LoveReading Says
One of P D James' favourite books.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic tale featuring the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his erstwhile side-kick Dr Watson is an unforgettable and haunting tale that will have the reader on the edge of their seat until the discovery of the truth about the family curse. The mysterious hound that terrorises the Grimpen Mire is a truly terrifying creature. Holmes and Watson unravel the story that surrounds the death of Sir Charles Baskerville against the wild atmosphere of the Devon countryside.
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Hound of the Baskervilles Synopsis
"e;Doyle's modesty of language conceals a profound tolerance of the human complexity"e;-John Le Carre "e;Every writer owes something to Holmes."e; -T.S. Eliot With its blend of gothic and detective genres, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902), sets forth the mysterious investigation taken on by Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson in the disquieting moors of Dartmoor. On the grounds of an English country manor, Baskerville Hall, a prominent baronet's death is feared more than an alleged heart attack; huge footprints near the body allude that the family curse of a monstrous hound could be the culprit. When a country physician, Dr. Mortimer, visits Detective Holmes and Watson in London he reveals that the heir of the Baskerville lineage, Sir Henry Baskerville, is at mortal risk amid a mysterious and possibly supernatural danger. Mortimer's friend Sir Charles Baskerville, the elder brother of Henry, had recently died on the grounds of the manor. The discovery of the huge footprints of a large creature near the body raised the question whether he was slain by a phantom beast that stalked the moors surrounding Baskerville Hall. The Baskerville clan had been haunted by a terrifying ghostly hound for generations, and Charles had become fearsome of the legendary curse. As Henry had received a letter urging him to stay away from the manor, Holmes is skeptical of the theory of the abomination and is unflinching in uncovering the truth. The Hound of the Baskervilles was the first novel to feature Sherlock Holmes since his alleged death in the short story "e;the final problem"e;, published in The Strand Magazine in 1893. Sherlock Holmes fans were ecstatic at his 'resurrection' with this novel, which continues to captive readers to this day. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles is both modern and readable.
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About Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859 and died in 1930. Within those years was crowded a variety of activity and creative work that made him an international figure and inspired the French to give him the epithet 'the good giant'. He was the nephew of 'Dickie Doyle' the artist, and was educated at Stonyhurst, and later studied medicine at Edinburgh University, where the methods of diagnosis of one of the professors provided the idea for the methods of deduction used by Sherlock Holmes.
He set up as a doctor at Southsea and it was while waiting for patients that he began to write. His growing success as an author enabled him to give up his practice and turn his attention to other subjects. He was a passionate advocate of many causes, ranging from divorce law reform and the Channel Tunnel to the issuing of inflatable life-jackets to sailors. He also campaigned to prove the innocence of individuals, and his work on the Edjalji case was instrumental in the introduction of the Court of Criminal Appeal. He was a volunteer physician in the Boer War and later in life became a convert to spiritualism.
His greatest achievement was, of course, his creation of Sherlock Holmes, who soon attained international status and constantly distracted him from his other work; at one time Conan Doyle killed him but was obliged by public protest to restore him to life. And in his creation of Dr Watson, Holmes's companion in adventure and chronicler, Conan Doyle produced not only a perfect foil for Holmes but also one of the most famous narrators in fiction. Penguin publish all the books about the great detective, A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Valley of Fear, His Last Bow, The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, The Uncollected Sherlock Holmes and The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes.
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