Wilkie Collins Books in Order

A play set in Trinidad around 1830, where Englishman Stephen Westcraft and Creole count Maurice de Layrac compete for an heiress. When Westcraft exposes the count's mixed race ancestry and buys him as a slave, legal twists and a final reversal test the meaning of freedom.

A varied collection of essays and short stories taken from Collins's magazine work, blending light satire, travel sketches, historical pieces, and social comment to showcase his interests beyond the major sensation novels.

This collection, selected by Herbert van Thal, brings together a dozen of Collins's most eerie pieces, including "The Dream Woman," "A Terribly Strange Bed," "Mad Monkton," and "Mr Policeman and the Cook," emphasizing his talent for atmospheric, slow building horror.

A curated sampler of Collins's shorter fiction, this volume gathers several of his most chilling and inventive tales, highlighting his range from gambling horror to domestic mystery and supernatural unease.

Collins's first book is a detailed biography of his father, landscape painter William Collins, tracing his training, travels, Royal Academy career, and family life within the fast changing artistic world of early nineteenth century Britain.

Written as a continuation of Dickens's unfinished *The Mystery of Edwin Drood*, this collaborative novel offers one Victorian attempt to solve the riddle of choirmaster John Jasper, his opium dreams, and the disappearance of his nephew.

After a riding accident upends her uncle's quiet household, Miss Mina finds herself drawn into the secrets of a new groom whose shadowy past, shifting loyalties, and sudden violence threaten both her safety and her heart.

Iris Henley defies her family to marry Irish aristocrat and political conspirator Lord Harry Norland, then must confront how far loyalty can excuse crime when his nationalist zeal slides into insurance fraud, murder, and self destruction.

Anxious about "hereditary evil," a prison governor watches the life of a minister's adopted daughter whose birth mother was executed for murder, as jealousy, poison, and a near fatal inheritance test whether character is fate or choice.

In Pisa, humble embroiderer Nanina loves nobleman Fabio d'Ascoli, but scheming priest Father Rocco plots to divert Fabio's fortune to the Church. Disguises, a sham apparition in a yellow shroud, and a terrifying masked figure haunt the lovers' path.

An American edition of *Rambles Beyond Railways*, this travel book follows Collins on foot through Cornwall, recording rugged scenery, mining communities, seaside legends, and the oddities of Victorian tourism.

Fourteen compact tales originally written for periodicals, including ghostly "Mrs Zant and the Ghost," romantic intrigues like "Mr Lismore and the Widow," and comic crime such as "Mr Policeman and the Cook," each built around a single twist or revelation.

Returning to his inherited estate, Gerard Roylake renews his childhood love for miller's daughter Cristel and meets the mysterious deaf lodger at the mill. A dark triangle of obsession, disguise, and thwarted desire unfolds along the river that seems to share their guilt.

A seemingly solid middle class marriage collapses when Herbert Linley falls for his daughter's governess, leaving his wife Catherine to fight a bruising custody battle while navigating the spiteful interference of her mother, the so called evil genius.

Elderly, wealthy Miss Dulane enters a marriage of convenience with impoverished Lord Howel Beaucourt, only to discover that her companion once rejected him under a false name. Changing fortunes and old secrets complicate a quietly tender love story.

A late short tale in which Collins builds a small mystery around a seemingly harmless piece of verse, using misunderstandings, personal testimony, and a few well chosen lines of poetry to steer suspicion and reveal unexpected motives.

In Kensington Gardens a widower and his little daughter twice encounter Mrs Zant, a young widow convinced her husband's spirit appears in daylight to warn her of danger. His struggle between scepticism and sympathy gives this gentle ghost story its tension.

A modern selection of Collins's shorter fiction, this anthology gathers tales of mystery and suspense such as "The Last Stage Coachman," "A Terribly Strange Bed," and "The Diary of Anne Rodway," offering a concentrated dose of his sensation style.

Music teacher Mr Medhurst is swept into minor court intrigue when he is asked to coach a young princess and she falls in love with him. To avert scandal he is quietly exiled, and must rebuild his life and affections elsewhere.

An Italian theatre visit eerily foreshadows the fate of Englishman Lepel and his proud friend Rothsay. When Lepel seemingly falls fatally ill, he marries gatekeeper's daughter Susan so she will be an heiress for Rothsay, only to discover his housekeeper has been poisoning him.

Orphaned Emily Brown turns amateur detective after a cryptic note reading "I say no" hints that her father's death was not what it seemed. Schoolgirl friendships, forged references, and a disgraced clergyman's past converge in a case of supposed murder that proves to be suicide.

