Classic Holmes, one of his best and a great read (The Hound Of The Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle)

Member Name: darren55

Product:	The Hound Of The Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle
Date:	29/09/09 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Spectral hounds, Sherlock Holmes and the mysterious moors

Disadvantages: None

The Hound of the Baskervilles is Sherlock Holmes most famous case, its usually the one that gets made first as a film or television series, personally its not my favourite but has all the elements of a classic Holmes mystery.

Whats the story?

Well this is a classic Holmes novel in that the story has some ancient aspect too it but there is a modern reason for fearing what is going to happen next. Basically the rich landowner Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on his front drive apparently from a heart attack, his face has a look of shot and there are mysterious animal tracks near the body. The tracks bring up the old myth concerning an ancestor of the Baskervilles who was killed by a specral hound.

So the story moves on, as with quite a few Holmes mysteries it starts with the contrast between old england and the colonies, here the descendent is a Canadian called Sir Henry. Henry goes to see Holmes after some strange and unexplained events including the theft of a shoe from his hotel suite. Holmes immediately picks up on the thinnest of clues and advises Henry to leave the country but the man in best Canadian bravado says he will go to Baskerville Hall and the legend can go to hell.

Thats the start of the novel, we are left in no doubt about the honesty of the young man and that the old English Baskervilles are of dubious morals. They seem to deserve their fates whereas the new fresh Canadian deserves nothing more than our hope and fears, Holmes with Henry and Watson in toe go to Dartmoor to investigate the death of his uncle.

At Baskerville soon spots that Sir Charles' death was anything but natural and we enter a classic Holmesian mystery, tiny clues, sharp observations and incisive questioning soon have the facts of the case clear in Holmes' mind. However, because Conan-Doyle uses the technique of writing through Watson we are kept in the dark until Holmes reveals the truth over the case.

This technique of using Watson as the narrator is one of the authors moments of genius because it places the reader squarely in the centre of the case, we don't have any insights into the case except what Holmes tells Watson. Watson isn't the brightest man in the world but is a man of action and is dependable, we know we can trust Watson to support Holmes and through him Henry Baskerville.

So the story flows to its famous ending, the book moves onto the moor and the truth behind the legend of the spectral hound is revealed. We all know the ending but reading the original version is a pleasure, Conan-Doyle brilliantly describes the final plays and though fantastical, through his skills as an author it seems reasonable.

This is classic Holmes, its not my favourite as I said but its still brilliantly written and a joy to read time and time again. It also is one of the longest of his short stories so lends itself perfectly to adaption to a film or TV series. Maybe thats why its the first one made but any story with a spectral hound is a story worth watching in my mind.

Summary: A classic Holmes mystery