The Hound of the Baskervilles

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Otto Penzler

Sherlock Holmes’s most famous case: An irresistible blend of Gothic horror and intricately plotted mystery

The curse of the Baskervilles dates to the seventeenth century, when the wicked Hugo Baskerville chased a farmer’s daughter across the pitch-dark moor of Grimpen with vile intentions. The poor girl died of fright, but Baskerville’s fate was worse—a giant black hound, eyes afire and jaws dripping with blood, tore out his throat and devoured it on the spot. Since then, the specter of that terrible beast has haunted Baskerville Hall, many of whose inhabitants have met violent, mysterious, and tragic ends.
 
News of the latest death is brought to 221B Baker Street by a local doctor who hopes that Sherlock Holmes can solve the riddle of the curse before it claims yet another victim or leaves the hall forever empty. Sir Charles Baskerville perished alone on the edge of the moor, his face twisted in fright, the footprints of a gigantic hound marking the ground twenty yards from where his body was discovered. Has the mythical monster returned? Or does some other villain now inhabit the desolate moorlands? Holmes and Watson will be pushed to the very edge of reason as they seek to discover just who—or what—wants to see the Baskervilles destroyed.
 
This ebook features a new introduction by Otto Penzler and has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: MysteriousPress.com Open Road
• Release date: Apr 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781480489752

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a Scottish author best known for his classic detective fiction, although he wrote in many other genres including dramatic work, plays, and poetry. He began writing stories while studying medicine and published his first story in 1887. His Sherlock Holmes character is one of the most popular inventions of English literature, and has inspired films, stage adaptions, and literary adaptations for over 100 years.

Book preview

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Arthur Conan Doyle

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. Mr. Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 2. The Curse of the Baskervilles

Chapter 3. The Problem

Chapter 4. Sir Henry Baskerville

Chapter 5. Three Broken Threads

Chapter 6. Baskerville Hall

Chapter 7. The Stapletons of Merripit House

Chapter 8. First Report of Dr. Watson

Chapter 9. The Light upon the Moor [Second Report of Dr. Watson]

Chapter 10. Extract from the Diary of Dr. Watson

Chapter 11. The Man on the Tor

Chapter 12. Death on the Moor

Chapter 13. Fixing the Nets

Chapter 14. The Hound of the Baskervilles

Chapter 15. A Retrospection

Introduction

by Otto Penzler

About one hundred years ago, Sherlock Holmes was described as one of the three most famous people who ever lived, the other two being Jesus Christ and Houdini. There are some who claim that he is a fictional character, but this notion is, of course, absurd. Every schoolchild knows what he looks like and what he does for a living, and most know many of his peculiar characteristics.

The tall, slender, hawk-nosed figure, with his deerstalker hat and Inverness cape, is instantly recognizable in every corner of the world. In addition to the superb stories describing his adventures written by his friend, roommate, and chronicler Dr. John H. Watson (with the assistance of his literary agent, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), Holmes has been impersonated on the stage, television, and radio, and in countless motion pictures. More than twenty-five thousand books, stories, and articles have been written about him by famous authors, amateur writers, and scholars.

Sherlock (he was nearly named Sherrinford) was born on January 6, 1845, on the farmstead of Mycroft (the name of his older brother) in the North Riding of Yorkshire. He solved his first case (eventually titled The Gloria Scott) while a twenty-year-old student at Oxford. Following graduation, he became the world’s first consulting detective—a vocation he followed for twenty-three years.

In January 1881 he was looking for someone to share his new quarters at 221B Baker Street and a friend introduced him to Dr. John H. Watson. Before agreeing to share the apartment, the two men aired their respective shortcomings. Holmes confessed, I get in the dumps at times, and don’t open my mouth for days on end. He also smokes a vile shag tobacco and conducts experiments with loathsome-smelling chemicals. And he failed to mention an affection for cocaine. Although he ruefully noted his fondness for scratching away at the violin while in contemplation, he proved to be a virtuoso who could calm his roommate’s raw nerves with a melodious air.

Watson’s admitted faults include the keeping of a bull pup, a strong objection to arguments because his nerves cannot stand them, a penchant for arising from bed at all sorts of ungodly hours, and an immense capacity for laziness.

