I recently realized that I had only seen the Jeremy Brett version of The Hound of the Baskervilles but never actually read the story, so I remedied that immediately. I really enjoyed it. As often happens in Conan Doyle’s novels it drags a little in the middle, but not to nearly the degree of A Study in Scarlet or The Sign of Four, and for me it verged on a page-turner despite my already knowing the story. It’s also, by the way, a brilliant detective story.

Spoilers will follow, so if you haven’t already read it, go do so now.

(As an interesting aside, as I was explaining what sort of story it was to my thirteen year old son in order to try to interest him in it, he ended up asking if it was basically Scooby Doo for adults. After thinking about it for a bit, I came to the conclusion that he was fundamentally correct, though of course it would be more accurate to say that Scooby Doo was The Hound of the Baskervilles for kids.)

On the whole I think that there is a very good balancing in the story of the supernatural setup and the murder mystery. The story having been published in 1902 and set in 1889 meant that everyone took the supernatural rationally, which is to say, seriously but as one part of the world and therefore possibly an explanation and possibly not an explanation. This made the story so much more interesting than it would be in a typical modern story. None of the characters defiantly state their unwavering faith in materialism. You have none of that stuffy, “I am a man of science! I will not believe in the supernatural no matter how much evidence there is for it!” which makes so many modern stories which deal with the supernatural, boring. That everyone is open to the possibility of the supernatural explanation makes the story so much more interesting because they are actually considering the evidence that they have and their tentative judgment varies as fresh evidence comes in.

This is where the line I quoted in the title of this post comes in. In the first chapter Dr. Mortimer left his cane and Holmes took it as an occasion for a little competitive deducing with Watson, then the man arrived and there was a bit of comic relief. In the second chapter we start with a lengthy exposition of the family curse of the Baskervilles and how it started with the wicked Hugo Baskerville in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. (The short short version is that he raped a made and hunted her down with dogs when she escaped onto the moor, at which point he was killed next to her dead body by a giant hell-hound with glowing eyes, etc. and this beast continues to exact vengeance from Hugo’s descendants.)

We then get a reasonably detailed description of the recent death of Sir Charles Baskerville, the short short version being that he died of a heart attack while strolling on his property next to the moor. Finally, at the end of the chapter, Dr. Mortimer reveals that he had discovered a piece of evidence he did not give at the inquest, because he did not see what good it could do, but he would not withhold it from Sherlock Holmes. He found footprints by the gate to the moor. When Holmes asked whether they were a man’s or a woman’s, Dr. Mortimer replied, “Mr Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound.”

This is an excellent turn of events in the story because it introduces the first piece of evidence that there may be some truth to the legend. Centuries-old family stories are easy to dismiss. Direct evidence with no obvious explanation is very different.

At this point Dr. Mortimer is inclined to the supernatural explanation, but he is not committed to it. When Holmes asks why, the phrasing of Dr. Mortimer’s reply is interesting:

Since the tragedy, Mr. Holmes, there have come to my ears several incidents which are hard to reconcile with the settled order of Nature.

Chief among these is that several people saw a gigantic glowing hound upon the moor. They are all reasonable people and the testimony of independent witnesses which agrees is hard to ignore.

“Why should he not go to the home of his fathers?”

“It seems natural, does it not? And yet, consider that every Baskerville who goes there meets with an evil fate. I feel sure that if Sir Charles could have spoken with me before his death he would have warned me against bringing this, the last of the old race, and the heir to great wealth, to that deadly place. And yet it cannot be denied that the prosperity of the whole poor, bleak countryside depends upon his presence. All the good work which has been done by Sir Charles will crash to the ground if there is no tenant of the Hall. I fear lest I should be swayed too much by my own obvious interest in the matter, and that is why I bring the case before you and ask for your advice.”

Holmes considered for a little time.

“Put into plain words, the matter is this,” said he. “In your opinion there is a diabolical agency which makes Dartmoor an unsafe abode for a Baskerville—that is your opinion?”

“At least I might go the length of saying that there is some evidence that this may be so.”

“Exactly. But surely, if your supernatural theory be correct, it could work the young man evil in London as easily as in Devonshire. A devil with merely local powers like a parish vestry would be too inconceivable a thing.”

In The Adventure of the Naval Treaty, Holmes remarked that nowhere is deduction so necessary as in religion, and that it’s an exact science. Here Holmes is showing that this is sincere. He is setting theology against superstition. It’s a thing the Church has done for millenia; people get lazy and forget to think. This is, interestingly, a theme of the Homles story. He sees what other men sees, but he observes what they ignore.

After this, the mystery gets underway fairly quickly, with curious incidents happening to the new heir to the Baskerville title and estate as soon as he arrives from America. The story proceeds in a satisfyingly twisting way with the evidence mounting for both the natural and supernatural explanation. It’s extremely well done, though I think it would be hard to pull off in a modern story because so many people are so irrational about the supernatural.