S03 (From the Vault): The Hound of the Baskervilles

<p>BOOK SYNOPSIS</p> <p>As with all the Sherlock Holmes stories, this novel revolves around a case for Dr. John Watson and Mr Sherlock Holmes, two celebrity detectives in Victorian England. It begins with Dr. James Mortimer, a mate of Sherlock, asking for advice about his friend Charles Baskerville who died of a mysterious 'heart attack' on the Dartmoor moors.  Holmes sends poor old Watson to the moors to investigate, and down in Dartmoor, Watson soon realises the Baskerville manor and surrounding moors are as creepy and bleak as promised: there's an escaped convict running loose on the moors, a man who catches butterflies and is weirdly protective of his sister, and an eerie intermittent howl that sounds a lot like it could belong to a supernatural doggo of some description. As the book switches from Watson's first-person narrative to letters to Holmes to Watson's diary entries, it plays out as a classic whodunit set over the course of a week – with red herrings, suspicious characters, and murky motives. Something is obviously afoot at Baskerville Manor, and there is more tragedy around the corner.</p> <p> </p> <p>POD SYNOPSIS</p> <p>Recorded pre-pandemic in Jan 2020 in a happy, healthier time for the planet, this was supposed to be the first episode in our 'Around The World' series, which we cut short due to lockdown. We picked Sherlock as it's a classic British text, but also because it gave us the opportunity to talk about ghosts and detectives and dogs; after YAZOO, Josh's three favourite things. The poddees muse on Sherlock, the character as written by Conan Doyle, vs Sherlock the myth, and Sherlock, the character played by Benedict Cumberman. There's also a discussion about book lengths, subplots and wrap-ups, souped-up mega hounds and drone Dementors, as well as Conan Doyle's own complicated relationship with the supernatural. All that plus more on this archive edition of A Novel Adventure.</p>