''The first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels'' T S Eliot

When Rachel Verinder receives a gift of an astonishing yellow diamond from her bitter old uncle for her eighteenth birthday, she has no idea that the stone brings great danger with it. When the diamond goes missing during the night the ensuing investigations gradually bring to light the sinister history of the jewel and the passions and plots of those close to Rachel.

''Probably the very finest detective story ever written'' Dorothy L. Sayers

**AS DISCUSSED ON BBC2'S BETWEEN THE COVERS**