In financial trouble, Ernest Lismore reluctantly agrees to a "token" marriage with an older widow he once saved from a fire, in exchange for her help. Years later he falls for a younger woman and discovers, to his shock, they are the same person testing his loyalty.

Written as an attack on vivisection, this novel sets warm hearted Carmina and her fiercely protective nurse against her scientifically ambitious aunt, Mrs Gallilee. Young doctor Ovid Vere must choose between clinical detachment and compassion as hidden experiments come to light.

A brief late story in which Collins plays with the figure of a talented female doctor and the gossip she attracts, folding light social comedy, romantic hesitation, and a pointed moral twist into a compact narrative.

Haunted by a fatal duel, sensitive landowner Lewis Romayne falls under the influence of scheming Jesuit Father Benwell, who hopes to secure Romayne's estate for the Church. The novel follows Romayne's wavering faith, his marriage to Stella, and a sustained battle over his conscience and inheritance.

Two junior naval officers overstay and overspend while lodging ashore, only to find they cannot pay their bills when their ship recalls them. Their enterprising landlady proposes an unusual settlement: one of them must marry her, leading to comic bargaining and second thoughts.

Shopkeeper's daughter Nancy Morris becomes a governess through the help of a distant patron. After she aids a mysterious stranger on the road and gently rejects his advances, their paths cross again in the north, where his true identity and intentions emerge.

On his deathbed a former London constable confesses the unsolved case that still haunts him, a boardinghouse stabbing where the victim's sleepwalking young wife feared she had killed her husband. The tale unpicks locked rooms, somnambulism, and misread clues in classic Collins fashion.

A reworking that places notorious Lydia Gwilt from *Armadale* center stage, tracing her earlier history of bigamy, forgery, and survival before she sets her sights on the young heir whose very name recalls her first great wrong.

Set between London and Frankfurt, this poison laden novel pits progressive businesswoman Mrs Wagner against sinister widow Mrs Fontaine, whose knowledge of drugs and willingness to manipulate the sick and simple minded drive a plot of attempted murder, corporate intrigue, and unorthodox philanthropy.

After Lord Montbarry jilted Agnes Lockwood to marry the enigmatic Countess Narona, he dies in a decaying Venetian palazzo soon turned into a hotel. Agnes's later visit uncovers insurance fraud, murder, and ghostly manifestations in one of Collins's most atmospheric tales.

Exiled from his American utopian commune, idealistic Amelius Goldenheart arrives in London and becomes entangled with four "fallen leaves" women damaged by hypocrisy and exploitation. His rescue of teenage street prostitute Simple Sally confronts Victorian respectability with his own brand of Christian socialism.

A dying sailor passes a young gentleman a pair of spectacles said to come from the Devil himself. When worn, they reveal people's real thoughts and feelings, turning a romantic tangle into a wry study of wishful thinking and unwelcome truth.

When a bank note vanishes from a letter in the house of impulsive Lady Lydiard, suspicion falls on her gentle companion Isabel. A shrewd old lawyer and plain speaking steward Robert Moody pursue the truth through petty jealousies and class prejudice.

Told by a country clergyman looking back on his life, this story follows wealthy outsider Mr Marmaduke into a remote Scottish parish, where his courtship of the minister's daughter tests local prejudice, piety, and the narrator's own understanding of love and duty.

In London, a French émigré fortune teller, Dr Lagarde, foretells that two men will fight a duel over the same woman and that politics will later endanger them again. As events unfold exactly as predicted, questions of fate, free will, and loyalty sharpen.

Old friends Captain Stanwick and Lionel Varleigh quarrel over lively Bertha Laroche and fight an illegal duel in Herne Wood. Believing he has killed Varleigh, Stanwick descends into madness, while a shocking reappearance and a courtroom drama decide Bertha's future.

Childhood sweethearts George and Mary are separated when his father takes him to America, but an old woman's prophecy insists their destinies are joined. Years later, after bigamy, illness, and a near drowning, they are reunited through dreams, visions, and sheer persistence.

In this Polynesian romance, an aging sea captain's ship is blown off course to a remote island where he meets the captivating Aimata and a powerful priest. Collins revisits themes of forbidden love, ritual, and cultural collision first explored in his early novel of Tahiti.

Newlywed Valeria learns that her husband once stood trial in Scotland for poisoning his first wife and received the anomalous "Not Proven" verdict. Refusing to accept a cloud over his name, she conducts her own dogged investigation to uncover what really happened.

