Reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins and finding the Robinson Crusoe-reading Betteredge (from whose perspective comes the first section of the mystery) sometimes frustrating and sometimes amusing as a narrator:

"I am (thank God!) constitutionally superior to reason. This enabled me to hold firm to my lady's view, which was my view also." & "Cultivate a superiority to reason, and see how you pare the claws of all the sensible people when they try to scratch you for your own good!"

What fun this novel is, so far. I've just finished the first section and am moving on to non-Betteredge voices and perspectives. I like how Collins set up the narrative from multiple angles.

And, of course, the Holmes connection: Since Arthur Conan Doyle was influenced by Collins, I suppose it only makes sense for me to see echoes of Sergeant Cuff in Sherlock Holmes. There is a mental precision as well as an eccentricity of manner in The Moonstone's rose-obsessed detective that reminds me of Holmes. I enjoyed Collins's Woman In White years ago (will have to reacquaint myself with it!) and am enjoying The Moonstone even more.