The Hound of Baskervilles Review

This is the third crime novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and it was published in 1902. It features the famous Detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr Watson. They are contacted by Dr James Mortimer to investigate the mysterious death of a wealthy man from Devon in West England. A fairly small book, the story unravels quickly and there are many clues to what caused the incident. There is a mysterious 'Hound' that lives on the Moor near Baskerville hall and the Detectives are determined to find out what has happened.

Dr Watson narrates the entire book and he does quite a bit of investigative work for Sherlock Holmes, while he works in the background. Watson meets with the suspects and looks after Henry Baskerville, who they believe is in danger. At the end they collate their evidence and use it to solve the mystery. It was a surprise how involved Watson actually was, whereas the films represent him in a vague sidekick role.

"Watson you were born to be a man of action. Your instinct is always to do something energetic" - Sherlock Holmes

It was interesting that the characters first had a supernatural explanation but Sherlock Holmes figures out the logical explanation to the crime. Then at the end he works backwards to explain where the clues were in the story leading to who committed the crime. It would have been difficult to guess the answer before it was revealed because it was miraculously uncovered by Holmes. This really expresses how good his detective work is, because he didn't meet most of the suspects in case the perpetrator felt threatened.

Characterisation was well done and there was enough detail to understand Holmes' personality. He was less witty than his portrayal in the Sherlock Holmes films where it appears that humour was added. There were also references to communication devices such as the Telegraph, with Holmes used to communicate with another character, Cartwright. The Telegraph was created in 1837 which led to the invention of Morse code named after Samuel Morse. This would have been used in the nineteenth century to assist long-distance communication.

The Telegraph and Samuel Morsehttps://www.thoughtco.com/the-history-of-the-electric-telegraph-and-telegraphy-1992542Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Biographyhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/conan_sir_arthur_doyle.shtmlSherlock Holmes Characterhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Sherlock-Holmes