The Hound of the Baskervilles (Paperback - 2019)

The Hound of the Baskervilles is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s third crime novel featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. It was originally serialized in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902 and published in the book form in 1902. The story is set largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England’s West Country and revolves around an attempted murder inspired by the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound of supernatural origin. Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson investigate the case.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote this story soon after returning from South Africa to his home at Undershaw near London in England. This was the first appearance of Holmes since his apparent death in “The Final Problem”. It is believed that the popularity of the character made Doyle to revive him. In fact the success of The Hound of the Baskervilles led to the character’s appearance in many subsequent short stories written by Doyle, notably in The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905); His Last Bow: Some Later Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes (1917); and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927).

In 2003, The Hound of Baskervilles was listed at number 128 of 200 on the B.B.C.’s The Big Read poll of the U.K.’s “best-loved novel”. In 1999, it was listed as the top Holmes novel, with a perfect rating of 100 from Sherlock scholars. The fact that there have been over 20 film adaptations of the novel bears testimony to its immense popularity.

Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (1859-1930), a British writer and physician, is chiefly remembered for his immortal creation of subtle, hawk-eyed and amateur detective Sherlock Holmes who provided brilliant solutions to a wide variety of crimes. Doyle’s stories are considered as milestones in the field of crime fiction. He is also known for writing the fictional adventures of Professor Challenger—another character created by him—and for popularizing the mystery of the Mary Celeste.

Doyle was a prolific writer and his writings include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels. From 1876 to 1881, he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School. He began writing short stories while he was studying. His first published piece, “The Mystery of Sasassa Valley”, a story set in South Africa, was printed in Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal in 1879. Later that year he published his first academic article, “Gelsemium as a Poison” in the British Medical Journal, a study which was regarded by the Daily Telegraph as potentially useful in a 21st century alleged murder investigation.

Doyle’s first work featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson was A Study in Scarlet, which appeared in the Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1886 and received good reviews in The Scotsman and the Glasgow Herald.

It is said that notwithstanding the roaring success of Sherlock Holmes, Doyle wanted to wind up the character which he thought was taking his mind from better things he wanted to do. But the publishers demanded more Holmes stories and were willing to pay him the large sums he asked. Thus, Holmes featured in as many as 56 short stories and four novels written by Doyle, and has since appeared in many novels and stories by other authors too.

Arthur Conan Doyle influenced Agatha Christie and many other detective fiction writers with his famous detective/fiction stories.