I have another set of vices when I’m well, he said, but those are the principal ones at present.

They became friends, and Watson chronicled the deeds of his illustrious roommate, often to the displeasure of Holmes, who resented the melodramatic and sensational tales. He believed that the affairs, if told at all, should be put to the public as straightforward exercises in cold logic and deductive reasoning.

Holmes possesses not only excellent deductive powers but also a giant intellect. Anatomy, chemistry, mathematics, British law, and sensational literature are but a few areas of his vast sphere of knowledge, although he is admittedly not well versed in such subjects as astronomy, philosophy, and politics. He has published several distinguished works on erudite subjects: Upon the Distinction between the Ashes of the Various Tobaccos; A Study of the Influence of a Trade upon the Form of the Hand; Upon the Polyphonic Motets of Lassus; A Study of the Chaldean Roots in the Ancient Cornish Language; and, his magnum opus, The Practical Handbook in Bee Culture, with Some Observations upon the Segregation of the Queen. His four-volume The Whole Art of Detection has not yet been published. When he needs information that his brain has not retained, he refers to a small, carefully selected library of reference works and a series of commonplace books. Since Holmes cares only about facts that aid his work, he ignores whatever he considers superfluous. He explains his theory of education thus: I consider that a man’s brain originally is like an empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. … It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before.

An athletic body complements Holmes’s outstanding intelligence. He seems even taller than his six feet because he is extremely thin. His narrow, hooked nose and sharp, piercing eyes give him a hawklike appearance. He often astonished Watson with displays of strength and agility; he is a superb boxer, fencer, and singlestick player. He needed all his strength when he met his nemesis, the ultimate arch-criminal Professor James Moriarty, in a struggle at the edge of the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. The evenly matched adversaries, locked in battle, fell over the cliff; both were reported to be dead. All England mourned the passing of its great keeper of the law, but in 1894, after being missing for three years, Holmes returned. He had not been killed in the fall, after all, but had seized a good opportunity to fool his many enemies in the underworld. He had taken over the identity of a Danish explorer, Sigerson, and traveled to many parts of the world, including New Jersey, where he is believed to have had an affair with Irene Adler (who will always be the woman to Holmes), and to Tibet, where he learned the secret of long life from the Dalai Lama.

When Miss Adler (the famous and beautiful opera singer Holmes first meets in A Scandal in Bohemia) died in 1903, he retired to keep bees on the southern slopes of the Sussex Downs with his old housekeeper, Mrs. Martha Hudson. He came out of retirement briefly before World War I, but his life since then has been quiet.

Holmes has outlived the people who have participated at various times in his adventures. In addition to Mycroft, Watson, Moriarty, Irene Adler, and Mrs. Hudson, the best-known auxiliary personalities in the stories include Billy the page boy, who occasionally announces visitors to 221B; Mary Morstan, who becomes Mrs. Watson; the Baker Street Irregulars, street urchins led by Wiggins, who scramble after information for Holmes’s coins; Lestrade, an inept Scotland Yard inspector; Stanley Hopkins, a Scotland Yard man of greater ability; Gregson, the smartest of the Scotland Yarders according to Holmes; and Colonel Sebastian Moran, the second most dangerous man in London.

The first story written about Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlet, originally appeared in Beeton’s Christmas Annual for 1887 and subsequently was published in book form in London by Ward, Lock & Company in 1888; the first American edition was published by J. B. Lippincott & Company in 1890. Holmes is called to assist Scotland Yard on what Inspector Tobias Gregson calls a bad business during the night at 3, Lauriston Gardens. An American, Enoch J. Drebber, has been murdered, and Yard men can point to only a single clue, the word Rache scrawled on the wall in blood. They believe it to be the first letters of a woman’s name, Rachel, but Holmes suggests that it is the German word for revenge. Soon, the dead man’s private secretary, Stangerson, is also found murdered; the same word is written in blood nearby. A long middle section of this novel, dealing with Mormons, is an unusual flashback.

