The Hound of the Baskervilles [Paperback]

Introduction by Laurie R. King
 
The most famous of the Sherlock Holmes stories,The Hound of the Baskervillesfeatures the phantom dog of Dartmoor, which, according to an ancient legend, has haunted the Baskervilles for generations. When Sir Charles Baskerville dies suddenly of a heart attack on the grounds of the family’s estate, the locals are convinced that the spectral hound is responsible, and Holmes is called in. “Conan Doyle triumphed and triumphed deservedly,” G. K. Chesterton wrote, “because he took his art seriously, because he lavished a hundred little touches of real knowledge and genuine picturesqueness on the police novelette.”“The whole Sherlock Holmes saga is a triumphant illustration of art’s supremacy over life.” —Christopher MorleyLaurie R. Kingis theNew York Timesbestselling author of twelve Mary Russell mysteries (one of which,The Moor,was inspired in part byThe Hound of the Baskervilles), five contemporary novels featuring Kate Martinelli, and the acclaimed novelsA Darker Place, Folly, Keeping Watch,andTouchstone. She lives in Northern California.CHAPTER I
Mr. Sherlock Holmes

Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he stayed up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a “Penang lawyer.” Just under the head was a broad silver band, nearly an inch across. “To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the C.C.H.,” was engraved upon it, with the date “1884.” It was just such a stick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry—dignified, solid, and reassuring. “Well, Watson, whatl#S