It pains me to give any Wilkie Collins novel only three stars, and I did enjoy this early work, but it relies quite heavily on coincidence to bolster all the melodrama. That said, even a sub-par Wilkie Collins novel is still a Wilkie Collins novel, and there is much to enjoy.

If you are new to Collins, do not start here. Go read “The Moonstone” or “The Woman in White” first. If you dig those classics and want a glimpse of the author before he reached those heights, then dig into “Basil.” While it will make you scratch your head at times, it also will give you an idea of his development as a writer. And, despite the flaws, it still is a good read.