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106-641: The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes . Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set largely in Dartmoor , Devon , in England's West Country and follows Holmes and Watson investigating the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound of supernatural origin. This

212-1015: A Celtic etymology, the Oxford English Dictionary lists no cognates to the Old English word in either the Breton or Cornish languages (the Scottish Gaelic tòrr is thought to derive from the Old English word). It is therefore accepted that the English word Tor derives from the Old Welsh word tẁrr or twr , meaning a cluster or heap. Tors are landforms created by the erosion and weathering of rock; most commonly granites , but also schists , dacites , dolerites , ignimbrites , coarse sandstones and others. Tors are mostly less than 5 meters (16 ft) high. Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain their origin and this remains

318-607: A castle koppie or kopje , is a large, free-standing rock outcrop that rises abruptly from the surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest. In the South West of England , the term is commonly also used for the hills themselves – particularly the high points of Dartmoor in Devon and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall . Although English topographical names often have

424-511: A climax where the titular detective protagonist Ali Khwaja presents evidence from expert witnesses in a court. Gong'an fiction ( 公案小说 , literally："case records of a public law court") is an early genre of Chinese detective fiction. Some well-known stories include the Yuan dynasty story Circle of Chalk (Chinese: 灰 闌 記 ), the Ming dynasty story collection Bao Gong An (Chinese: 包 公 案 ) and

530-566: A "concert drama" by Neil Brand , with the music directed by Timothy Brock , and performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra . Mark Gatiss and Sanjeev Bhaskar played Holmes and Watson, respectively. The production was recorded at the Barbican Hall on 20 December, and was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 22 January 2023. A filmed recording of the reading was broadcast for BBC Four on 25 December 2023. Prolific playwright Tim Kelly adapted

636-401: A "plot formula that's been successful ever since, give or take a few shifting variables." Poe followed with further Auguste Dupin tales: " The Mystery of Marie Rogêt " in 1842 and " The Purloined Letter " in 1844. Poe referred to his stories as "tales of ratiocination ". In stories such as these, the primary concern of the plot is ascertaining truth, and the usual means of obtaining the truth

742-466: A Policeman . Twelve stories were then collated into a volume entitled Recollections of a Detective Police-Officer , published in London in 1856. Literary critic Catherine Ross Nickerson credits Louisa May Alcott with creating the second-oldest work of modern detective fiction, after Poe's Dupin stories, with the 1865 thriller "V.V., or Plots and Counterplots." A short story published anonymously by Alcott,

848-517: A baying hound, and later find that Selden has fallen from a cliff and died. Barrymore had given Selden Sir Henry's discarded clothes, and Stapleton's hound, having been set on the trail with Sir Henry's stolen boot, had confused the scent. Later, after dining at Baskerville Hall, Holmes reveals to Watson that the portrait of Sir Hugo Baskerville bears a remarkable resemblance to Stapleton. Holmes decides to use an unwitting Sir Henry as bait; he orders him to visit Stapleton that evening, and then walk across

954-698: A clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary . Like Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing large conclusions from the smallest observations. A brilliant London-based "consulting detective" residing at 221B Baker Street , Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess and is renowned for his skillful use of astute observation , deductive reasoning , and forensic skills to solve difficult cases . Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories featuring Holmes, and all but four stories are narrated by Holmes's friend, assistant, and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson . The interwar period (the 1920s and 1930s)

1060-399: A closed environment by one of a limited number of suspects. The most widespread subgenre of the detective novel became the whodunit (or whodunnit, short for "who done it?"). In this subgenre, great ingenuity may be exercised in narrating the crime, usually a homicide, and the subsequent investigation. This objective was to conceal the identity of the criminal from the reader until the end of

1166-439: A convicted murderer, has escaped from Princetown Prison and is loose on the moor. At Baskerville Hall, they are introduced to John and Eliza Barrymore, the married butler and housekeeper. Watson sends detailed accounts of his investigations to Holmes, particularly focusing on the neighbourhood residents. The Stapleton siblings stand out; Jack is over-friendly, drops hints about the hound, and warns Watson against attempting to cross

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1272-516: A detective, Dr. Priestley , who specialised in elaborate technical devices. In the United States, the whodunit subgenre was adopted and extended by Rex Stout and Ellery Queen , along with others. The emphasis on formal rules during the Golden Age produced great works, albeit with highly standardized form. The most successful novels of this time included “an original and exciting plot; distinction in

1378-412: A failed attempt to interrogate Laura, Watson investigates the man on the tor and learns that it is Holmes, who has been investigating in secret to hide his direct involvement. Holmes reveals that Jack Stapleton is the murderer, and Beryl is his wife, abused and forced into posing as his sister; however, Holmes does not have enough proof to convince the authorities. Holmes and Watson hear a man fleeing from

1484-619: A large building around the tomb, and to be doubly sure a huge slab was placed over the top. Moreover, Devon's folklore includes tales of a fearsome supernatural dog known as the Yeth hound that Conan Doyle may have heard. Weller (2002) believes that Baskerville Hall is based on one of three possible houses on or near Dartmoor: Fowelscombe in the parish of Ugborough , the seat of the Fowell Baronets ; Hayford Hall, near Buckfastleigh (also owned by John King (d.1861) of Fowelscombe) and Brook Hall , in

