The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Listed as the best book you've never heard of and it's true! Published in the 1859, this is a classic that isn't as known (but should be). I've been talking this up to all my bookish friends and I've not come across one who has heard of it. This, my friends, is the basis of detective fiction novels. Doyle based his character and stories on this novel. It was initially published as a serial so essentially each chapter ends as a cliffhanger and just keeps forcing you to read and curse anything that tries to distract you.

I listened to this through Craftlit, because Heather does a great job with explanations (she's a teacher). But you can also grab it for free from Librivox.

Walter Hartright is a young artist who gets a job at Limmeridge House to teach and mentor  two young ladies in drawing, Laura Fairlie, a beautiful wealthy blonde, and Marian Halcombe, Laura's half-sister, most noted to be not as attractive but turns out to be one of the best written female characters.

On the way to Limmeridge, Walter encounters the woman in white. She's lost and needs assistance to get to where she needs to go. After assisting her, Walter finds out that she's escaped from a mental asylum. He uses the experience as a tale to tell the young ladies and finds out that the woman in white is actually Anne Catherick, who knew Laura's mother.

As expected, Walter falls for Laura but Laura is promised to Sir Percival Glyde in marriage. Glyde's best bud, Count Fosco, married to Laura's aunt, completes the crew that we end up watching throughout the book.

The book is told in narratives, each voiced by a different character. We start off with Walter's POV and then jump into others. This allows us to get a full picture of the mystery and how it started and where it went. But.....it's hard to tell, when the story is laid out, which narrator can be trusted. (Walter is a bit boring at first, but stick with him.)

Every time I was able to turn this book on, I was engrossed. If you are unsure about "the classics", start here!