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Hound of
the Baskervilles I used to watch Mystery! on PBS with my father on a very regular basis when I was young. While I tolerated the Hercule Poroit episodes, I saw them as filler in between the Sherlock Holmes episodes. I had a series crush on Jeremy Brett who played Holmes, and whenever I read the original stories, Brett is who plays the part in my head. When I picked up Hound of the Baskervilles I was terrified of destroying childhood memories in one final swoop. What if I was bored? What if I saw right through the plot? What if my crush on Holmes was unjustified? I knew quickly I had nothing to worry about. I sat waiting for a friend tearing through the book, disappointed when she showed up and I had to put it down. I wasn't even enjoying it on a trashy entertainment level. I was quite surprised to find the characters of Holmes and Watson were intricately portrayed. At one point Holmes states his disinterest in whether the Earth revolves around the sun or vice versa. That one sentence reveals so much into his character. And Watson's puppy dog devotion that turns into smacked-with-a-newspaper pouting whenever Holmes is brusque with him is adorable. I had been familiar with the story (I had seen it on Mystery!), although I had forgotten the particulars. I remembered a spectral dog terrifying people to death, but that was about it. That's a method of murder you don't see much of these days, the "scared to death". I would like to see someone on CSI put that on a death certificate. Doyle likes to keep you guessing, and the wrap-up at the end is always essential as it's a family portrait or a bracelet or a floor tile pattern that brings it all together for Holmes. No one ever explains this until the wrap-up, it's always "Holmes studied the floor intently," and then bam! The whole thing is solved. I'm glad I didn't leave this book to childhood memories. I'm glad I decided to give it a try and see if it could live up to memories of Jeremy Brett looking fiercely calm and focused. 
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