The hound of the Baskervilles - AND Notes on Sherlock Holmes

A deserted moor, a family curse, a demon hound, an escaped convict and a touch of the supernatural in the fog; these are the ingredients which make "The Hound of the Baskervilles" still incredibly popular nowadays.

It is undoubtedly Arthur Conan Doyle's finest Sherlock Holmes story.

When "The Hound of the Baskervilles" was published in 1901, Sherlock Holmes was supposed to have been dead for eight years, lying at the bottom of the Reichenbach Falls with his enemy, Professor Moriarty.

Arthur Conan Doyle had killed his hero who had become too ubiquitous.

Indeed, Doyle's desire to be thought the best historical novelist since Walter Scott was frustrated by a public that clamoured for him as the creator of Sherlock Holmes.

It was during the tumultuous year of 1901 that Arthur Conan Doyle yielded to public pressure and accepted his publisher's request to write a pre-Reichenbach novel.

This meant that "The Hound of the Baskervilles" was a reminiscence, not a resurrection of Sherlock Holmes.

It was timed to appear as William Gillette's play "Sherlock Holmes" opened in London.

The novel was a tremendous success, absence having made the readers' hearts grow fonder.Sherlock Holmes had been sorely missed.

The first instalment of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" closed on one of the best cliff hangers in all serial fiction, Dr. Mortimer's conclusion of the death of Sir Charles Baskerville: "Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound." Arthur Conan Doyle had captivated his audience and kept them enthralled until the last instalment.

After the immense success of "The Hound of the Baskervilles", Arthur Conan Doyle began to weaken in his decision never to resuscitate Sherlock Holmes, but Holmes did not to remain dead for long...