Product Description

When Sir Charles Baskerville is found mysteriously dead in the grounds of Baskerville Hall, everyone remembers the legend of the monstrous creature that haunts the moor. The great detective Sherlock Holmes knows that there must be a more rational explanation, but the difficulty is to find it before the hellhound finds him.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #614576 in Books
• Published on: 1994-12-14
• Released on: 2004-03-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

From Amazon.com
We owe 1902's The Hound of the Baskervilles to Arthur Conan Doyle's good friend Fletcher "Bobbles" Robinson, who took him to visit some scary English moors and prehistoric ruins, and told him marvelous local legends about escaped prisoners and a 17th-century aristocrat who fell afoul of the family dog. Doyle transmogrified the legend: generations ago, a hound of hell tore out the throat of devilish Hugo Baskerville on the moonlit moor. Poor, accursed Baskerville Hall now has another mysterious death: that of Sir Charles Baskerville. Could the culprit somehow be mixed up with secretive servant Barrymore, history-obsessed Dr. Frankland, butterfly-chasing Stapleton, or Selden, the Notting Hill murderer at large? Someone's been signaling with candles from the mansion's windows. Nor can supernatural forces be ruled out. Can Dr. Watson--left alone by Sherlock Holmes to sleuth in fear for much of the novel--save the next Baskerville, Sir Henry, from the hound's fangs?

Many Holmes fans prefer Doyle's complete short stories, but their clockwork logic doesn't match the author's boast about this novel: it's "a real Creeper!" What distinguishes this particular Hound is its fulfillment of Doyle's great debt to Edgar Allan Poe--it's full of ancient woe, low moans, a Grimpen Mire that sucks ponies to Dostoyevskian deaths, and locals digging up Neolithic skulls without next-of-kins' consent. "The longer one stays here the more does the spirit of the moor sink into one's soul," Watson realizes. "Rank reeds and lush, slimy water-plants sent an odour of decay ... while a false step plunged us more than once thigh-deep into the dark, quivering mire, which shook for yards in soft undulations around our feet ... it was as if some malignant hand was tugging us down into those obscene depths." Read on--but, reader, watch your step! --Tim Appelo

From Library Journal
Reader Freddie Jones gives a riveting performance of Conan Doyle's most spellbinding novel. The story of the "hound from Hell" has haunted the Baskervilles through many generations. Now, Sir Henry Baskerville has more than the legendary hound to take on as Seldon, the infamous Notting Hill murderer, has escaped from prison and is known to be lurking around the moor. What a time for Sherlock Holmes to be detained in London! Thus, Watson is left to take on the case. This mystery is much more than elementary, however. The abridgment captures the dark, brooding nature of Dartmoor and the Grimpen Mire, providing the perfect backdrop for the story. Recommended for most libraries.?Theresa Connors, Arkansas Tech Univ., Russellville
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up-In what is arguably both the best Sherlock Holmes story in the canon and one of the classic all-time mystery novels, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle parlays his interest in the occult with keen scientific detection in a story that prominently showcases Dr. Watson. Upon hearing Dr. James Mortimer's saga of the haunted Baskerville family and the recent death of family head Sir Charles Baskerville, apparently from the hound of the legend, Holmes and Watson begin their investigation. When the estate's heir, Sir Henry Baskerville, arrives in London from Canada strange things immediately occur and Holmes dispatches Watson to accompany Sir Henry to Baskerville Hall. Situated in Dartmoor in Devonshire, the estate borders a tremendous moor that includes Grimpen Mire, the deadly quicksand-like bog, and provides the Gothic atmosphere that so beautifully saturates the storyAthe oppressive manor and nightly sounds of a wailing woman, Neolithic ruins and monoliths throughout the moor, a mysterious butler and his agitated wife, an escaped killer at-large on the moor, and the spectral and murderous hound. This expurgated version is wonderfully conceived and executed in every aspect, but particularly in the dexterous delivery of veteran British actor, Tony Britton. His diverse and distinctive portrayal of over a dozen characters is singularly commanding. This literary masterwork that has found its simpatico audio incarnation should be an obligatory purchase for all audio collections.
Barry X. Miller, Austin Public Library, TX
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Curse on the moors

"Hound of the Baskervilles" is a unique story in the Sherlock Holmes canon -- author Arthur Conan Doyle wrote it in the years between Holmes' death and his resurrection several years later.

