humor, and romance, this 1868 mystery draws readers into a compelling tale with twists and turns ranging from sleepwalking to experimentation with opium. The suspense and drama is heightened as the narrative passes from one colorful character to the next. Wilkie Collins' masterpiece is particularly distinguished by the appearance of Sergeant Cuff, a prototype of the English detective hero and the harbinger of a popular tradition of sleuthing.

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