1590-568: A local legend of the hound of the Baskervilles. Still other tales claim that Conan Doyle was inspired by a holiday in North Norfolk , where the tale of Black Shuck is well known. The Gothic-revival style Cromer Hall , where Conan Doyle stayed, also closely resembles Doyle's vivid descriptions of Baskerville Hall. James Lynam Molloy , a friend of Doyle's, and author of " Love's Old Sweet Song ", married Florence Baskerville, daughter of Henry Baskerville of Crowsley Park , Oxfordshire. The gates to

1696-460: A new adaptation of the novel written and directed by Keith Morrison on the company's YouTube channel. An early version of the play was performed in various locations around Nova Scotia in 2018. In 2021, Audible released a dramatisation by George Mann and Cavan Scott , starring Colin Salmon as Holmes and Stephen Fry as Watson. In 2022, The Hound of the Baskervilles was adapted and conducted as

1802-459: A new type of narrative style. Western detective fiction that was translated often emphasized “individuality, equality, and the importance of knowledge”, appealing to China that it was the time for opening their eyes to the rest of the world. This style began China's interest in popular crime fiction , and is what drove Cheng Xiaoqing to write his own crime fiction novel, Sherlock in Shanghai . In

1908-422: A number of ideas that have established in the genre several classic features of the 20th century detective story: Although The Moonstone is usually seen as the first detective novel, there are other contenders for the honor. A number of critics suggest that the lesser known Notting Hill Mystery (1862–63), written by the pseudonymous "Charles Felix" (later identified as Charles Warren Adams ), preceded it by

2014-473: A number of years and first used techniques that would come to define the genre. Literary critics Chris Willis and Kate Watson consider Mary Elizabeth Braddon 's first book, the even earlier The Trail of the Serpent (1861), to be the first British detective novel. The Trail of the Serpent "features an innovative detective figure, Mr. Peters, who is lower class and mute, and who is initially dismissed both by

2120-472: A promotional campaign by Doyle's American publisher – they were used in window displays by individual booksellers. Out of an estimated 185–190 leaves, only 37 are known still to exist, including all the leaves from Chapter 11, held by the New York Public Library . Other leaves are owned by university libraries in the United States and by private collectors. A newly rediscovered example

2226-473: A result, the character of Holmes occupies a liminal space between being alive and dead which further lends to the gothic elements of the novel. He was assisted with the legend of the hound and local colour by a Daily Express journalist named Bertram Fletcher Robinson (1870–1907), with whom he explored Dartmoor in June 1901; Robinson received a 1 ⁄ 3 royalty payment that amounted to over 500 pounds by

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2332-409: A sea voyage, to repair the baronet's shattered nerves. After they leave, Holmes explains to Watson that Jack Stapleton was really Rodger Baskerville II, the secret son of Sir Charles' youngest brother. A physical and spiritual throwback to Sir Hugo Baskerville, Rodger II had bought a savage black hound and painted it with phosphorus to make it look diabolical; either by fright or direct attack, he hoped

2438-494: A topic of discussion among geologists and geomorphologists , and physical geographers . It is considered likely that tors were created by geomorphic processes that differed widely in type and duration according to regional and local differences in climate and rock types. For example, the Dartmoor granite was emplaced around 280 million years ago. When the cover rocks eroded away it was exposed to chemical and physical weathering processes. Where joints are closely spaced,

2544-682: A volunteer physician at the Langman Field Hospital in Bloemfontein during the Second Boer War . He had not written about Sherlock Holmes in eight years, having killed off the character in the 1893 story " The Final Problem ". Although The Hound of the Baskervilles is set before the latter events, two years later Conan Doyle brought Holmes back for good, explaining in " The Adventure of the Empty House " that Holmes had faked his own death. As

2650-536: Is 'The Secret Cell', a short story published in September 1837 by William Evans Burton . It has been suggested that this story may have been known to Poe, who worked for Burton in 1839. The story was about a London policeman who solves the mystery of a kidnapped girl. Burton's fictional detective relied on practical methods such as dogged legwork, knowledge of the underworld and undercover surveillance, rather than brilliance of imagination or intellect. Detective fiction in

2756-485: Is a celebrated Bengali detective character who first appeared in the 1965 story Feludar Goyendagiri . His full name is Pradosh Chandra Mitra, and he is often referred to affectionately as Feluda . Feluda is characterized by his keen observational skills, sharp intellect, and a flair for deduction, which he employs to solve intricate mysteries. Feluda is often accompanied by his cousin, who is also his assistant, Tapesh Ranjan Mitter (affectionately called Topshe), who serves as

2862-427: Is a complex and mysterious process combining intuitive logic, astute observation, and perspicacious inference. "Early detective stories tended to follow an investigating protagonist from the first scene to the last, making the unravelling a practical rather than emotional matter." "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" is particularly interesting because it is a barely fictionalized account based on Poe's theory of what happened to

2968-450: Is a famous Russian writer of historical detective fiction in modern-day Russia. In the United States, detective fiction emerged in the 1920s, and flourished with stories in pulp magazines. The genre gained prominence in later decades, as the detective character was refined, and became familiar through movies. Detective fiction was also a way for authors to bring stories about various subcultures to mainstream audiences. One scholar wrote about

