Review: The Hound of the Baskervilles

Typical. Probably the most famous Sherlock Holmes story there is, and I'd read basically all of them except this one. I, as a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, should hang my head in shame.

But no more! Last month, I finally picked up this book after years of wanting to, which kinda what my Classics Catch-Up month was all about! Sure, this one wasn't actually on my TBR for the month, but I never stick to TBRs, and who am I to break the tradition now? ;)

Besides, as I said above, this is almost certainly the most famous Sherlock Holmes story, and I've seen quite a few adaptations of it. So I thought it was high time I read the real thing for myself!

Having read and loved all of the short stories, I found the longer ones I've read (A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four) to be a little disappointing. The stories themselves felt a bit like overlong short stories with a giant rambling explanation on the end, which is not exactly what I wanted from a novel.

But The Hound of the Baskervilles is much more of a fleshed out story, and has more of a novel-like feel to it. The tension builds much more slowly as the threads of the mystery are woven together. I loved the spooky atmosphere of the Dartmoor setting and the lurking threat of the Grimpen Mire, capable of swallowing up anyone who makes one false step.

As far as the mystery goes, I deduced who the villain was fairly quickly. But there were still plenty of satisfying loose ends to tie up after that. All in all, a highly worthwhile read. And it didn't take very long either!

Have you read The Hound of the Baskervilles?

What are you reading over the holidays?