The Hound of Baskervilles: A Sherlock Holmes Novel

 

The Hound of Baskervilles is one of the only four complete novels published by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. His Sherlock Holmes universe mainly comprises of the numerous short stories that he published in a magazine. This novel was published in 1902 and was written eight years after his last piece of Sherlock Holmes work, which gave him new found popularity again. Infact, this novel is considered to be one of the most famous pieces of crimes fiction in history.

This main problem at the crux of this novel is the legend of a mysterious and deadly hound that has been known to plague the Baskerville family. In the 18th century, Hugo Baskerville, a very rowdy and dangerous Baskerville, abducted a girl and kept her at his estate. When she managed to escape, Hugo Baskerville chased her across the moor with his friends. According to legend, he died due to being attacked by a black hound, and thus since, the Baskerville line of descendants has been under the fear of a attack by a supernatural black hound. Recently, Charles Baskerville, the current owner of the huge Baskerville Estate and fortune, is found dead on the moor, due to a heart attack but with his face convulsed in horror. The rumours of the attack being by the supernatural hound is again on the rise in Dartmoor, the place of the Baskerville's residence. At this time, James Mortimer, a friend of Charles Baskerville, meets Sherlock Holmes and wants to employ his services to keep the next heir of the Baskerville Hall, Sir Henry Baskerville safe, Sherlock Holmes announces himself to be a bit busy at the current time, however, he does send Dr.Watson to Baskerville Hall and instructs Dr.Watson to keep him updated about , everything. Thus the story develops onwards with Dr.Watson being more present in terms of the investigation. This book is more unique in that aspect because Sherlock and Watson were always known to investigate together, mostly, in all of the previous short stories and books. 

Overall, after having read the book, I have many things I can say about this. The fact is that this novel is one of the only Sherlock Holmes novels that has more emphasis on Watson doing the investigation, rather than Sherlock. Indeed, we only meet Sherlock much later on in the novel, with a rather surprised entry that I completely foresaw. So yes, there was a thing of two that was rather predictable in the novel. However there is also a vast range of characters in the story, each one showing signs of possible being the murderer. Other than that, this is also one of the only Sherlock Holmes novels that I have read, that contain a supernatural beings presumed presence in it. That is interesting and changes the normal style of Sherlock Holmes novels. 

I would truly recommend this novel, it is a great crime fiction read, with many twists and turns and shocking surprises. The climax is a very real and scary climax, and definitely worth reading. This novel is my favorite out of all the other Sherlock Holmes novels and definitely a worth-it read, if you understand the not-too-difficult 19th century English.

8/10 overall rating