3074-406: Is a fictional Bengali female detective character created by Suchitra Bhattacharya . Colonel Niladri Sarkar is a fictional detective character created by Bengali novelist Syed Mustafa Siraj . Kottayam Pushpanath , a prolific writer, brought to life a vivid array of characters and mysteries. Pushpanath practiced teaching history for several years before becoming a full time writer. It

3180-525: Is described as an "' Everyman ' detective meant to challenge the detective-as-superman that Holmes represented." By the late 1920s, Al Capone and the American mafia inspired not only fear, but piqued mainstream curiosity about the American criminal underworld . Popular pulp fiction magazines like Black Mask capitalized on this, as authors such as Carrol John Daly published violent stories that focused on

3286-578: Is generally referred to as the Golden Age of Detective Fiction . During this period, a number of very popular writers emerged, including mostly British but also a notable subset of American and New Zealand writers. Female writers constituted a major portion of notable Golden Age writers. Agatha Christie , Dorothy L. Sayers , Josephine Tey , Margery Allingham , and Ngaio Marsh were particularly famous female writers of this time. Apart from Marsh (a New Zealander), they were all British. Various conventions of

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3392-476: Is generated through multiple plot twists that occur as the story progressed. With these characteristics this may be considered an archetype for detective fiction. It anticipates the use of reverse chronology in modern detective fiction, where the story begins with a crime before presenting a gradual reconstruction of the past. The main difference between Ja'far ("The Three Apples") and later fictional detectives, such as Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot ,

3498-518: Is investigated by Inspector Bucket of the Metropolitan police force. Numerous characters appeared on the staircase leading to Tulkinghorn's office that night, some of them in disguise, and Inspector Bucket must penetrate these mysteries to identify the murderer. Dickens also left a novel unfinished at his death, The Mystery of Edwin Drood . Dickens's protégé, Wilkie Collins (1824–1889)—sometimes called

3604-489: Is one of the most iconic characters in Indian detective fiction. First appearing in the story Pother Kanta in 1932, Byomkesh, who refers to himself as a "truth-seeker" or Satyanweshi, is known for his acute observational skills and logical reasoning abilities. His adventures typically unfold against the backdrop of Calcutta , tackling a range of crimes, from intricate murder mysteries to drug trafficking, reflecting societal issues of

3710-412: Is that Ja'far has no desire to solve the case. The whodunit mystery is solved when the murderer himself confessed his crime. This in turn leads to another assignment in which Ja'far has to find the culprit who instigated the murder within three days or else be executed. Ja'far again fails to find the culprit before the deadline, but owing to chance, he discovers a key item. In the end, he manages to solve

3816-565: Is the first major detective fiction in Persian , written by Kazim Musta'an al-Sultan (Houshi Daryan). It was first published in 1925. There was no biographical account of the author of the book for over 70 years until being identified after the book was reprinted in 2017. Edogawa Rampo is the first major Japanese modern mystery writer and the founder of the Detective Story Club in Japan . Rampo

3922-636: The One Thousand and One Nights ( Arabian Nights ). In this story, a fisherman discovers a heavy, locked chest along the Tigris river, which he then sells to the Abbasid Caliph , Harun al-Rashid . When Harun breaks open the chest, he discovers the body of a young woman who has been cut into pieces. Harun then orders his vizier , Ja'far ibn Yahya , to solve the crime and to find the murderer within three days, or be executed if he fails in his assignment. Suspense

4028-607: The Conservative Jewish community of Massachusetts ; Walter Mosley , whose Easy Rawlins books are set in the African American community of 1950s Los Angeles ; and Sara Paretsky , whose V. I. Warshawski books have explored the various subcultures of Chicago . Martin Hewitt, created by British author Arthur Morrison in 1894, is one of the first examples of the modern style of fictional private detective . This character

4134-692: The Duchess Theatre in London's West End . The Daily Telegraph described it as a ‘wonderfully delightful spoof’, while The Sunday Times praised its ‘mad hilarity that will make you feel quite sane’. This adaptation continues to be presented by both amateur and professional companies around the world. Stage performances have also been performed in the UK in dramatisations by Joan Knight, Claire Malcolmson, Harry Meacher , and Roger Sansom, among others. Meacher's version has been produced three times, each time with himself

4240-601: The Literary Inquisitions and the wars in ancient China. In traditional Chinese culture, this genre was not prestigious, and was therefore considered less worthy of preservation than works of philosophy or poetry. One of the earliest examples of detective fiction in Western literature is Voltaire 's Zadig (1748), which features a main character who performs feats of analysis. Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams (1794) by William Godwin portrays

4346-470: The "grandfather of English detective fiction"—is credited with the first great mystery novel, The Woman in White . T. S. Eliot called Collins's novel The Moonstone (1868) "the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels... in a genre invented by Collins and not by Poe", and Dorothy L. Sayers called it "probably the very finest detective story ever written". The Moonstone contains