Headed by "The Frozen Deep," inspired by Arctic exploration, this collection includes the story of a woman who foresees that one of two rival suitors will die saving the other on a doomed polar voyage, along with other shorter pieces of love and sacrifice.

Set in rural America, this version of *The Dead Alive* has an English visitor narrate how simmering rivalry over a spirited young woman, a disappearance in a lime kiln, and a belated return from the dead expose a miscarriage of justice.

Narrated by a woman who falls in love with a man considered mad after epileptic seizures and legal misfortune, this two part story explores how circumstantial evidence can strip someone of property and reputation, and what steadfast affection dares to risk.

Former prostitute Mercy Merrick seizes a chance to start afresh by assuming the identity of a respectable young woman during wartime chaos. Her past, a principled clergyman, and rigid Victorian morality collide in a pointed study of the "fallen woman" question.

Also known as *John Jago's Ghost*, this novella, inspired by a real American murder case, traces how two cousins are condemned for killing a rival who later turns out to be alive, highlighting the dangers of circumstantial evidence.

Fifteen year old Natalie Graybrook is engaged to middle aged merchant Richard Turlington, whom she detests, while secretly loving young cousin Launce. A risky plan for a clandestine marriage collides with Turlington's financial desperation and willingness to use violence.

Blind since infancy, high spirited Lucilla Finch falls in love with Oscar Dubourg, only for a head injury and radical medical treatment to threaten both his health and his looks. A twin brother's deception turns her struggle to balance love, sight, and trust into a tense triangle.

Built around quirks of Scottish marriage law, this novel follows Anne Silvester, compromised by athlete Geoffrey Delamayn, who tries to cast her off to marry money. Legal loopholes, a forged union, and a brilliant old lawyer drive a fierce attack on marital injustice and the cult of sport.

When a sacred Indian diamond vanishes from Rachel Verinder's bedroom after her birthday, suspicion falls on servants, suitors, and Rachel herself. Told through multiple narrators, the investigation introduces Sergeant Cuff and many of the devices that would define the modern detective novel.

Co written with Charles Dickens, this story begins with a foundling given the wrong name and follows the consequences into wine cellars, Swiss passes, and a treacherous business partnership, mixing melodrama, mistaken identity, and Alpine peril.

Two young men, both named Allan Armadale and linked by a dark legacy of betrayal at sea, become close friends. Into their lives sweeps brilliant, dangerous Lydia Gwilt, whose schemes of bigamy and murder make this one of Collins's wildest and most psychologically rich sensation novels.

Sisters Norah and Magdalen Vanstone learn after their parents' sudden deaths that they are legally illegitimate and disinherited. The obedient elder accepts a reduced life, while actress Magdalen, aided by slippery Captain Wragge, embarks on a daring, morally risky campaign to win back their fortune.

A compact late Victorian tale where Collins builds suspense around a long buried domestic incident hinted at in the title, using his gift for legal uncertainty and quiet menace rather than overt melodrama.

A dark short story in which a deed of revenge is prepared as carefully as a recipe, using a literal cauldron of oil. Collins blends moral outrage with a grisly sense of justice.

Drawing master Walter Hartright's midnight meeting with a mysterious woman dressed in white leads him to shy heiress Laura Fairlie and her bold half sister Marian. Together they confront scheming Sir Percival Glyde and charismatic Count Fosco in a labyrinth of identity theft and confinement.

Three elderly brothers in a remote house tell a sequence of stories to delay their beloved niece's departure, hoping for her father's return. The framed tales range from crime to the supernatural, united by family affection and suspenseful storytelling.

Another shared Christmas project, this volume centers on friends who take a supposedly haunted country house and each sleep in a different room, later describing their experiences. Collins contributes one of the embedded ghostly narratives.

A sailor's yarn about a doomed brig and a violent explosion becomes, under Collins's hand, a study in cowardice and courage at sea, as the narrator revisits the choices that decided who lived and who died.

A comic detective sketch in which an overconfident private investigator, determined to expose a supposed swindler, finds his elaborate trap turned back on himself and learns how it feels to be "the biter bit."

This volume gathers several shorter pieces, including a domestic intrigue built around a secret in a provincial household. The stories showcase Collins's knack for turning small legal or financial disputes into tightly wound personal dramas.

In this collaborative Christmas story, an invalid gentlewoman becomes obsessed with a seemingly empty house opposite her London lodgings. Strange figures at the windows and unexplained comings and goings lead to an inquiry that uncovers a hidden charitable enterprise.

