'Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when you hear a step upon
the stair which is walking into your life, and you know not whether for good or ill.'
One wet spring night, Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead in the moors near his estate, a look of horror frozen on his face. No foul play is apparent, yet alongside his body are the footprints of a gigantic dog--reviving the spectre of a centuries-old curse that a black hellhound will seek vengeance on all who bear the Baskerville name.
Sir Charles' long-lost heir, Henry, is determined to reside in his ancestral home, but after receiving an anonymous note warning him to stay away, he invites the private detective Sherlock Holmes to Dartmoor. Using his famous skills of deduction, Holmes must sort fact from fiction to answer the urgent question: is the threat to Henry's life just local lore--or very real?
Author Biography
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE (1859-1930) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, into a notable Irish-Catholic family. While studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh, he started writing short stories. His first detective story starring Sherlock Holmes-loosely based on his university teacher, Joseph Bell-was A Study in Scarlet, published in 1886. He went on to write a total of 60 stories featuring his famous creation, along with many other fiction and non-fiction works. Aside from writing, Doyle practiced medicine (eventually specializing in opthamology), took an interest in spiritualism and Freemasonry, stood for Parliament twice as a Liberal Unionist, and took an active interest in architecture. Despite his prolific career depicting detective work, he only participated in two real-life cases: the first in 1906 involving George Edalji, a shy British- Indian lawyer found guilty of penning malicious letters and mutilating animals in Great Wryly, England; the second in 1908 involving Oscar Slater, a Jewish man convicted of bludgeoning an 82-year-old woman in Glasgow, Scotland. In both cases, Doyle was able to help overturn the conviction, and both men were set free. He was knighted in 1902.
