A review by chalkletters
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Thanks to the crime fiction module I took at university, The Hound of the Baskervilles is probably the Sherlock Holmes story I have the most accurate memory of. I remembered the major twists before they happened, but this somehow only made it more thrilling to read, knowing in advance what Doctor Watson was about to find out. 

It helps that the writing of The Hound of the Baskervilles is exciting anyway, perhaps because Doctor Watson and Sherlock Holmes are separated for so much of it, forcing Arthur Conan Doyle to give the reader a lot more of Watson's man-of-action than of Sherlock's deductions. This is both a puzzle mystery and a wild adventure on the moors of Yorkshire. 

Despite how much time they spend apart, The Hound of the Baskervilles also provides some lovely moments in Doctor Watson and Sherlock's friendship: including the 'conductor of light' speech which inspires the heartwarming resolution in BBC Sherlock’s adaptation of this story.

Despite all this goodness, The Hound of the Baskervilles did still manage to include one moment which may make a modern reader unreasonably angry. Doctor Watson is adamant that they shouldn't let a serial murderer remain on the loose in England as a danger to the public, but has no problem shipping said murderer off to South America where he can be a danger to somebody else. As The West Wing's Will Bailey would say, 'Why is a Kundanese life worth [less] than an American life? I don't know, sir, but it is.' Even if it would relieve the tax payer, let's not send murderers to other countries as if we're happy for them to do their murdering there! 

Nonetheless, I did enjoy The Hound of the Baskervilles! It's possibly my favourite Sherlock Holmes story so far on this particular reread. Not to mention, it provided me with a delightful image of Sherlock Holmes sitting in a cardboard box like a cat. 
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