Arthur Conan Doyle - The Hound of the Baskervilles

Join us for a special episode of World Book Club as we journey into the fog-shrouded moors of Devon to explore The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle—arguably the most iconic and enduring novel in the Sherlock Holmes canon. First published in 1902, this gothic masterpiece has captivated readers for over a century and remains a cornerstone of detective fiction.

Harriett Gilbert is joined by internationally bestselling crime writer Denise Mina whose books include Three Fires, and The Good Liar and Dr Mark Jones, co-presenter of The Doings of Doyle podcast and editor of The Sherlock Holmes Journal. Together, they’ll be answering your questions about The Hound of the Baskervilles and discussing Sherlock Holmes’s lasting influence on crime and detective fiction.

Recorded in front of a live audience at Topping & Company Booksellers in Edinburgh during the Edinburgh Festival, this episode is a treat for mystery lovers everywhere. Expect lively debate as the panel considers whether all great fictional detectives need to be a little insufferable, whether the novel’s gothic atmosphere has had more impact on the genre than Holmes’s famed deductive reasoning—and why the spectral hound continues to haunt readers’ imaginations more than a century after it first appeared.