The Sign of the Four first appeared simultaneously in the English and American editions of Lippincott’s Magazine for February 1890. Spencer Blacket published the first English book edition in the same year; P. F. Collier published the first American book edition in 1891. Calling at 221B Baker Street for help is Mary Morstan, a fetching young lady by whom Watson is totally charmed; ultimately, he marries her. She is the daughter of a captain in the Indian Army who mysteriously disappeared ten years earlier and has never been heard from again. Four years after the disappearance, Miss Morstan received an anonymous gift, a huge, lustrous pearl, and got another like it each year thereafter. Holmes and Watson accompany her to a tryst with the eccentric Thaddeus Sholto, twin brother of Bartholomew Sholto and the son of a major who was Captain Morstan’s only friend in London. Holmes sets out to find a fabulous treasure and is soon involved with the strange Jonathan Small and Tonga.

A Scandal in Bohemia first appeared in the Strand Magazine in July 1891; its first book appearance was in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892). The first published short story in which Holmes appears features the detective in an uncharacteristic battle of wits with a lady, and with no real crime to solve. The king of Bohemia has had a rather indiscreet affair with Irene Adler, who threatens to create an international scandal when he attempts to discard her and marry a noblewoman. Holmes is hired to obtain possession of a certain unfortunate photograph before it can be sent to the would-be bride’s royal family. Holmes is outwitted, and he never stops loving Irene for fooling him.

In The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902), Sir Charles Baskerville, of Baskerville Hall, Dartmoor, Devon, has been found dead. There are no signs of violence at the scene, but his face is incredibly distorted with terror. Dr. James Mortimer enlists the aid of Holmes to protect the young heir to the estate, Sir Henry Baskerville. Watson goes to the grim moor to keep an eye on Sir Henry but is warned to return to London by a neighbor, Beryl Stapleton, the lovely sister of a local naturalist, who hears a blood-chilling moan at the edge of the great Grimpen Mire and identifies it as the legendary Hound of the Baskervilles, calling for its prey.

The original stories about Holmes number sixty; more than that number have been written by other authors, however. Even Conan Doyle wrote a parody of the characters, How Watson Learned the Trick, first published in The Book of the Queen’s Dolls’ House in 1924. The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1974) by Nicholas Meyer was a longtime bestseller. Among the most famous pastiches are those by H. F. Heard, whose Mr. Mycroft is a pseudonymous Holmes; the tales of August Derleth, whose Solar Pons is the Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street; and The Unique Hamlet (1920) by Vincent Starrett, in which the great detective appears under his true name.

Other names (and guises) under which Holmes has appeared are Herlock Sholmes and Holmlock Shears (in Maurice LeBlanc’s The Exploits of Arsène Lupin, 1907, and The Fair-haired Lady, 1909); Picklock Holes (in R. C. Lehmann’s The Adventures of Picklock Holes, 1901); Shylock Homes (in John Kendrick Bangs’s series of short stories in American newspapers in 1903, reprinted as Shylock Homes: His Posthumous Memoirs, 1973; Bangs also wrote many parodies of Holmes using the detective’s real name, as in The Pursuit of the House-Boat, 1897; The Enchanted Type-Writer, 1899; and R. Holmes & Co., 1906, in which the hero is the son of Sherlock Holmes and the grandson of A. J. Raffles); Shamrock Jolnes (by O. Henry in two stories in Sixes and Sevens, 1911); Hemlock Jones (by Bret Harte in The Stolen Cigar-Case in Condensed Novels: Second Series, 1902); and Schlock Homes in many stories by Robert L. Fish.

Today, of course, Holmes continues to be a multimedia superstar, appearing in two internationally successful films starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes; the BBC television series Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch; and Elementary, the wildly popular CBS series starring Jonny Lee Miller as Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Watson.

Chapter 1.

Mr. Sherlock Holmes

MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a Penang lawyer. Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly an inch across. To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the C.C.H., was engraved upon it, with the date 1884. It was just such a stick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry—dignified, solid, and reassuring.

Well, Watson, what do you make of it?

Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of my occupation.

How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back of your head.

I have, at least, a well-polished, silver-plated coffee-pot in front of me, said he. But, tell me, Watson, what do you make of our visitor’s stick? Since we have been so unfortunate as to miss him and have no notion of his errand, this accidental souvenir becomes of importance. Let me hear you reconstruct the man by an examination of it.

