Hound of the Baskervilles & the Valley of Fear

This volume contains two of the greatest Sherlock Holmes novels penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Hound of the Baskervilles is the classic detective chiller. The Baskerville family is haunted by a phantom beast which roams the mist-enshrouded wilds of Dartmoor. Now The Hound seems to be stalking the young Sir Henry, new heir to the Baskerville estate. Is this devilish spectre the manifestation of the family curse? Or is Sir Henry the victim of a vile and scheming murderer? Only Sherlock Holmes can solve the mystery. In The Valley of Fear a cipher message and a horrible murder begin this dark, powerful tale in which Sherlock Holmes faces his old arch enemy, Professor Moriarty once more. The solution to the riddle lies far away from the disturbed calm of a country house in Sussex, halfway across the world in a location known as The Valley of Fear.

Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859. After a rigorous Jesuit education, he trained to become a doctor at Edinburgh University. Eventually he set up in a medical practice in Southsea and during the quiet spells between patients he turned his hand to writing. It was here that he created his scientific detective Sherlock Holmes, a character based to some extent on one of his tutors at Edinburgh, Dr. Joseph Bell. Although Holmes was Doyle's greatest creation, he was more proud of his historical novels such as Micah Clarke, Sir Nigel, and The White Company. A man of many interests and talents, he was an expert in photography and was a pioneer of cross-country skiing. Towards the end of his life he devoted much of his time to his belief in spiritualism. He died in 1930.