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4452-637: The "social school" (社会派 shakai ha ) within the genre, which emphasized social realism , described crimes in an ordinary setting and sets motives within a wider context of social injustice and political corruption. Since the 1980s, a " new orthodox school " (新本格派 shin honkaku ha ) has surfaced. It demands restoration of the classic rules of detective fiction and the use of more self-reflective elements. Famous authors of this movement include Soji Shimada , Yukito Ayatsuji , Rintaro Norizuki , Alice Arisugawa , Kaoru Kitamura and Taku Ashibe . Created by famous Bengali novelist Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay , Byomkesh

4558-463: The 18th century Di Gong An (Chinese: 狄 公 案 ) story collection. The latter was translated into English as Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee by Dutch sinologist Robert Van Gulik , who then used the style and characters to write the original Judge Dee series. The hero/detective of these novels was typically a traditional judge or similar official based on historical personages such as Judge Bao ( Bao Qingtian ) or Judge Dee ( Di Renjie ). Although

4664-558: The Baskervilles has been adapted for radio for the BBC by Bert Coules on two occasions. The first starred Roger Rees as Holmes, Crawford Logan as Watson and Matt Zimmerman as Sir Henry and was broadcast in 1988 on BBC Radio 4 . Following its good reception, Coules proposed further radio adaptations, which eventually led to the 1989–1998 radio series of dramatisations of the entire canon, starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson. The second adaptation of The Hound of

4770-691: The Baskervilles , featuring this pairing, was broadcast in 1998, and also featured Judi Dench as Mrs. Hudson and Donald Sinden as Sir Charles Baskerville. Clive Nolan and Oliver Wakeman adapted The Hound of the Baskervilles as a progressive rock album in 2002, with narration by Robert Powell . The Hound of the Baskervilles was adapted as three episodes of the American radio series The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes , with John Patrick Lowrie as Holmes and Lawrence Albert as Watson. The episodes first aired in March ;2008. In 2011, Big Finish Productions released their adaptation of

4876-513: The Detective . In short, it is difficult to establish who was the first to write the English-language detective novel, as various authors were exploring the theme simultaneously. Anna Katharine Green , in her 1878 debut The Leavenworth Case and other works, popularized the genre among middle-class readers and helped to shape the genre into its classic form as well as developed the concept of

4982-470: The English-language literature is considered to have begun in 1841 with the publication of Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", featuring "the first fictional detective, the eccentric and brilliant C. Auguste Dupin ". When the character first appeared, the word detective had not yet been used in English; however, the character's name, "Dupin", originated from the English word dupe or deception. Poe devised

5088-474: The Golden Age were written by Agatha Christie. She produced long series of books featuring detective characters like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple , among others. Her use of basing her stories on complex puzzles, “combined with her stereotyped characters and picturesque middle-class settings”, is credited for her success. Christie's best-known works include Murder on the Orient Express (1934), Death on

5194-632: The Holmes chronology. In particular, the manuscript of The Hound of the Baskervilles is a key part of the case. Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles is a casual game by Frogwares . It departs from the original plot by introducing clear supernatural elements. Despite its non-canonical plot, it received good reviews. Detective fiction Some scholars, such as R. H. Pfeiffer, have suggested that certain ancient and religious texts bear similarities to what would later be called detective fiction. In

5300-600: The Nile (1937), Three Blind Mice (1950) and And Then There Were None (1939). Through China's Golden Age of crime fiction (1900–1949), translations of Western classics, and native Chinese detective fictions circulated within the country. Cheng Xiaoqing had first encountered Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 's highly popular stories as an adolescent. In the ensuing years, he played a major role in rendering them first into classical and later into vernacular Chinese . Cheng Xiaoqing's translated works from Conan Doyle introduced China to

5406-620: The Old Testament story of Susanna and the Elders (the Protestant Bible locates this story within the apocrypha ), the account told by two witnesses broke down when Daniel cross-examines them. In response, author Julian Symons has argued that "those who search for fragments of detection in the Bible and Herodotus are looking only for puzzles" and that these puzzles are not detective stories. In

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5512-535: The Philip Marlowe character. James Hadley Chase wrote a few novels with private eyes as the main heroes, including Blonde's Requiem (1945), Lay Her Among the Lilies (1950), and Figure It Out for Yourself (1950). The heroes of these novels are typical private eyes, very similar to or plagiarizing Raymond Chandler's work. Tor (rock formation) A tor , which is also known by geomorphologists as either

5618-573: The actor playing Holmes. Ken Ludwig authored an adaptation entitled Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery which premiered as a co-production at Arena Stage ( Washington, D.C. ) in January ;2015 and McCarter Theatre Center in March 2015. In 2021, an adaption for the stage by Steven Canny and John Nicholson for Peepolykus, directed by Tim Jackson & Lotte Wakeman toured the UK produced by Original Theatre Company and Bolton's Octagon Theatre. It

5724-555: The aid of Sherlock Holmes, beginning by reading him a legend that has run in the Baskerville family since the time of the English Civil War , when Sir Hugo Baskerville kidnapped a farmer's daughter. When the girl escaped, Hugo pursued her, swearing a curse upon himself in his mad rage. Hugo's companions later found the girl dead of fear, and Hugo killed by a demonic hound . The dog is said to have haunted Dartmoor ever since, causing

