The Moonstone by Wilke Collins (1963)

The Moonstone by Wilke Collins published by Oxford University Press in 1962 in London. is a lovely little blue cloth bound book with gold embossing. It's in lovely shape for being such a girl of advanced years. This edition has a forward by T. S. Eliot. I love this piece as a decorative object, but I found myself unable to keep from browsing through the lovely printed pages.  Books just don't look like (or smell like) this any more. 

Wilkie Collins’s spellbinding tale of romance, theft, and murder inspired a hugely popular genre–the detective mystery. Hinging on the theft of an enormous diamond originally stolen from an Indian shrine, this riveting novel features the innovative Sergeant Cuff, the hilarious house steward Gabriel Betteridge, a lovesick housemaid, and a mysterious band of Indian jugglers.