The Hound of the Baskervilles Book Quiz
Eight multiple-choice questions on Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) — plot, characters and the moments everyone quotes. Two minutes, instant score, every answer explained below. For the full mixed-classics version, take the original book quiz — 15 questions across the whole canon.
All 8 questions and answers
Prefer to read the quiz instead of taking it? Expand for every question, answer and a one-line explanation.
- What legend haunts the Baskerville family? — A demonic hound that hunts down family members. The manuscript Hugo Baskerville's story left behind: since a wicked ancestor was torn apart on the moor, a spectral dog has stalked the line.
- Who inherits Baskerville Hall after Sir Charles dies? — Sir Henry Baskerville, from Canada. The last Baskerville is a young Nova Scotian — which is exactly why someone wants him dead on the moor before he can take residence.
- Where does Holmes send Watson? — To Dartmoor to keep watch over Sir Henry. The novel's trick: Holmes stays in town and lets Watson narrate half the book alone, sending letters back to Baker Street.
- What has Holmes secretly been doing while Watson reports? — Living in a hut on the moor, watching the hall. 'I have never been in London' — he has been in Neolithic ruins on the moor, appearing when Watson least needs his pride spared.
- What is Stapleton's real identity? — A Baskerville by birth, in line for the estate. He is the son of Rodger Baskerville, the black-sheep brother of the family — breeding moths, faking a marriage, and murdering his cousins for the inheritance.
- What is the 'hound' of the legend, in fact? — A huge dog painted with glowing phosphorus. A real mastiff-size dog, smuggled in from London, daubed with radioactive paint so it glows in the dark — folklore weaponized with chemistry.
- Who is Beryl Stapleton, the 'sister'? — Stapleton's wife, forced to pose as his sister. The beautiful dark woman warning Sir Henry away is not flirting; she is a hostage signaling danger the only way she can.
- How does Stapleton meet his end? — He sinks into the great Grimpen Mire. Chasing his failed plot into the fog at night, he misses the stepping stones that marked the only safe path — the moor collects him.
About The Hound of the Baskervilles
A country doctor arrives in Baker Street with a manuscript about a family curse: a hell-hound that has killed Baskervilles for two hundred years, and a fresh corpse to go with it. Holmes sends Watson alone to Dartmoor, and the novel becomes the best of the five — fog, folklore, escaped convicts, and a murderer exploiting all three. The novel runs about 63,000 words (roughly 190 pages in a standard paperback) — about 4 hours and 25 minutes of reading at an average pace. Before you commit, see the full breakdown in how long it takes to read The Hound of the Baskervilles or calculate reading time for any other book.
Easy — the most cinematic Holmes novel, told at a sprint. Period prose but transparent; most readers finish it in two evenings, and the moor scenes do the atmosphere for you. If you get 6 or more of the eight questions right, the book clearly stuck.
What this quiz covers
Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles sits in our victorian london shelf, and the eight questions follow the book the way a reader experiences it: how the story opens, the turn in the middle, the characters who carry it, and the ending people still argue about. You will not be asked for page numbers or publication trivia — but three or four questions are built to separate people who read the book from people who read a summary. If a question stumps you, that gap is your reading list talking.
Fair warning for the ambitious: readers who clear this quiz often move straight to the reading-time breakdown for The Hound of the Baskervilles to plan the reread, then test the rest of their shelf against the mixed classic literature quiz.
More book quizzes
Great Expectations quiz, Heart of Darkness quiz, The Time Machine quiz, A Tale of Two Cities quiz, 1984 quiz, Animal Farm quiz, Brave New World quiz — or browse every book quiz on the site. For scale, The Hound of the Baskervilles is the 92nd longest of the 133 classics timed here — shorter than The Color Purple but longer than Peter Pan.
Doing the whole author? Our Sherlock Holmes books in order guide lists every book with the best entry point.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are in the Hound of the Baskervilles quiz?
Eight multiple-choice questions covering Arthur Conan Doyle's plot, characters and most famous moments. The quiz takes about two minutes and your score is instant.
Is the Hound of the Baskervilles book quiz free?
Yes — no signup, no email, nothing to install. Answer the eight questions and get your score immediately.
What score should I aim for?
8/8 means you know the book cold; 6+ is a solid score. Below 4, the book is calling you back for a reread.
Is the Hound of the Baskervilles quiz hard?
Easy — the most cinematic Holmes novel, told at a sprint. Period prose but transparent; most readers finish it in two evenings, and the moor scenes do the atmosphere for you. The questions themselves stick to famous, load-bearing moments — the scenes and lines the book is remembered for — so a genuine read usually scores 6+.
How long is the Hound of the Baskervilles reading itself?
About 63,000 words — roughly 190 pages, or about 4 hours and 25 minutes at an average pace. The full pace breakdown is in how long it takes to read The Hound of the Baskervilles. It runs 15 chapters, averaging 4,200 words each; see the book-count guide for its full structure.