Part travelogue, part comic fiction, this collaboration with Charles Dickens follows two self styled "idle apprentices" on a northern walking tour, weaving together humorous mishaps, autobiographical touches, and eerie inset tales like "The Dead Hand."

Expanded from a section of "The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices," this macabre tale strands a young couple at an inn with a dead stranger upstairs and a disputed will, turning an ordinary night's lodging into a study in greed and fear.

A brief moral tale of remorse and restitution, this story follows a woman confronting the harm she has caused and the cost of confession, told with Collins's interest in conscience, reputation, and second chances.

Originally part of *After Dark*, this story has a solicitor recount how a missing letter, a suspicious client, and a seemingly minor errand drew him into a complex case of family secrecy and carefully concealed guilt.

Told through the diary of a poor needlewoman, this early detective story follows Anne Rodway's dogged investigation into a friend's fatal assault, as a torn scrap of cravat and sheer persistence lead her to an unlikely murderer.

In a Cornish mansion, the dying mistress dictates a confession about her adopted daughter Rosamond's true parentage, then has the document hidden. Years later, as Rosamond returns to the house, servants and visitors unwittingly circle the room that holds the secret.

A collection of six stories linked by the frame of artist William Kerby and his wife Leah, who writes down his tales when failing eyesight ends his career. The mix includes gambling horror, legal puzzles, and Gothic romance.

Frank Softly, a charming ne'er do well, narrates his own checkered career from idle youth through forgery, imposture, and other scrapes. The tone is lighter than in Collins's major novels, offering a humorous portrait of a self confessed rogue.

Anchored by "The Yellow Mask," which pits virtuous Nanina against scheming priest Father Rocco in Pisa, this volume gathers several pieces that expose religious manipulation, hidden heirs, and staged apparitions behind supposedly supernatural events.

Groom Francis Raven is haunted by recurring dreams of a woman trying to murder him. When he later meets a woman who matches the vision exactly, his attempt to marry her in spite of the warning leads toward a chilling climax.

A collection headed by "Mad Monkton," in which a young aristocrat obsessed with a family curse seeks out a body buried abroad. Across these tales Collins blends Gothic settings, hereditary obsession, and the eerie overlap of architecture, memory, and decay.

Artist Valentine Blyth and his wife adopt Madonna, a beautiful deaf and dumb girl rescued from a circus. As her origins slowly surface, the story links a seduced village girl, a hard hearted father, and a stern businessman hiding his past.

Framed as a tale told by a nun, this story recounts Gabriel's ill fated marriage, in which pride, secrecy, and an old wrong combine to poison a union that might have been saved by honesty.

On the eve of execution during the French Revolution, prisoners share a last supper. One, Duprat, claims to know the exact hour of his death because of a family curse, and recounts the grim prophecies that have already come true.

A short novel in which a mysterious cash box, a struggling engraver, and an anxious clergyman become entangled, allowing Collins to spin a small scale mystery out of missing money, mistaken motives, and an artist's pride.

Young gentleman Basil, forbidden to marry beneath him, secretly weds shopkeeper's daughter Margaret Sherwin on the condition that they live apart for a year. Discovering her betrayal with clerk Mannion, he attacks his rival and sets in motion a chain of revenge and ruin.

An Englishman on a spree in Paris wins heavily at a seedy gambling house and accepts a free bed for the night, only to find the canopy itself descending to crush him. His desperate escape turns on keen observation and quick thinking.

A lightly comic sketch in which the unassuming Mr Perugino Potts finds a single episode in his quiet life spiralling into farce and embarrassment, allowing Collins to poke fun at social pretension and the surprises of chance acquaintance.

An early short tale built around two remarkably alike sisters and the confusion, romantic and otherwise, that their resemblance creates, offering a first glimpse of the identity puzzles Collins would later develop at full length.

Collins recounts a walking tour of Cornwall with his artist friend Henry Brandling, mixing vivid coastal description, local legends, mining visits, and wry portraits of innkeepers and fellow travellers in a relaxed, conversational travel book.

Set during the Gothic siege of Rome in the fifth century, this youthful historical novel follows innocent Antonina, her stern father, and Gothic warrior Ulpius amid battles, betrayals, and religious conflict as the old empire crumbles.

Told by an old driver looking back on his working life, this early story captures the fading world of stagecoaches just before the railway age, mixing anecdote, narrow escapes, and quiet nostalgia.

Collins's first written novel, unpublished in his lifetime, is a dark romance set in pre contact Tahiti, where villainous high priest Iolani pursues Idia and their child across island politics, war, sorcery, and human sacrifice.