The Hound of the Baskervilles, one of the classical Sherlock Holmes books written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of the most controversial mysteries since it combines many small mysterial elements to form one of the most loved mysteries of the 19th century. There are a lot of reasons why this special book in the Sherlock Holmes series is so unique, and some of them are the extreme attention to detail that implies how caring Holmes is to tiny details to form the big picture, one of the most cunning and hideous murderers, Stapleton’s convincing tricks and ruses, and the fact that it combines memorable characters and important minor characters to form an extremely hard but also thrilling mystery.
To begin with, Holme’s great attention to detail is greatly implied by this book, much more than the other, more known stories of Sherlock Holmes. For example, he could associate the minor details that he found on the paintings of Baskerville Hall to form a hypothesis that Stapleton was indeed a Baskerville, and further find out that Ms. Stapleton was actually Mr. Stapleton’s wife, not sister. This led to him doubting why Stapleton was trying to fake his own identity, and helped him discover the truth about the Hound of the Baskervilles. Also, a small comical detail, the fact about Sir Henry’s missing boots, was also very contributing to the fact that there was a missing Baskerville somewhere. Holmes’ great attention to detail is a key attribute of the book The Hound of the Baskervilles, as it shows how great attention to detail can change small details into huge conclusions.
Next, Stapleton’s convincing tricks and ruses also is a great attribute of this book. The killer of both Sir Charles and Selden was not the hound itself, nor was it Stapleton. Stapleton used the fact that both Sir Charles and Selden had died of their own causes, like a heart attack or a large fall, rather than anything related to Stapleton. The hound might not have even tried to kill them; he could just have been running around the moor and coincidentally scared these two passers-bys. This would make most people think that the hound was just an extremely wild and bloodthirsty hound, not under the control of any human being. On top of that, Stapleton paints the hound a bloody, shining color using phosphorus, to make people think it was supernatural and further back up the fact that there was no one behind the killing of Sir Charles and Selden. These cunning tricks took Holme’s great mind to break open, and they still make us wonder now how cunning and smart Stapleton was to employ such deceiving tricks.
Moreover, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also uses the presence of minor characters well. Laura Lyons provided great help to Holmes even though we didn’t read it directly. She implied many details to help Holmes crack Stapleton’s true identity, and even though she was quite refusing to give any details, still gave Holmes valuable information. Also, Mr. and Mrs. Barrymore looking out for the convict, Selden, also gave away to the fact that something other than the police, which were miles away, was trying to find him, and that helped Holmes to dress up Selden in Sir Henry’s attire to see if the hound was really targeting the whole Baskerville family. The presence of minor characters is also used extremely well in The Hound of the Baskervilles.
In conclusion, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used many elements in the Hound of the Baskervilles. These elements included the presence of minor characters, the trickery and ruses of Stapleton, and the quick mind and attention to small details of Sherlock Holmes. These small details ultimately changed an uncrackable case into a beautiful solution. He shows us that the case that we usually need to crack always has a logical explanation, not to fall to the tricks of the antagonist, and to pay attention to those small details that in the end will contribute a lot to the cracking of the crime.
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