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Introduction:

The Hound of the Baskervilles is a mystery novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, written in 1902. This novel is one of the Sherlock Holmes series. It follows Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson who investigate the mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville, linked to a family curse involving a supernatural hound. They discover that Sir Charles’s heir, Sir Henry, was targeted by Jack Stapleton, who used a dog to scare Sir Charles to death and planned to inherit the Baskerville fortune.

Plot:

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are first faced with a mystery when an unknown person leaves a cane in their office. Holmes quickly figures out that the cane belongs to Dr. James Mortimer, who brings a strange story about the Baskerville family. Mortimer tells them about the legend of Hugo Baskerville, who captured a young girl and was killed by a terrifying hound. Since then, the Baskerville family has been haunted by a mysterious black hound. Recently, Sir Charles Baskerville died, and now his heir, Sir Henry Baskerville, is in danger. Holmes sends Watson to Devonshire to investigate, while Holmes stays behind in London. In Devon, Watson learns that an escaped convict is on the loose and starts meeting the local suspects, like the Baskervilles’ servants and neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Barrymore, and the Stapletons. Strange things begin happening, like Barrymore sneaking around at night and Watson hearing the sound of a dog howling. Watson also hears that Sir Charles is seen meeting a woman named Laura Lyons the night he dies. After some investigating, Watson learns that Barrymore is helping the escaped convict, who is Mrs. Barrymore’s brother. Then, Watson finds out that the lonely figure watching the moors is Sherlock Holmes. Holmes reveals that the villain is Jack Stapleton, who wants to inherit the Baskerville fortune. He used Laura Lyons to trick Sir Charles into going out onto the moors, where he released a large dog that frightened Sir Charles to death. In the end, Holmes and Watson set a trap to catch Stapleton. They use Sir Henry as bait, and when Stapleton’s dog attacks, Holmes and Watson stop it. Stapleton, trying to escape, drowns in the marsh. It turns out Beryl Stapleton was Jack’s wife, not his sister. Back in London, Holmes explains how the stolen shoe was used to make the hound follow Sir Henry’s scent, and that the warning note came from Beryl, who was trying to protect herself from her husband’s evil plans. Watson closes the case.

Analysis:

The mystery’s base or foundation was built up from the legend of Hugo Baskerville. This may not have happened if he hadn’t taken the girl, the hound wouldn’t have killed him. From then the family was threatened by the blackhound. The book also has many plots, along with a list of suspects. It is also peculiar that Sherlock Holmes gets all the credit while Watson is the one who observes the daily lives of the people in town and finds out the suspects along with each of their whereabouts. Watson acts more like an assistant and Sherlock Holmes as the CEO. However, Watson does more for the cases than Sherlock does such as closing the case. Sherlock Holmes also shows his creativity through his plans to catch the suspect. He used a person as bait, Sir Henry, even though it does create a risk for all of them. They also figured out where the hound came from and were able to detect that it was all from Jack Stapleton. His secret wife, Beryl was against it, and this suggests that she might have gotten into arguments or even fights with her husband. It also shows Stapleton’s intricate and complex planning to carry out his vile plan. If they didn’t find his action of releasing the hound to kill the victim, they could have never known that he was the one who released the hound that obeys them.  

Conclusion:The Hound of the Baskervilles is a mystery novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, written in 1902. It is in the Sherlock Holmes series. The book follows Sherlock Holmes and Watson who try to solve the mystery of the fatal hound of the Baskervilles which killed Sir Charles Baskervilles. They found several suspects but narrowed it to Jack Stapleton who lured him with Sir Henry. They finally captured Stapleton and closed the case. Both Stapleton and Sherlock Holmes showed intricate planning, each evil and good.