From the Archives: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. first posted 10/12/2015

If you have never read any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes stories a good place to start is The Hound of the Baskervilles.  It remains his most popular novel and the perfect book to curl up with on a cold winter night.

The Hound of the Baskervilles begins with Holmes and Watson in their London flat on Baker Street.  The time is the 1880's and Dr. James Mortimer comes to see Sherlock Holmes to find out what really happened to his friend Sir Charles Baskerville.  The death was ruled a heart attack but Dr. Mortimer has questions.  He tells Sherlock Holmes that in the months leading up to his death, Sir Charles worried about the Baskerville curse.

The curse begins in the 1600's when Hugh Baskerville captured a young woman imprisoning her on his estate.  She escaped and Hugo and his friends raced after her with their hounds in hot pursuit.  The young woman fell to her death but Hugo was killed too, savegely attacked by a monstrous hound.  Since that time bad luck has befallen the Baskerville descendants.  Dr. Mortimer wants Holmes to investigate since he is sure he saw the footprints of a very large animal near the place where Sir Charles had his heart attack.

Holmes is skeptical but decides to take the case particularly since before he died Charles Baskerville was worried about his nephew Henry Baskerville's well being. Henry was next in line to inherit the Baskerville estate and it turns out when Holmes and Watson meet Henry someone is following him but who and why?  Holmes with the help of Dr. Watson solves the case and the resolution is believable.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is narrated by Dr. John Watson and he is a great observer of all that is going on including the brilliant mind of his friend Sherlock Holmes.  As many have written there is a timelessness about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.  No matter what else is happening in the world we can open our book and suddenly it's the 1880's and Holmes and Watson are sitting at the breakfast table reading their newspapers trying to decide which case they'll take next.