"I counsel you by way of caution to forbear from crossing the moor in those dark hours when the powers of evil are exalted."

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
• SIR HUGO BASKERVILLE, former baronet who was a blackguard and set the curse of the hound on his descendants.
• DR. JAMES MORTIMER, friend and medical attendant to the late Sir Charles Baskerville.
• SIR CHARLES BASKERVILLE, became fabulously wealthy in the South African gold fields and returned to England. He was restoring Baskerville Hall to its former grandeur at the time of his death.
• SIR HENRY BASKERVILLE, nephew of Charles by his younger brother (this younger brother is unnamed. He is not to be confused with Roger, Sr. who became baronet upon Charles’ death). He was a Canadian farmer before his inheritance.
• ELIZA & JOHN BARRYMORE, man and wife team who were Sir Charles only servants. The Barrymores had been in the service of the Baskervilles for 4 generations.
• MURPHY, a Gipsy horse dealer who was on the moor at the time of Sir Charles’ death.
• PERKINS, groom at Baskerville Hall.
• MR. FRANKLAND, choleric resident of Lafter Hall.
• LAURA LYONS, his daughter.
• JACK STAPLETON aka VANDELEUR aka ROGER BASKERVILLE, JR., a naturalist.
• BERYL STAPLETON, beautiful wife of Jack, posing as his sister.
• ROGER BASKERVILLE, SR., younger brother of Sir Charles. The black sheep of the family, he was the spitting image of Sir Hugo. (“A throwback”) as was his son, Stapleton.
• WILSON, proprietor of a messenger service in London.
• CARTWRIGHT, an employee of Wilson whom Holmes hired temporarily to bring him food and messages while he is hiding on the moor.
• SELDEN, the Notting Hill murderer.
• ROSS & MANGLES, dog breeders in London who sold the young hound to Stapleton.

SUMMARY

Sir Charles made a large fortune in the South African gold fields and returned to England where he took over the family manor on the edge of Grimpen moor. He was preoccupied by a legend popular in his family that because of the indiscretions and cruelties of Sir Hugo, a curse had been placed on the family and any of them who lived in the manor would be killed by a fiendish hound.

Mortimer reads Holmes an account of the legend. Mortimer says that Sir Charles obviously died of a heart attack -- he had had a weak heart for some time -- but feels he was frightened to death and the prints of a gigantic hound were found by his body.

Charles’ heir, Henry, son of his next younger brother (unnamed) has been found on a farm in Canada and is due to arrive in London to claim his due.

A second brother of Sir Charles, Rodger, supposedly died childless, but actually had a son (also named Rodger). This man was an atavistic throwback to Sir Hugo himself. He followed Charles to a village adjacent to the estate and posed as a naturalist. He purchased a huge dog, half mastiff and half bloodhound, which he kept on an island in Grimpen moor, surrounded by a treacherous mire. He used the dog to frighten Charles to death and is training it to kill in order to murder Henry after which he plans to make his true identity known and become heir to the fortune.

Holmes solves the case from afar. He tells all concerned that he is in London when actually he is living on the moor in order to better observe Stapleton.

In a dramatic conclusion, the hound is loosed upon Sir Henry and Holmes, Watson and Lestrade kill it at the last moment. Stapleton attempts to reach his island in the mire but looses his path in fog, falls in the mire and drowns.

There are several interesting subplots.
• Selden is Eliza Barrymore’s younger brother. He has escaped from prison and she is befriending him and hiding him out on the moor. Henry gives Barrymore some of his American clothes and Barrymore in turn gives them to Selden. Stapleton turns the hound loose and the hound, picking up Henry’s scent from his clothes, kills Selden.
• Stapleton is supposedly unmarried and woos Laura, getting her to write a note to Charles asking him to meet her at the moor gate. When Charles goes to meet her, Stapleton sics the hound on him.
• Henry falls in love with Beryl, thinking that she is available. She wants nothing to do with her husband’s murderous schemes but because of severe ill treatment is forced to remain silent.

OTHER ADVENTURES MENTIONED
• The affair of the Vatican Cameos.
• The “little case” in which Holmes assisted Wilson and saved his good name.
• A Study in Scarlet.
• The analogous incidents in Godno.
• The Anderson murders in North Carolina.
• Col. Upwood and the card scandal at the Nonpareil club.
• Mme. Montpensier murder case.

DISGUISES
None.

UNUSUAL DEDUCTIONS & bits

Holmes describes Mortimer from examining his walking stick.
Mortimer refers to Holmes as “the second highest expert in Europe,” the highest being Mousier Bertillion -- but he is not “a practical man” like Holmes.
Holmes has written a monograph on the dating of manuscripts.
Stapleton steals one of Henry’s boots to give the hound something which smells of him, but it is new and not imbued with his scent so he takes it back and steals an old one.
“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.”
Holmes can identify 75 fragrances of perfume.
Holmes immediately notes the striking resemblance of Stapleton to Sir Hugo’s portrait.
Watson plays a much larger role in the story than he usually does -- almost as large as the master’s.
This story is considered by many critics and aficionados to be the best in the canon.
Doyle dedicated the tale to his friend and golfing companion, Fletcher Robinson whose coachman, Harry M. Baskerville provided the name for the story.

Official Abbreviation: HOUN

The Hound of the Baskervilles was first published in the Strand Magazine, from August 1901 to May 1902