The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

At Baskerville Hall on the grim moors of Devonshire, a legendary curse has apparently claimed one more victim. Sir Charles Baskerville has been found dead. There are no signs of violence, but his face is hideously distorted with terror. Years earlier, a houndlike beast with blazing eyes and dripping jaws was reported having torn out Hugo Baskerville's throat. Is Sir Henry Baskerville, younger heir to the estate, now in danger?

These delightful stories of the famous hawk-eyed detective are told by his friend and foil, Dr. Watson. Doyle draws us into 19th-century London - - hansom cabs, train rides, and foggy nights - - where he astutely solves the most complex and perplexing cases of the day. Among the short stories included in this collection is "The Gloria Scott", an account of Holmes's very first case.

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes are overshadowed by the event with which they close - the meeting of the great detective and Moriarty, the Napoleon of Crime. When "The Final Problem" was first published, the struggle between Holmes and his arch nemesis, seemingly to the death, left many readers desolate at the loss of Holmes, but it also led to his immortality as a literary figure.

Could the sudden death of Sir Charles Baskerville have been caused by the gigantic ghostly hound which is said to have haunted his family for generations? Arch-rationalist Sherlock Holmes characteristically dismisses the theory as nonsense.

In "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", Inspector Lestrade summons Sherlock Holmes to a community in Herefordshire, where a local landowner has been murdered outdoors. The deceased's estranged son is strongly implicated. Holmes, employing his trusty magnifying glass quickly determines that a mysterious third man may be responsible for the crime, unraveling a thread involving a secret criminal past, thwarted love, and blackmail.