5830-540: The body. Sir Charles had been the eldest of three Baskerville brothers, and Sir Henry, the Canadian son of the deceased second brother, is Sir Charles' heir. The rather immoral third brother, Rodger, died of yellow fever in South America in 1876. Mortimer, the executor of Sir Charles's will , fears it might not be wise to bring Sir Henry to Dartmoor, in view of the possible supernatural dangers. Though Holmes dismisses

5936-706: The book as part of their second series of Holmes dramas. Holmes was played by Nicholas Briggs , and Watson was played by Richard Earl. In 2014, L.A. Theatre Works released their production, starring Seamus Dever as Holmes, Geoffrey Arend as Watson, James Marsters as Sir Henry, Sarah Drew as Beryl Stapleton, Wilson Bethel as Stapleton, Henri Lubatti as Dr. Mortimer, Christopher Neame as Sir Charles and Frankland, Moira Quirk as Mrs. Hudson & Mrs. Barrymore, and Darren Richardson as Barrymore. In 2017, Bleak December released an abridged full-cast production for Cadabra Records with Sir Derek Jacobi as Holmes. In 2020, Lions Den Theatre released

6042-580: The book, when the method and culprit are both revealed. According to scholars Carole Kismaric and Marvin Heiferman , "The golden age of detective fiction began with high-class amateur detectives sniffing out murderers lurking in rose gardens, down country lanes, and in picturesque villages. Many conventions of the detective-fiction genre evolved in this era, as numerous writers—from populist entertainers to respected poets—tried their hands at mystery stories." John Dickson Carr —who also wrote as Carter Dickson—used

6148-477: The case through reasoning in order to prevent his own execution. On the other hand, two other Arabian Nights stories, "The Merchant and the Thief" and "Ali Khwaja", contain two of the earliest fictional detectives , who uncover clues and present evidence to catch or convict a criminal known to the audience, with the story unfolding in normal chronology and the criminal already known to the audience. The latter involves

6254-434: The central characteristics and formal elements of the detective story, including a mystery surrounding a murder, a closed circle of suspects, and the gradual uncovering of a hidden past." One Thousand and One Nights contains several of the earliest detective stories, anticipating modern detective fiction. The oldest known example of a detective story was " The Three Apples ", one of the tales narrated by Scheherazade in

6360-457: The chief of secret service and his companions. After his death many other writers accepted Ali Imran character and wrote spy novels. Another popular spy novel writer was Ishtiaq Ahmad who wrote Inspector Jamsheed, Inspector Kamran Mirza and Shooki brother's series of spy novels. Stories about robbers and detectives were very popular in Russia since old times. A famous hero in the eighteenth century

6466-460: The dangerous Grimpen Mire . His sister Beryl, without his knowledge, repeatedly tries to get Sir Henry to flee back to London. Another neighbour, Mr. Frankland, is a perpetual busybody and troublemaker, including threatening to bring a lawsuit against Dr. Mortimer for excavating nearby barrows . Sir Henry falls in love with Beryl Stapleton, though her brother strongly objects to the romance. Barrymore repeatedly sends candlelight signals to someone on

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6572-468: The detective genre were standardized during the Golden Age, and in 1929, some of them were codified by the English Catholic priest and author of detective stories Ronald Knox in his 'Decalogue' of rules for detective fiction. One of his rules was to avoid supernatural elements so that the focus remained on the mystery itself. Knox has contended that a detective story "must have as its main interest

6678-475: The detective novels of Tony Hillerman , set among the Native American population around New Mexico , "many American readers have probably gotten more insight into traditional Navajo culture from his detective stories than from any other recent books." Other notable writers who have explored regional and ethnic communities in their detective novels are Harry Kemelman , whose Rabbi Small series were set in

6784-519: The dog would remove all the other heirs so that he could inherit the Baskerville fortune. He had promised Laura marriage, and convinced her to lure Sir Charles out of his house on the night of the murder. Unable to save Sir Charles, Beryl had sent the anonymous letter to Sir Henry to thwart her husband's further schemes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote this story shortly after returning to his home, Undershaw in Surrey , from South Africa , where he had worked as

6890-465: The end of 1901. Doyle may also have been inspired by his own earlier story (written and published in 1898) of a terrifying giant wolf, " The King of the Foxes ". His ideas came from the legend of Squire Richard Cabell of Brook Hall, in the parish of Buckfastleigh , Devon, which was the fundamental inspiration for the Baskerville tale of a hellish hound and a cursed country squire. Cabell's tomb survives in

6996-534: The genre is significant, as he represents a sophisticated blend of intellect and charm, setting a high standard for detective fiction in India. Hemendra Kumar Roy was an Indian Bengali writer noted for his contribution to the early development of the genre with his ' Jayanta-Manik ' and adventurist ' Bimal-Kumar ' stories, dealing with the exploits of Jayanta, his assistant Manik, and police inspector Sunderbabu. Mitin Masi

7102-474: The genre were women, inventing a subgenre of domestic detective fiction that flourished for several generations. These included Metta Fuller Victor 's two detective novels The Dead Letter (1867) and The Figure Eight (1869). The Dead Letter is noteworthy as the first full-length work of American crime fiction. Émile Gaboriau was a pioneer of the detective fiction genre in France. In Monsieur Lecoq (1868),

