The Devil's Diamond

by Richard Marsh

Samuel Hookham and his brother Matthew have not spoken in sixteen years. So it is with great surprise that Samuel learns his estranged brother has died, bequeathing to him a precious diamond worth twenty thousand pounds. Accompanying the jewel is a letter explaining that the stone is known as ‘the Devil’s Diamond’ and that it brings ruin and death to anyone who owns it.

At first overjoyed by the valuable acquisition, Hookham soon finds that the diamond is not a blessing, but a curse, as in the days after receiving it, he finds himself in one predicament after another. And when a man dies mysteriously – apparently killed by the diamond’s curse – Hookham will find himself accused of the murder. But the cursed jewel is just getting started, and has plenty of other chilling surprises in store....

The first novel by the prolific Richard Marsh (1857-1915), whose more than 80 books included the Victorian horror bestseller The Beetle (1897) and several classic volumes of supernatural tales, The Devil’s Diamond is a highly entertaining story that blends supernatural horror with episodes of farcical humour. This first-ever digital edition reprints the unabridged text of the 1893 first edition published by Henry and Co. of London.

181 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1893

About the author

Richard Marsh was the pseudonym of the English author born Richard Bernard Heldmann. A best-selling and prolific author of the late 19th century and the Edwardian period, Marsh is best known now for his supernatural thriller novel The Beetle, which was published the same year as Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), and was initially even more popular, outselling Dracula six times over. The Beetle remained in print until 1960. Marsh produced nearly 80 volumes of fiction and numerous short stories, in genres including horror, crime, romance and humour. Many of these have been republished recently, beginning with The Beetle in 2004. Marsh's grandson Robert Aickman was a notable writer of short "strange stories".

Reviews

[J. Rubino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Samuel Hookham, lawyer and property owner, receives a surprising visit from the undertaker, Truelove. Mr. Truelove tells Hookham that Hookham's estranged brother has died and presents Hookham with a letter and a package. The package contains a brilliant diamond. The letter, from Hookham's brother states that his is giving the diamond, called the Devil's Diamond, to his brother. It is worth twenty thousand pounds, but the downside is that it is cursed; it brings bad luck to its possessor, yet it cannot be sold, only given away.
Hookham discounts the curse, congratulates himself on the valuable bequest until he learns, through a series of disastrous events, that his brother's statement is true. Not only is he unable to sell the diamond, but it becomes the source of torment that ends with him tried for murder, in a trial that has its own bizarre twist.
This was Marsh's first novel and all of Marsh's flaws - the overly wordy passages, scenes that are drawn out a bit too long, the meandering plot - are evident, but so is Marsh's knack for lively characters, dark humor, a blend of mystery with the supernatural and ironic conclusions.
Certainly not his best work, and some readers may find some passages of it overly long, but it has the advantage of being highly imaginative - something that's too often missing in a lot of contemporary work.