The Book Report Episode #35

Episode #34

The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Story Three: The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Book

This is continuing with the book, from my to-be-read bookshelf. I received this book as a gift from a friend, who passed a few years ago when we took a trip to the Sherlock Holmes museum, in London.

This edition of the book: was published by Wordsworth Editions Limited. Part of the Wordsworth Library Collection in 2007. Published with the original illustrations from the original work. The first complete stories book was published in 1928.

The Hound of the Baskervilles was published in the August 1901 edition of The Strand Monthly Magazine. And then afterwards in 1902 with George Newnes, Limited. Currently: the original Strand copy is going for £16,000, which is $20,494.38.

What Did I Think

The supernatural tries to take a foothold in this latest story, which seems, to be out of chronological order in the collection. But anyway, Charles Baskerville is literally, scared to death by the horror of the story of the Hound that haunts his every waking hour. The heir is called to claim the fortune left by his late Uncle. But the mystery of his death concerns his friend and seeks some answers with the help of Mr Sherlock Holmes, the consulting detective. With his colleague and friend Dr John Watson, who continues to journal these stories.

But the troubles are not over when Henry Baskerville is sought after as the next victim of the Hound. And it is slow going, at the start, to get clues as to what has happened. Sherlock and Watson are separated to do their things. Watson investigates whilst looking after Sir Henry and Sherlock has some other cases he has to finish before returning to Watson at Dartmoor.

The Reveal

In the end after solving several little mysteries building to a final reveal. Even Watson doesn’t understand the point of it all. And I completely agree. There was no need for any of the actions committed to achieve the goals the murderer wanted to complete. I suppose the idea may have not occurred to him to not think like a criminal. Or it could be, he did know, but wouldn’t allow that train of thought.

Even with, the amount of trouble he went through, could have all been averted by simply saying hello, my name is...

The story itself was fun. The little details to try and send you back and forth, so not to be sure where it would lead next. With the final reveal and how it came to be, I did feel a little disappointed. A lot of thought and detail went into this story to have the outcome of another road that could have been taken. But even then, you cannot fault the effort he dedicated to his actions. Extreme but they happened.

But even after all that I also enjoyed the description of how people lived, back in the late 1800s. The constant walking and how everything took a little bit longer to do anything. Have we advanced that much further?

The Audiobook

To lazy to read. Have a listen:

If you don’t to listen but watch instead here is a link to Jeremy Brett’s version. LINK.

Would I recommend

Yes, I would recommend it. Everyone who loves a bit of Sherlock or a period piece, crime-fighting/ murder mystery. Deserves a chance to read the original story. Especially the new ones coming in.

Please give it a try.

Would you like to purchase your very own copy?

You could try these online stores: Amazon UK/USA. Waterstones. AbeBooks UK/ USA, Barnes and Noble and eBay UK/ USA.

Alternatively, you could try your local bookshop or even your local library.