7208-541: The historical characters may have lived in an earlier period (such as the Song or Tang dynasty ) most stories are written in the later Ming or Qing dynasty period. These novels differ from the Western tradition in several points as described by Van Gulik: Van Gulik chose Di Gong An to translate because in his view it was closer to the Western literary style and more likely to appeal to non-Chinese readers. A number of Gong An works may have been lost or destroyed during

7314-840: The large crystals in the granite readily disintegrate to form a sandy regolith known locally as growan . This is readily stripped off by solifluction or surface wash when not protected by vegetation, notably during prolonged cold phases during the Quaternary ice ages – periglaciation . Where joints happen to be unusually widely spaced, core blocks can survive and remain above the weathering surface, developing into tors. These can be monolithic, as at Haytor and Blackingstone Rock, but are more usually subdivided into stacks , often arranged in avenues. Each stack may include several tiers or pillows , which may become separated: rocking pillows are called logan stones. These stacks are vulnerable to frost action and often collapse leaving trails of blocks down

7420-472: The late 1910s, Cheng began writing detective fiction inspired by Conan Doyle's style, with Bao as the Watson-like narrator; a rare instance of such a direct appropriation from foreign fiction. Famed as the “Oriental Sherlock Holmes”, the duo Huo Sang and Bao Lang become counterparts to Doyle 's Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson characters. "Sadiq Mamquli, The Sherlock Holmes of Iran, The Sherriff of Isfahan"

7526-514: The law as protecting the murderer and destroying the innocent. Thomas Skinner Sturr 's anonymous Richmond, or stories in the life of a Bow Street officer was published in London in 1827; the Danish crime story The Rector of Veilbye by Steen Steensen Blicher was written in 1829; and the Norwegian crime novel Mordet paa Maskinbygger Roolfsen ("The Murder of Engine Maker Roolfsen") by Maurits Hansen

7632-673: The legend as a fairy-tale , he meets with Sir Henry when the new baronet arrives in London. It transpires that strange things are already happening to Sir Henry; one of his old boots has been stolen, he has received an anonymous letter warning him against the moor, and someone has been following him in a hansom . Mortimer reveals that Sir Henry's inheritance is about £ 740,000 (equivalent to £103,000,000 in 2023); in view of these high stakes, Holmes asks Watson to act as Sir Henry's bodyguard, and to investigate things in Dartmoor. Upon arriving in Dartmoor, Watson, Mortimer and Sir Henry learn that Selden,

7738-400: The mayhem and injustice surrounding the criminals, not the circumstances behind the crime. Very often, no actual mystery even existed: the books simply revolved around justice being served to those who deserved harsh treatment, which was described in explicit detail." The overall theme these writers portrayed reflected "the changing face of America itself." In the 1930s, the private eye genre

7844-500: The moor on foot. Holmes and Watson then pretend to leave for London, but instead hide near Stapleton's house with Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard . Despite thick fog, they manage to kill the hound when Stapleton unleashes it after Sir Henry. They go to Stapleton's house to arrest him, but find he has bound his wife to a column and fled into the mire, presumably drowning. Holmes remarks that he considers Stapleton one of his most cunning adversaries. Sir Henry and Dr. Mortimer depart on

7950-405: The moor. Following Barrymore one night, Watson and Sir Henry discover that Selden is Mrs. Barrymore's younger brother, and that she and her husband have been leaving food out for him. During an unsuccessful attempt to catch Selden, Watson sees a strange man standing on a tor . Watson and Sir Henry learn from Barrymore that Frankland's estranged daughter Laura had once written to Sir Charles. After

8056-477: The narrator of the stories and his friend Jatayu . , The trio embarks on various adventures that blend mystery with elements of Bengali culture and tradition. The stories often include a touch of humor, engaging dialogues, and philosophical musings, making them appealing to a wide audience. Ray's Feluda series not only captivated readers in literary form but also inspired numerous adaptations in film and television, showcasing Ray’s cinematic genius. Feluda’s impact on

8162-727: The novel as six episodes of the radio series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes . The episodes aired in February and March 1932, with Richard Gordon as Sherlock Holmes and Leigh Lovell as Dr. Watson. Another dramatisation of the story aired in November and December 1936, with Gordon as Holmes and Harry West as Watson. The story was also adapted by Meiser as six episodes of The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes with Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson. The episodes aired in January and February 1941. A dramatisation of

8268-740: The novel by Felix Felton aired on the BBC Light Programme in 1958 as part of the 1952–1969 radio series , with Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes and Norman Shelley as Dr. Watson. A different production of The Hound of the Baskervilles , also adapted by Felton and starring Hobbs and Shelley with a different supporting cast, aired in 1961 on the BBC Home Service . The novel was adapted as an episode of CBS Radio Mystery Theater . The episode, which aired in 1977, starred Kevin McCarthy as Holmes and Lloyd Battista as Watson. The Hound of

