The Hound of the Baskervilles

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Discuss The Hound of the Baskervilles as a

detective novel.
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"Discuss The Hound of the Baskervilles as a detective novel." eNotes Editorial, 13 Feb. 2022,
https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/discuss-the-hound-of-the-baskervilles-as-a-3018494.
Accessed 15 Nov. 2022.

Expert Answers
The Hound of the Baskervilles has elements of a detective novel and a gothic novel. As a detective
novel, it has the following traits:

A plot involving a mysterious murder

Many red herrings, or false clues, that contribute to the mystery
A detective, Sherlock Holmes, as the central figure, using rational means to solve the mystery.

The gothic elements—the gloomy moor, the "curse" of the Baskerville family, the apparently
supernatural hound of the title—provide a backdrop against which Holmes can exercise his famous
powers of deduction. The story follows the usual Holmes format, in which a client appears at Baker
Street with a problem that piques Holmes's curiosity, but departs from the usual pattern in that
Watson is apparently dispatched alone to investigate. In fact, for several chapters, Holmes does not
appear at all.

Doyle's narrative twist pays dividends when it is revealed that Holmes secretly traveled to Scotland to
avoid tipping off the murderer. The novel derives much of its suspense from this sort of subterfuge, in
which nothing is what it seems, and the task of the reader (and Holmes) is to recognize clues and
deduce larger purposes from them.

It is also characteristic of detective fiction that there is a logical explanation for the supernatural
hound. Holmes's unraveling of the mystery reveals the hellhound to be simply a large dog in
phosphorescent paint, and the motivation for the murders simple greed.