I think, said I, following as far as I could the methods of my companion, that Dr. Mortimer is a successful, elderly medical man, well-esteemed since those who know him give him this mark of their appreciation.

Good! said Holmes. Excellent!

I think also that the probability is in favour of his being a country practitioner who does a great deal of his visiting on foot.

Why so?

Because this stick, though originally a very handsome one has been so knocked about that I can hardly imagine a town practitioner carrying it. The thick-iron ferrule is worn down, so it is evident that he has done a great amount of walking with it.

Perfectly sound! said Holmes.

And then again, there is the ‘friends of the C.C.H.’ I should guess that to be the Something Hunt, the local hunt to whose members he has possibly given some surgical assistance, and which has made him a small presentation in return.

Really, Watson, you excel yourself, said Holmes, pushing back his chair and lighting a cigarette. I am bound to say that in all the accounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small achievements you have habitually underrated your own abilities. It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it. I confess, my dear fellow, that I am very much in your debt.

He had never said as much before, and I must admit that his words gave me keen pleasure, for I had often been piqued by his indifference to my admiration and to the attempts which I had made to give publicity to his methods. I was proud, too, to think that I had so far mastered his system as to apply it in a way which earned his approval. He now took the stick from my hands and examined it for a few minutes with his naked eyes. Then with an expression of interest he laid down his cigarette, and carrying the cane to the window, he looked over it again with a convex lens.

Interesting, though elementary, said he as he returned to his favourite corner of the settee. There are certainly one or two indications upon the stick. It gives us the basis for several deductions.

Has anything escaped me? I asked with some self-importance. I trust that there is nothing of consequence which I have overlooked?

I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were erroneous. When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth. Not that you are entirely wrong in this instance. The man is certainly a country practitioner. And he walks a good deal.

Then I was right.

To that extent.

But that was all.

No, no, my dear Watson, not all—by no means all. I would suggest, for example, that a presentation to a doctor is more likely to come from a hospital than from a hunt, and that when the initials ‘C.C.’ are placed before that hospital the words ‘Charing Cross’ very naturally suggest themselves.

You may be right.

The probability lies in that direction. And if we take this as a working hypothesis we have a fresh basis from which to start our construction of this unknown visitor.

Well, then, supposing that ‘C.C.H.’ does stand for ‘Charing Cross Hospital,’ what further inferences may we draw?

Do none suggest themselves? You know my methods. Apply them!

I can only think of the obvious conclusion that the man has practised in town before going to the country.

"I think that we might venture a little farther than this. Look at it in this light. On what occasion would it be most probable that such a presentation would be made? When would his friends unite to give him a pledge of their good will? Obviously at the moment when Dr. Mortimer withdrew from the service of the hospital in order to start a practice for himself. We know there has been a presentation. We believe there has been a change from a town hospital to a country practice. Is it, then, stretching our inference too far to say that the presentation was on the occasion of the

Reviews for The Hound of the Baskervilles

[andrew1theqm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A veritable classic, what more can you say! Despite the course of time this is still a great story. After all the collections of stories about Sherlock Holmes I really enjoyed the greater depth that a novel allowed with a very intriguing story and some great inventiveness in the writing! I wish he'd written more as extended novels. Definitely should be read by everyone.

[jguidry-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Classic Sherlock Holmes at his finest. A great story with thrills along the way. I've read and seen the movie versions of this story multiple times, but I still enjoy reading this over and over again. The story never gets old.

[carolfoisset · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Doyle's descriptions of both characters and setting are top notch. I always enjoy "deducing" along with Sherlock and Watson. The mystery in this book was just so-so.

[nx74defiant · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For a large section of this book Sherlock does not appear. You hear Dr. Watson's point of view. It is only later you learn what he has been doing off screen. It was a really enjoyable mystery.

[hermit_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sherlock Holmes and the ever present Dr. Watson are brought in to investigate the untimely death of Sir Charles Baskerville where his body was found on the Devon moorland with the footprints of a giant hound nearby and a look of horror frozen on his face. The presumed blame for his death is placed on a family curse by the new baronet. This Gothic mystery novel of a murder will take all of Holmes brain power to solve. He must work within the framework of the family's dark legend of the moors and their fears that this legend will continue. These courageous sleuths have all their skills tested as they try to discover the truth. And we follow them as the plot takes us on a dark mysterious ride with surprising twist.