8374-464: The novel starting and ending in the familiar setting in London is used to ‘delimit the uncanny world associated with the Gothic landscape of the moors', with varying degrees of success. Doyle wrote that the novel was originally conceived as a straight 'Victorian creeper' in the style of Le Fanu , with the idea of introducing Holmes as the deus ex machina arising only later. The Hound of the Baskervilles

8480-491: The parish of Buckfastleigh, about two miles east of Hayford, the actual home of Richard Cabell. It has also been claimed that Baskerville Hall is based on a property in Mid Wales, built in 1839 by one Thomas Mynors Baskerville. The house was formerly named Clyro Court and was renamed Baskerville Hall towards the end of the 19th century. Arthur Conan Doyle was apparently a family friend who often stayed there and may have been aware of

8586-412: The park had statues of hell hounds, spears through their mouths. Above the lintel there was another statue of a hell hound. The novel incorporates five plots: the ostensible 'curse' story, the two red-herring subplots concerning Selden and the other stranger living on the moor, the actual events occurring to Baskerville as narrated by Watson, and the hidden plot to be discovered by Holmes. The structure of

8692-460: The play Oedipus Rex by Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles , Oedipus investigates the unsolved murder of King Laius and discovers the truth after questioning various witnesses that he himself is the culprit. Although "Oedipus's enquiry is based on supernatural, pre-rational methods that are evident in most narratives of crime until the development of Enlightenment thought in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries", this narrative has "all of

8798-553: The premature death of many Baskervilles. Mortimer explains that his friend, the philanthropic baronet Sir Charles Baskerville, took the legend very seriously. Sir Charles, who had a weak heart, had retired to Baskerville Hall in 1887, after amassing a fortune in South Africa . When the baronet's body was later found in a yew alley, with an expression of horror on his face, the death was attributed to cardiac arrest ; however, Mortimer had secretly noticed large canine paw prints near

8904-457: The real-life Mary Cecilia Rogers . William Russell (1806–1876) was among the first English authors to write fictitious 'police memoirs', contributing an irregular series of stories (under the pseudonym 'Waters') to Chambers's Edinburgh Journal between 1849 and 1852. Unauthorised collections of his stories were published in New York City in 1852 and 1853, entitled The Recollections of

9010-416: The series detective. In 1887, Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes , arguably the most famous of all fictional detectives. Although Sherlock Holmes is not the first fictional detective (he was influenced by Poe's Dupin and Gaboriau's Lecoq ), his name has become synonymous for the part. Conan Doyle stated that the character of Holmes was inspired by Dr. Joseph Bell , for whom Doyle had worked as

9116-406: The slopes called clitter or clatter . Weathering has also given rise to circular "rock basins" formed by the accumulation of water and repeated freezing and thawing. An example is found at Kes Tor on Dartmoor. Dating of 28 tors on Dartmoor showed that most are surprisingly young, less than 100,000 years of surface exposure, with none over 200,000 years old. They probably emerged at the start of

9222-419: The story concerns a Scottish aristocrat who tries to prove that a mysterious woman has killed his fiancée and cousin. The detective on the case, Antoine Dupres, is a parody of Auguste Dupin who is less concerned with solving the crime than he is in setting up a way to reveal the solution with a dramatic flourish. Ross Nickerson notes that many of the American writers who experimented with Poe's established rules of

9328-457: The story for the stage in 1976. One production was at Boston 's Theater Loft in 1982. In 2007, Peepolykus Theatre Company premiered a new adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles at West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds . Adapted by John Nicholson and Steven Canny , the production involves only three actors and was praised by critics for its physical comedy . Following a UK tour, it transferred to

9434-402: The text and its characters." Braddon's later and better-remembered work, Aurora Floyd (printed in 1863 novel form, but serialized in 1862–63 ), also features a compelling detective in the person of Detective Grimstone of Scotland Yard. Tom Taylor 's melodrama The Ticket-of-Leave Man , an adaptation of Léonard by Édouard Brisbarre and Eugène Nus, appeared in 1863, introducing Hawkshaw

9540-413: The time. Accompanied by his loyal friend and chronicler, Ajit Kumar Banerjee, the stories are written in a blend of formal and colloquial Bengali, making them accessible to a wide audience. The character's legacy continues to influence contemporary detective fiction in India, highlighting the genre's evolution and its cultural significance. Feluda , created by renowned filmmaker and author Satyajit Ray ,

9646-401: The title character is adept at disguise, a key characteristic of detectives. Gaboriau's writing is also considered to contain the first example of a detective minutely examining a crime scene for clues. Another early example of a whodunit is a subplot in the novel Bleak House (1853) by Charles Dickens . The conniving lawyer Tulkinghorn is killed in his office late one night, and the crime

9752-455: The town of Buckfastleigh . Cabell lived for hunting, and was what in those days was described as a "monstrously evil man". He gained this reputation, among other things, for immorality and having sold his soul to the Devil . There was also a rumour that he had murdered his wife, Elizabeth Fowell, a daughter of Sir Edmund Fowell, 1st Baronet (1593–1674), of Fowelscombe . On 5 July 1677, he died and

9858-548: The unemotional eyes of new hero-detectives, these stories were an American phenomenon." In the late 1930s, Raymond Chandler updated the form with his private detective Philip Marlowe , who brought a more intimate voice to the detective than the more distanced "operative's report" style of Hammett's Continental Op stories. Chandler's stories were noted for their evokations of the American criminal underworld, including dark alleys and tough thugs, rich women and powerful men. Several feature and television movies have been made about

