The Hound of the Baskervilles

About the Book

The Hound of the Baskervilles is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's third crime novel featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. It was originally serialized in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902 and published in the book form in 1902. The story is set largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England's West Country and revolves around an attempted murder inspired by the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound of supernatural origin. Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson investigate the case.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote this story soon after returning from South Africa to his home at Undershaw near London in England. This was the first appearance of Holmes since his apparent death in "The Final Problem". It is believed that the popularity of the character made Doyle to revive him. In fact the success of The Hound of the Baskervilles led to the character's appearance in many subsequent short stories written by Doyle, notably in The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905); His Last Bow: Some Later Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes (1917); and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927).

In 2003, The Hound of the Baskervilles was listed at number 128 of 200 on the B.B.C.'s The Big Read poll of the U.K.'s "best-loved novel". In 1999, it was listed as the top Holmes novel, with a perfect rating of 100 from Sherlock scholars. The fact that there have been over 20 film adaptations of the novel bears testimony to its immense popularity.