The Hound of the Baskervilles

A Sherlock Holmes Novel

By: Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

The country doctor had come to 221B Baker Street, the famous lodgings of Sherlock Holmes, with an eerie tale---the legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles, the devil-beast that haunted the lonely moors around the Baskervilles' ancestral home. The tale warned the descendants of that ancient family never to venture out on the moor "in those dark hours when the powers of evil are exalted." But one of the most recent Baskervilles, Sir Charles, was now dead, and the footprints of a giant hound had been found near his body. Would the new heir of the Baskervilles meet the same dreadful fate? Sherlock Holmes and his faithful friend Dr. Watson are faced with their most terrifying case in this wonderful classic of masterful detection and bone-chilling suspense. This audiobook includes the bonus Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Dancing Men."

Public Domain (P)2009 Tantor

A worthy competitor to David Timson

David Timson is a tough act to follow as a narrator of Sherlock Holmes stories, but Simon Prebble gives him a run for his money here. It's wonderful that Tantor released all four Holmes novels at the same time. Prebble is another in my growing list of favorite narrators. The voices of the different characters are less distinctive at times than in Timson's reading, but Prebble is equally effective at conveying the excitement of the story, the sense of dread, and the sharp humor of Holmes himself.

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" is the quintessential Holmes story, even though he himself is absent from a significant portion of the action. If you never read another Holmes story, read this one. Among other things, it's the perfect antidote for people who grew up thinking of Watson as the likeable duffer from the old Basil Rathbone movies. He shows himself here as a courageous and loyal friend, and while his detecting is less brilliant than Holmes's, it's equally tenacious.

I'm looking forward to the other entries in the series.

A bow (wow wow) to the ever great Sir Arthur

What a great pleasure it is to pick up a read, even one you are already so familiar with, and be totally immersed in atmosphere; a pace that proceeds with urgency; and writing that takes you to foggy old England and holds you there so convincingly that real-life seems like a fuzzy distant intrusion while you are reading. There is here that kind of precise balance of the writerly elements -- you can count on them with Sir Arthur. So easily, the reader can slip into the inner circle of Watson and Holmes.

When I was a child, I saw the film version starring Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville; a Hollywood version for sure, Doyle may have rolled once or twice in his grave, but it inspired me to read the book. Minus the grandiosity of Hollywood, the book lacked nothing, and still contains magic that even Hollywood can't trump. On a calm enough evening, sitting with your family, The Hound of the Baskervilles might even be able to compete with Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Warlord, Doodle Jump. What's that old saying..."They just don't make 'em like this anymore"...they do, but not very often. Great production, and worth re-visiting.

A bit monotonous

The story is as good as any SH story. But I found the narrator a bit monotonous, and not very good at modulating his voice to distinguish the various characters. Holmes and especially Watson sound much too old. His attempt at giving a female character a lisp was utterly unconvincing and down right annoying.

Deserves to be the classic that it is.

This was such a fun book to listen to. It is a very accessible story, easy to follow, and all the characters are fun to get to know. It's a great history lesson--so many of our current "mystery" shows and stories are based on this story. That makes it even more fun--you can recognize the formula and the pattern of the story in everything from Law & Order episodes to "mystery" movies and books. These Doyle stories are SUCH a treasure.

The basis of many movies

Here we have Sherlock Holmes sending Watson to solve or at least attempt to solve a case. Largely we see Watson solving the case with Holmes coming in at the end to get the credit and solve the case. This story line has been used by writers across the board. Not going to spoil it however it also has a lot of great lessons like about who to trust and not trust. All people appearing to be evil aren't and all angles aren't as well.

Perfect

You can't argue with The Hound of the Baskervilles - it's a perfect, elegant mystery with lots of fun and no dull patches. Simon Prebble is a very listenable narrator. Unlike the other reviewers I thought he distinguished Holmes and Watson perfectly. Thumbs up!

Splendid...

What did you love best about The Hound of the Baskervilles?

The portrayal of Sherlock Holmes was fascinating

What about Simon Prebble’s performance did you like?

He really knows how to adapt his style to the moment in the story.

Good Story But Truly Great Narration

This is the first Sherlock Holmes audio book that I have ever listened to. While I was very familiar with the story (saw the movie which starrted Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce), I believe that what made this recording superb was Simon Prebble's narration. He did a phenomonal (and probably the best) job that I have ever heard changing his voice to match the characters in the book (best exemplified by his voice characterizations of Holmes vs. Dr. Watson (with different English Accents and tones) as well as inserting an American/Canadian dialectic tone for Sir. Henry Baskerville). I recommend this as a great listen and I am actually thinking of purchasing the entire Holmes collection that is available on Audible (and is also narrated by Prebble)

Classic

October is a great month for a little classic horror from a master. Holmes and Watson are off to the moors for a little sleuthing around. In Holmes style he waits until the end to unfold all of the facts to catch the killer. My son informed me that the narrator Simon Prebble also was the voice of "Courage the Cowardly Dog", on Nickelodeon.

Enjoyed the narrator!

Simon Prebble sounds fantastic in this. I loved his narration and found his voice interesting and engaging instead of annoying. Great story!