Created by Scottish author and physician Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887, Sherlock Holmes was a brilliant London-based consulting detective, famous for his intellectual prowess and powers of deductive reasoning.
According to Conan Doyle, the character of Sherlock Holmes was based on his friend and mentor, Doctor Joseph Bell. Bell was interested in crime and had assisted the police in solving a few cases and, like Sherlock Holmes, he was known for drawing large conclusions from the smallest of observations.
Although Arthur Conan Doyle wrote fifty-six short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of only four full-length novels. All but four of the Sherlock Holmes stories are narrated by his close friend and biographer, Doctor John Watson; two are told by Sherlock Holmes himself while the remaining two are written in the third person.
Synopsis
Rich and popular landowner Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead in the grounds of Baskerville Hall, his Dartmoor estate. Although the cause of death was seemingly a heart attack, Sir Charles’ friend, Doctor Mortimer, fears the death could be due to supernatural causes.
A legend has followed the Baskervilles since the days of the dastardly Sir Hugo Baskerville that a great hellhound stalks the family and will eventually bring death and destruction to them. Sir Charles Baskerville had taken the legend very much to heart and feared greatly the appearance of the hound. According to the position of the body, it seems that Sir Charles was running fast, as if he feared for his life, just before he died and, on the wet grass near where the body was found, Doctor Mortimer observed the footprints of a giant hound.
In order to seek protection for Sir Charles Baskerville’s heir, Sir Henry Baskerville, who is due to arrive in London from Canada the following day, Doctor Mortimer has sought the help of Sherlock Holmes. Although Holmes does not believe in the curse of the Baskerville family, he does believe that some misdeed is afoot and so sends Doctor Watson off to Baskerville Hall with Sir Henry and Doctor Mortimer to act as his eyes and ears in the matter.
Review
Although set before the events at the Reichenbach Falls, The Hound of the Baskervilles was actually written by Conan Doyle after the supposed death of Sherlock Holmes was published due to the huge outpouring of public desire to see the great detective return.
The Hound of the Baskervilles is certainly one of the best and most deservingly famous of all the Sherlock Holmes tales. The mystery of the Baskervilles keeps the reader hooked and entertained through every twist and turn and, with a host of odd country characters, a litigious landowner, a scarlet woman and an escaped convict, the final solution is far from predictable.
Interestingly, The Hound of the Baskervilles is the story from which the classic image of Sherlock Holmes striding forth to solve a crime dressed in an Inverness cloak and deerstalker cap comes from. Must of Holmes’ cases take place in London where such countryside garb would be impractical and inappropriate, it is only on the misty moors of the West Country that such a wardrobe would be fitting. The fact that it is this image of Sherlock Holmes that is the most well known is a testament to the strength of the story and characters of The Hound of the Baskervilles.
The Hound of the Baskervilles is followed by the fourth of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novels, The Valley of Fear.
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
ISBN 978-0755334452, Headline Review, 2006, £4.99, pp 209
 |
 |
