Hugo Baskerville was so cruel and his death so strange that a legend spread across the Devon moors: the Baskerville family would always be cursed, pursued by a black spectral hound. But when Sir Charles Baskerville was found dead outside his ancestral home hundreds of years later, Sherlock Holmes was more interested in the facts of the case than a family curse. Sir Charles went out to enjoy a cigar and an evening walk, but he never returned. His footprints showed he had lingered at a gate leading out to the moors, then tiptoed to the end of an enclosure. His butler found him dead, his face horribly distorted. Near his body were the footprints of a gigantic hound.
Dr. Watson travels to Baskerville Hall to investigate Sir Charles' death and report his findings to Holmes, who is involved in another case. Watson is an observant narrator, but he's also a little slow connecting the facts of the case. This enjoyable narrative device allows us to try and solve the case right along with Watson as he meets the suspects.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories about Sherlock Holmes, but it was a rare case such as this where Holmes admitted his opponent might be his equal. An escaped madman and the possibility of a real beast roaming the moors add to the danger surrounding Baskerville Hall. It all helps make The Hound of the Baskervilles one of Doyle's best.
Hey Zack of Bellevue,
Have you read "Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong: reopening the case of the Baskervilles" by Pierre Bayard. Oh those French intellectuals!
I put that book on hold just now, I couldn't resist.
And yeah, I read all the Holmes cases, but it's been years I think I should revisit them. I'm sure as soon as the new Holmes and Watson movie comes out there will be a brief flurry of Holmes circulation.
Carole W.