[bookomaniac-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Het oer-detectiveverhaal, maar minstens evenzeer neogothic verhaal. Breder thema: de zekerheden van wetenschap en rede tegenover bijgeloof; zelfs Holmes als aardsrationalist gaat aan het twijfelen, ook hij gebruikt intuïtie, speculatie en verbeelding! Het verhaal zelf wordt grotendeels gedragen door Watson.Eerste lectuur toen ik 16 was en de finesses nog niet helemaal kon waarderen.

[tlhelen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of Sir Arthur Conan's best detective novels. As he wrote this in the time period where Gothic novels were prominent, it is not the usual detective novel, but with a supernatural twist. When Sherlock Holmes is asked to investigate the mysterious curse which has plagued the Baskerville family for years, he finds himself in the midst of a dilemma. This novel is recommended for all fans of Sherlock Holmes and gothic fiction.

[benuathanasia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My least favorite (so far) of Doyle's works. It seems a bit more forced than the other stories. I believe it may have been padded to create something more significant than his short stories.

[delphimo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have seen several movie versions of this story, but the actual written word surpasses the visual presentation. Doyle is a master of description of character and setting. He sets the mood for that great hound to come charging into the moor. The women are minor characters in the majority of the stories, but they hold a few trump cards. I like the way Dr Watson unfolds the story and summarizes the deeds. Watson stands like a celebrated barrister and presents the case.

[dulac3_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

_The Hound of the Baskervilles_ is probably one of the more famous cases of Sherlock Holmes and is also one of only four novel-length treatments of the cases of the great detective. It’s a solid story and is perhaps primarily of interest in the apparently supernatural element which lies at the heart of the case. Indeed this element of the tale, along with its ultimate resolution, is very interesting when viewed in the light of Doyle’s subsequent conversion to spiritualism and when looked at from this angle the numerous comments in the story about the credulous peasants who give credence to the supernatural gain a somewhat ironic lustre.

I do think, however, that the story was far from the strongest of Doyle’s outings with his most famous creation. Its main failing lies primarily in the fact that the real draw of all of these stories is largely absent for the bulk of it: Sherlock Holmes himself. I wonder whether Conan Doyle was trying to keep his distance from the creation whose popularity he had begun to view with a growing ambivalence? As it is we do have the opportunity to see Watson acting on his own as Holmes’ agent which is of some interest, but I’m afraid that he doesn’t hold a candle to his confederate as a fully compelling character study. Stolid and not without resources as an investigator he may be, but there really is no substitute to the biting commentary and unique perspective of Holmes himself.

I will avoid giving much of a plot outline, since it’s probably either already known or not desired due to the possibility of spoilers in the case. Suffice it to say that an apparently insoluble death leads our intrepid team to the foggy moors of England’s West Country where they not only hope to solve one death, but also to prevent another. Doyle goes all out in peppering the trail with utterly ambiguous clues and numerous strands and false leads until things can be brought to their ultimate and satisfying conclusion. I did learn one interesting tidbit: apparently as far as Dr. Watson is concerned it's ok to let an insane psychopath go free as long as he will leave England and only be a burden and a danger to the people of South America. Nice one, doc.

[alcracka · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Arthur Conan Doyle wrote "Hound of the Baskervilles" eight years after he'd killed Holmes in an attempt to abandon what he thought of as bullshit pop writing and an escape to more serious historical fiction, none of which we give a shit about today. We're all familiar with the belated sequel (*cough* George Lucas). (And he did charge double his usual price for its publication, knowing Holmes' popularity.) Furthermore, he wrote it together with one Fletcher Robinson, whose name reminds me of the awful John Fletcher, Shakespeare's protege, with whom Will wrote such terrible plays as Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen.

So how surprising is it to we sequel-weary people that Hound of the Baskervilles totally kicks ass?

But it does. Of the two Holmes novellas, this and "Study in Scarlet," Hound is obviously superior. It's perfectly plotted, and its Gothic theme meshes surprisingly well with Holmes' invincible rationality. It's a terrific book.

