The Hound of the Baskervilles is the most popular Holmes story, and rated by Sherlockians as his best. Written some eight years after Conan Doyle had apparently killed off his most famous creation, it shows both the author and the mercurial sleuth at the height of their considerable powers.A gripping tale set largely on Dartmoor, it finds Holmes and Dr Watson trying to prevent the murder of the sole heir to the Baskerville estate, Sir Henry, whose predecessor has died in mysterious circumstances. According to a local legend, the Baskerville family has been cursed since the 17th century when the amoral Sir Hugo Baskerville abducted a woman he desired and was then killed by a giant spectral hound. Folklore has the hound still roaming the eerie moors, a place where the young Sir Henry is warned to go at his peril. What can Holmes do to save him? |