The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Baskervilles die badly. Family legend blames a spectral hound that has haunted them since a wicked ancestor's crime, and when Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on his Dartmoor estate with a look of terror on his face (and the footprints of a gigantic hound nearby) the legend acquires an alarming freshness. Holmes takes the case but stays in London, dispatching Watson to the moor to guard the new heir among escaped convicts, secretive neighbors, and nights split by a sound no dog should make.

This is the most celebrated of all the Holmes novels for a reason: Conan Doyle balances the rational detective story against genuine Gothic dread and lets the fog hold both possibilities until the end. The moor itself (vast, ancient, mire-ridden) is the best character Doyle ever wrote that wasn't a person. Ideal listening after dark, with the volume up.

At roughly 64,700 words, The Hound of the Baskervilles runs about 7 hours at 1x narration speed. That figure is an estimate based on a typical narration pace. The exact length depends on the voice and the playback speed you choose.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is in the public domain, so the complete text is free on Project Gutenberg and LoudReader has the entire Project Gutenberg catalog built in. To listen:

1. Download LoudReader for Mac or iPhone (free, no account).
2. Search for “The Hound of the Baskervilles” in the built-in catalog and add it to your library.
3. Press play. A natural offline voice reads the book while each word highlights on screen, and your place is saved between sessions.

LoudReader reads with natural offline voices, so the whole book works on a plane or underground. It is fully on-device and private, your library never leaves your device. Listening is unlimited on the free tier.