[kimmr_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A classic tale which never gets old, this short novel has something for everyone. It's classic Sherlock Holmes, so there is a compelling mystery, great characters and wonderful atmosphere. From the rooms of 221B Baker Street, to the streets of London, to the misty Moor, the sense of time and place is masterfully evoked. There are clues to be discovered and the resolution to be explained to Dr Watson (and thus the reader!) in Holmes' inimitable style. Small wonder that Conan Doyle has influenced generations of mystery writers and that his tales of the great detective still resonate today.

The audiobook was competently narrated by Simon Prebble. A small quibble I have is with his voice for Beryl Stapleton. Her "slight lisp" - as it is described in the text - came out as akin to the accent of Manuel in Fawlty Towers: somewhat distracting, but not fatal to enjoyment.

This was a fun buddy read with my friend Jemidar. Highly recommended!

[barb_h_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Audiobook. Very good and interesting mystery. The narration was very well done too. I liked listening to the story rather than reading it since I tend to get lost and forget what happened in the written Sherlock Holmes books.

[poolspy · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

really like every single sherlock holmes story except for this one

[snukes-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the first Sherlock Holmes novel I've read, though I've long been a great fan of the short stories. I think the most interesting character in this story, by far, was the moor itself. Having finished the tale, I feel somewhat ambivalent about the mystery itself, but I am very much intrigued by the moor, and would love very much to see it for myself and find out if it deserves all the superlatives that were heaped upon it by Conan Doyle. I found the mystery itself so-so mainly because there was no answer to the question provided by Watson at the end: what was Stapleton thinking he'd do once Sir Henry was out of the way? No clear logic was present and Holmes' theories all somewhat unsatisfying. It felt as if Conan Doyle couldn't think of a solution himself, so he just wrote it off as an unfathomable bit of the mystery. Not what I expect out of our good friend Mr. Holmes.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My first Sherlock Holmes mystery, but probably not my last. Slighly slower pace than a modern mystery, but good whodunit.

[schmerguls · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I did not mention this book in anything I wrote which has survived, but I do remember I liked it much.

[sedelia_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I first read this book sometime in elementary school, and I'm not going to say exactly how long it's been since then, but suffice to say that I don't really remember the story all that well. It's been on my "need to read again" list for quite awhile, and then my sister got me hooked on the show Sherlock (you guys, SO GOOD!), and after watching their modern rendition of the story, I felt the need to go back to the original.The Hound of the Baskervilles is probably one of the best known Sherlock Holmes novels. It's about a man who has just become the heir to the Baskerville estate; the only thing is, the Baskerville family is cursed to die from a hellhound that comes out at night. And Sir Charles, the man's predecessor, seems to have died from that very hound.There's a reason why the Sherlock Holmes stories have been adapted -- and is currently being adapted -- into movies, TV shows, and other novels: it's just good fun. The Hound of the Baskervilles is a standard Holmes mystery and doesn't contain any real surprises or material that can't be found in his other stories. However, as one of the longer stories, there is much more time to fully develop the characters and intrigues, which is nice. I always love seeing the relationship between Watson and Holmes. Also, I think that this story has some of the more interesting side characters that I've found in Doyle's works.The characters are familiar and loveable, especially Watson. God, do I love Watson. In this particular novel, there are so many surprises, I was thoroughly entertained from beginning to end. It's also nice to read from one of the authors who has inspired today's detective genre. I will say, however, that the novel has a fairly direct solution to the mystery (not nearly as complicated, or unfortunately, as intriguing, as Sherlock's rendition). But overall, I enjoyed reading this story and think that any Sherlock Holmes or detective mystery fan will like it just as much.

[daniellnic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Absorbing read but I don't think Doyle really meant for you to figure things out beforehand.

[smcamp1234 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was my first Sherlock Holmes story and I ended up enjoying reading this even though. Had to restart it after halfway through. I apparently read through too fast and got lost in the story and felt that to better appreciate what we have been given in this masterful mystery. I felt that this decision helped establish the characters better and helped me figure out some of the mystery before it came upon us. I'll definitely be reading more, probably starting at book one for a change.