But due to public pressure, Doyle brought Holmes and Watson back temporarily for a sort of "memoir" tale, a tale of supernatural curses, escaped convicts and ghastly glowing hounds. It suffers a little from a lack of Holmes, but is otherwise a tightly-written, solid little mystery.

Sir Charles Baskerville was found dead of a heart attack -- apparently killed by a family curse in the shape of a giant dog. So his pal Dr. Mortimer asks Sherlock Holmes to protect Charles' heir, Henry Baskerville, who has just arrived in England to claim his estate and inheritance.

But even without Holmes, Watson can tell that something is up -- secretive servants, peculiar neighbors, an escaped criminal, a giant quicksand marsh, and the sounds of a dog howling in the night. But Holmes knows that the curse is no supernatural hound -- and that Sir Henry is in danger from a more real kind of ancient enemy.

"Hound of the Baskervilles" stumbles in one area -- the relative lack of Holmes. He's out of the picture for most of the book, and Watson does plenty of solid detecting on his own. Everybody loves the faithful narrator, but Watson isn't the Great Detective, and the book feels vaguely incomplete without Holmes inspecting clues and giving little hints to Watson.

The mystery unfolds at a languid pace, dropping a few red herrings along the way. Doyle pays loving attention to the dangerous, almost surreal Grimpen Mire and the surrounding countryside. But when Holmes comes back onto the scene, the book tightens itself up. All the plot threads rapidly slip into place as the real "hound" is uncovered.

Holmes' steel-trap mind is untarnished here, especially when he reveals what he figured out at the end. He's especially likable in an endearing scene at the beginning, where he educates Watson on deduction. But this is Watson's turn to shine, since he spends a long time gathering clues and even solving a sub-mystery without any assistance.

"Hound of the Baskervilles" is a short, satisfying Holmesian mystery, which is only hampered by Holmes' absence for about half the book. Solid work, and a good introduction to the Holmes series.

Mystery on the Moor
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has created perhaps the best detective in Sherlock Holmes. "The Hound of the Baskervilles" is narrated by the faithful Watson, a man of genius not quite on par with that of Holmes, the master mystery solver. Holmes is forever quizzing Watson to see things the way he does, to figure out the mysteries of small things, like a walking stick left behind by a visitor.

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" tells the story of Henry Baskerville, a man who has inherited his family's home and fortune (as the supposed final heir), but also their apparent curse. His uncle was recently found dead on the grounds of Baskerville Hall, with little explanation for his death. The locals are sure as to the cause; it is the mysterious hell-hound that haunts the moors that was the cause of his death. The local doctor brings the matter to Holmes and Watson and they are charged to protect the young Henry Baskerville from a similar fate, as well as to solve the mystery of the hound.

While trying to gather facts for his intrepid employer, the faithful Watson narrates the strange happenings among Sir Henry's neighbors, wanting to add his own theories, but leaving the mystery solving to his much-admired mentor. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle writes a well-paced narrative that builds to a climax that is still exciting even when we know the real mystery behind the hound. At the end, it is Holmes and not his faithful sidekick Watson, who reveals the tricks of his trade and how he solved the mystery that no one ever suspected. Doyle has created a wonderful pair of complementary characters in Holmes and Watson and it is a joy to read their adventures.

The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles is about one of the
adventures of the famous Sherlock Holmes.  He's done
some excellent sleuthing and interviewing in this 256
page mystery.  You might be a little uninterested at
the start because it begins a little slow and the
language is a little out of date, but if you stick
with it for a few pages you'll see how intriguing the
mystery is.  The tension raises and raises until you
find out if the case is of the supernatural or just
criminal.
    Sir Charles Baskerville has just died and the very
wealthy Baskerville estate in England is now in the
hands of young Sir Henry Baskerville.  Sir Charles
seems to die of the cursed family hound that Hugo
Baskerville brought upon the family 300 years ago.
Sir Henry is now in terrible fear of the moor which is
always the place that this hound of doom strikes.
Right from when Charles arrives in London strange
things start happening.  He also gets an interesting and mysterious warning.

     This book is truly great because sometimes you may
think you know the culprit but it turns out that you're wrong.
The person you think is the culprit is just doing something entirely un-expected and it adds more mysteries to the crime.  Sherlock Holmes has to risk it all and lie
even to his best friend and assistant, the narrator,
Watson.
The setting of the moor is the perfect place for the
legend to exist because of all the ancient structures
and the Grimpen Mire.  You'll have to read the book to
understand what I mean.  The book is an excellent
adventure for all ages and isn't too long of a read.