9964-419: The unravelling of a mystery; a mystery whose elements are clearly presented to the reader at an early stage in the proceedings, and whose nature is such as to arouse curiosity, a curiosity which is gratified at the end." Another common convention in Golden Age detective stories involved an outsider–sometimes a salaried investigator or a police officer, but often a gifted amateur—investigating a murder committed in

10070-418: The writing, a vivid sense of place, a memorable and compelling hero and the ability to draw the reader into their comforting and highly individual world.” Agatha Christie is not only the most famous Golden Age writer, but also considered one of the most famous authors of all genres of all time. At the time of her death in 1976, “she was the best-selling novelist in history.” Many of the most popular books of

10176-414: The “puzzle” approach in his writing which was characterized by including a complex puzzle for the reader to try to unravel. He created ingenious and seemingly impossible plots and is regarded as the master of the " locked room mystery ". Two of Carr's most famous works are The Case of Constant Suicides (1941) and The Hollow Man (1935). Another author, Cecil Street —who also wrote as John Rhode—wrote of

10282-696: Was Ivan Osipov (1718–after 1756), nicknamed Ivan Kain. Other examples of early Russian detective stories include: "Bitter Fate" (1789) by M. D. Chulkov (1743–1792), "The Finger Ring" (1831) by Yevgeny Baratynsky , "The White Ghost" (1834) by Mikhail Zagoskin , Crime and Punishment (1866) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880) by Fyodor Dostoevsky . Detective fiction in modern Russian literature with clear detective plots started with The Garin Death Ray (1926–1927) and The Black Gold (1931) by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy , Mess-Mend by Marietta Shaginyan , The Investigator's Notes by Lev Sheinin . Boris Akunin

10388-481: Was a continuation the adaptation that was directed by Lotte Wakeman for English Theatre, Frankfurt, Jermyn St Theatre and Octagon, Bolton. The Hound of the Baskervilles is utilised in the final case in The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures in which the protagonist teams up with Herlock Sholmes (Sherlock Holmes in the original Japanese version) to investigate mysteries based on various entries in

10494-434: Was adopted wholeheartedly by American writers. One of the primary contributors to this style was Dashiell Hammett with his famous private investigator character, Sam Spade . His style of crime fiction came to be known as " hardboiled ", a genre that "usually deals with criminal activity in a modern urban environment, a world of disconnected signs and anonymous strangers." "Told in stark and sometimes elegant language through

10600-461: Was an admirer of western mystery writers. He gained his fame in the early 1920s, when he began to bring to the genre many bizarre, erotic and even fantastic elements. This is partly because of the social tension before World War II . In 1957, Seicho Matsumoto received the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for his short story The Face ( 顔 kao ). The Face and Matsumoto's subsequent works began

10706-408: Was buried in the sepulchre. The night of his interment saw a phantom pack of hounds come baying across the moor to howl at his tomb. From that night on, he could be found leading the phantom pack across the moor, usually on the anniversary of his death. If the pack were not out hunting, they could be found ranging around his grave howling and shrieking. To try to lay the soul to rest, the villagers built

10812-480: Was first serialised in The Strand Magazine in 1901. It was well-suited for this type of publication, as individual chapters end in cliffhangers . It was printed in the United Kingdom as a novel in March 1902 by George Newnes Ltd . It was published in the same year in the United States by McClure, Philips & Co. In 1902, Doyle's original manuscript of the book was broken up into individual leaves as part of

10918-412: Was in the last 1960s that he made his literary debut with Chuvanna Manushyan . Pushpanath authored more than 350 detective novels. Ibn-e-Safi is the most popular Urdo detective fiction writer. He started writing his famous Jasoosi Dunya Series spy stories in 1952 with Col. Fareedi & Captain. Hameed as main characters. In 1955 he started writing Imran Series spy novels with Ali Imran as X2

11024-470: Was published in December 1839. " Das Fräulein von Scuderi " is an 1819 short story by E. T. A. Hoffmann , in which Mlle de Scudery establishes the innocence of the police's favorite suspect in the murder of a jeweller. This story is sometimes cited as the first detective story and as a direct influence on Edgar Allan Poe 's " The Murders in the Rue Morgue " (1841). Also suggested as a possible influence on Poe

11130-399: Was sold at auction in 2012 for US$ 158,500. Another one was sold in 2021 for $ 423,000. The existence of the 37th leaf became publicly known in 2018; it was put up for auction in 2022, but did not sell. The Hound of the Baskervilles has been adapted in various forms of media. Over 20 film and television versions of The Hound of the Baskervilles have been made. Edith Meiser adapted

11236-471: Was the first appearance of Holmes since his apparent death in " The Final Problem ", and the success of The Hound of the Baskervilles led to the character's eventual revival. One of the most famous stories ever written, in 2003, the book was listed as number 128 of 200 on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's "best-loved novel". In 1999, a poll of "Sherlockians" ranked it as the best of the four Holmes novels. In London , 1889, Dr. James Mortimer asks for

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