The Hound of the Baskervilles
Book description
When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead, his face distorted with shock and horror, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are faced with a sinister and difficult puzzle. A fearsome creature stalks the wild and barren hills of Dartmoor. Is it a demon from the spirit world? Will it defeat their…
Why read it?
4 authors picked The Hound of the Baskervilles as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Bit of a cheat, but this is my favorite book, which I re-read every year or so. That being the case, it has to count in my top three books I’ve read this year.
No introduction is needed, but I’ll give it one for those under a rock.
Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate the curious case of a Devonshire baronet, dead of a heart attack on the moors. Curious thanks to legends of a monstrous spectral hound which stalks the moors.
Holmes is far too busy, so he dispatches Watson to accompany the new baronet to his ancestral home,…
I love the supernatural element to this much-loved murder mystery.
This mystery pushes against the constraints of Knox’s Ten Commandments for detective fiction by involving the supernatural, but the Commandments are never wholly transgressed. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle drew on the folklore of Devon where the book is set.
He drew on the legend of the cursed squire of Buckfastleigh and a hellhound, a variant of the local Yeth hound, a spectral black dog. The folklore infuses the mystery with a ghostly and altogether wonderful hinterland. Dartmoor becomes a liminal space where the living and the dead are mingled. Conan…
From Hugh's list on puzzling murder mysteries.
No list of Victorian mysteries would be complete without a tip of the deerstalker to Doyle and the most famous character in fiction, consulting detective Sherlock Holmes.
The Hound, a novel rather than a short story as are so many of the other Holmes stories, is especially atmospheric, drawing on the legends and the dark and brooding ambiance of Dartmoor as well as tales of the supernatural. It makes for some spine-tingling moments and a chance for Holmes to show off his finely honed powers of deduction.
What, you don’t have time to read it? As fun as it is,…
From Anastasia's list on dark and stormy Victorian vibes.
I first read this as a young teenager hooked on Sherlock Holmes by my Latin master. The book is filled with tension and I could visualise the wilds of Dartmoor (having visited on holiday many times). I imagined being alone on one of those tiny roads that cross the moor and hearing the howl of a large dog getting nearer and nearer. Real enough that you want to hide under the bedclothes. I love a clean read: no swearing, no sex, very little blood and gore. This book ticks all the boxes, and despite its age, for anyone who likes…
From C.E.'s list on having your heart racing.
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