[spyderman58 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another brilliant story. This one takes on a bit of a different flavor as Watson takes on the central roll for most of the book. Definitely worth a read.

[stacy_chambers-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a terrific read. I can't wait to read more of Doyle's work.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A demonic hound is terrorizing the Baskerville family.I have to admit that the first thing I thought upon finishing this book was: "I would have gotten away with it first if it hadn't been for that meddling detective!" To be fair, Conan Doyle long preceded Scooby-Doo, and the writing is much better. But in terms of plot, they certainly could be kissing cousins.I remember reading a lot of Sherlock Holmes as a kid, although I don't remember which stories I read, or if this famous novel was among them. I have the Puffin Classics edition, and I think this novel, and Sherlock Holmes in general, holds up well for young readers. Conan Doyle's writing is clean, straightforward, and evocative. I particularly enjoyed his descriptions of the moors in this book--they came across as both beautiful and menacing. I was glad to revisit Sherlock Holmes. After seeing so many televised and film adaptations, we can lose sight of the original work and forget that it's also worth reading in its own right.This story was inspired by the legend of ghostly black dogs in Dartmoor. Its appearance was regarded as a portent of death.Revisiting children's classics (2014). I also read this as part of the MysteryCAT challenge for March 2014: children's mysteries.

[kgib_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

My first Sherlock Holmes; I want to read more just because I'm sure there must be better ones.

[kaethe_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hound is pure Gothic goodness, with the moors, and mysterious lights, and noises, and danger everywhere. When people talk about life having passed at a slower pace in the past, they could have been talking about this book. A doctor comes to see Holmes about his concern, and over a few days of meetings over meals and slow chases, we get the set-up. Then Watson sets off for an extended stay with the new baronet. The two of them potter about in the country going on lots of long walks and being creeped out half the time. Eventually all is resolved, but apparently Watson doesn't get the final story from Holmes until much later. Leisurely. Plenty of time for Baskerville to fall in love in a non-ridiculous sort of way.

A fun read, with lots of red herrings strewn about.

[shanaqui_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this before when I was younger, so none of it was exactly surprising to me. It's better than the other two Holmes novels I've read: the structure is better, that is to say, although I also enjoyed the story a little more, probably because it's so iconic and because I remembered somewhat of what's supposed to be going on. Sherlock has less of a spotlight in this, I suppose, since Watson goes about on his own and investigates, but of course, it's Holmes that figures out everything at the end. I actually found the last chapter or so, the explanation, unnecessarily -- although that's probably because I've read it before, so I knew the significance of details like the boots.

Like the other Holmes stories and novels, though, this is easy to read and fun and kinda hard to put down.

[swampygirl-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Having read a couple examples of both, I think I generally prefer Doyle's books over his short stories, mostly because in the books there is more showing, rather then just having clients and Sherlock telling the reader everything, over and over again.

[teamdewey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The stories of Sherlock Holmes are always a interesting read--even more so now because of the popularity or recent movies and TV shows. The Hounds of the Baskervilles is one of the most loved stories in the Sherlock Holmes series and I can see why!

[ursula_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Probably the most-referred-to case Sherlock Holmes ever solved, I only went into it knowing it had something to do with a supernatural dog. I feel like I must have read this when I was younger, if only in a simplified version, but I didn't remember anything more about it. Watson comes to the forefront in this one for quite a while, which makes it interesting. The twists and turns are enjoyable, even if I found none of the players in the case particularly endearing. Recommended for: everyone.Quote: "I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were erroneous. When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth."

[jsamaha-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure what took me so long to read this book. I've always loved Sherlock Holmes since I first saw Basil Rathbone's version on t.v. as a child. This was a lovely mystery. Although, I knew the basis of the story (from what I could remember seeing as a child and also from the Moffit/Gatiss modern version of the tale), I still found myself surprised in a few areas. I even found myself jumping at one point when my telephone rang while I was reading a particularly dark description of the moors at night.

I do love Sherlock Holmes and think everyone should read at least some of Doyle's masterpiece series at least once in their lifetime. As I've told my son (who is currently reading A Study in Scarlet), you might just be surprised with how readable and enjoyable, Doyle's work is.