The Hound of the Baskervilles
Chapters - Arthur Conan Doyle
Prologue: Introduction
A brief prologue establishes the Gothic atmosphere before the novel properly begins.
Chapter 1: Mr Sherlock Holmes
Watson examines a walking stick left behind by a visitor and attempts Holmes's deductive method, producing reasonable but flawed conclusions. Holmes corrects him - gently, for once - and identifies the owner as Dr James Mortimer, a country physician. The chapter establishes the novel's mode: Holmes reasoning from physical evidence while Watson observes and occasionally misreads.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes, Dr James Mortimer
Chapter 2: The Curse of the Baskervilles
Dr Mortimer reads aloud an 18th-century manuscript describing the curse of the Baskervilles: Hugo Baskerville, a dissolute nobleman, was killed by a spectral hound on the moor after pursuing a kidnapped girl. The chapter does the work of establishing the supernatural frame the novel will spend its length dismantling.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes, Dr James Mortimer·Mentioned: Sir Henry Baskerville
Chapter 3: The Problem
Mortimer describes the recent death of Sir Charles Baskerville - found dead near the moor gate, his face contorted with terror, and the footprints of a gigantic hound nearby. Holmes asks the critical question: why come to him rather than the police? Because Sir Henry Baskerville, the heir, arrives from Canada tomorrow, and Mortimer fears for his life.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes, Dr James Mortimer·Mentioned: Sir Henry Baskerville
Chapter 4: Sir Henry Baskerville
Sir Henry Baskerville arrives in London and immediately receives a warning letter composed of words cut from a newspaper. Someone is also following him. Holmes deduces the letter was assembled from a Times leader article and the surveillance is being conducted by a bearded man in a cab.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes, Sir Henry Baskerville, Dr James Mortimer
Chapter 5: Three Broken Threads
Holmes pursues the cab but the man escapes, having given the driver a false name - Sherlock Holmes. The case deepens: Sir Henry's boots keep disappearing from his hotel. Holmes recognises that the missing boots are a critical clue, though he does not yet say why.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes, Sir Henry Baskerville, Dr James Mortimer
Chapter 6: Baskerville Hall
Watson and Sir Henry arrive at Baskerville Hall, the landscape and the house both working to produce unease. Holmes is conspicuously absent, having remained in London - his distance from the action is itself a structural element, leaving Watson to navigate the moor without his usual guide.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sir Henry Baskerville, Dr James Mortimer·Mentioned: Sherlock Holmes
Chapter 7: The Stapletons of Merripit House
Watson meets the Stapletons: Jack, an enthusiastic naturalist, and his sister Beryl, who urgently warns Watson to leave the moor. Watson also hears the hound for the first time. The chapter introduces the antagonist under the guise of a friendly neighbour - the novel's central deception.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sir Henry Baskerville, Dr James Mortimer, Jack Stapleton, Beryl Stapleton·Mentioned: Sherlock Holmes
Chapter 8: First Report of Dr Watson
Watson writes his first report to Holmes, cataloguing the neighbours, the escaped convict Selden on the moor, and the strange nocturnal signals from Barrymore the butler. Watson is doing Holmes's job in Holmes's absence, and doing it competently.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sir Henry Baskerville, Dr James Mortimer·Mentioned: Sherlock Holmes
Chapter 9: The Light upon the Moor
Watson discovers that Barrymore has been signalling to Selden, who is his wife's brother. Sir Henry and Watson pursue the convict across the moor at night and glimpse a second figure - tall, solitary, watching from a tor. Watson resolves to find this unknown observer.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sir Henry Baskerville·Mentioned: Sherlock Holmes, Dr James Mortimer
Chapter 10: Extract from the Diary of Dr Watson
Watson's diary entries record mounting tension: Stapleton's possessiveness over his "sister," Laura Lyons's connection to Sir Charles's death, and Watson's growing conviction that someone other than the convict is watching from the moor.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sir Henry Baskerville·Mentioned: Sherlock Holmes, Dr James Mortimer
Chapter 11: The Man on the Tor
Watson tracks the solitary figure to a stone shelter on the tor and discovers - Holmes. He has been living on the moor in secret, conducting his own investigation while using Watson's reports as raw data. The revelation reframes everything Watson has experienced.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes, Sir Henry Baskerville·Mentioned: Dr James Mortimer
Chapter 12: Death on the Moor
A scream on the moor: Selden the convict is found dead, wearing Sir Henry's old clothes, apparently killed by the hound which mistook him for its target. Holmes sees the body and the shape of the solution becomes clear.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes, Sir Henry Baskerville
Chapter 13: Fixing the Nets
Holmes and Watson visit Laura Lyons, who confirms Stapleton lured Sir Charles to the moor gate. Holmes reveals the final piece: Beryl Stapleton is not Jack's sister but his wife. The boots were stolen to give the hound Sir Henry's scent. Holmes prepares his trap.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes, Sir Henry Baskerville, Inspector Lestrade
Chapter 14: The Hound of the Baskervilles
The climax. Sir Henry walks home across the moor as bait and the hound is released - a real dog, enormous, its jaws and coat painted with phosphorus to create the spectral glow. Holmes and Watson shoot it. Stapleton flees into the Grimpen Mire and is never seen again. The supernatural is thoroughly demolished: every element of the haunting has a material explanation.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes, Sir Henry Baskerville, Dr James Mortimer, Inspector Lestrade
Chapter 15: A Retrospection
Holmes explains the complete solution: Stapleton was a Baskerville himself, next in line after Sir Henry, who trained the hound and used the legend as cover for murder. Beryl Stapleton, his abused wife, is found bound and starved in a room at Merripit House. The novel closes with Holmes and Watson attending a concert - normality restored.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes, Sir Henry Baskerville, Dr James Mortimer·Mentioned: Inspector Lestrade