The Hound of the Baskervilles vs The Mysterious Affair at Styles: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Mystery, Fiction
The Hound of the Baskervilles
“Mr Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he stayed up all night, was seated at the breakfast table.”
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The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April…
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
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Set in the summer of 1917 in an Essex country estate, the story follows the war-wounded Captain Arthur Hastings to the Styles St. Mary manor of his friend John Cavendish. The Cavendish household is wrought with tension…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles has the widest readership — 533408 ratings behind its score.
- The Hound of the Baskervilles runs the darker storyline; The Mysterious Affair at Styles stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| The Hound of the Baskervilles | The Mysterious Affair at Styles | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.1 (401962) | 4.0 (533408) |
| Hardcover | 4.1 (812) | 3.8 (883) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (1271) | 4.5 (2564) |
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Reception
| The Hound of the Baskervilles | The Mysterious Affair at Styles | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 401962 | 533408 |
| Editions | 1309 | 1091 |
| Citations | 17 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 165859 | 499931 |
| Reading it now | 11252 | 17778 |
| Written reviews | 15968 | 23040 |
| Wikipedia attention | 3477 | 13180 |
| Pages | 220 | 179 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Hound of the Baskervilles or The Mysterious Affair at Styles?
The Hound of the Baskervilles has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Hound of the Baskervilles 4.1/5, The Mysterious Affair at Styles 4.0/5).
Which is shorter to read: The Hound of the Baskervilles or The Mysterious Affair at Styles?
The Mysterious Affair at Styles is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Mysterious Affair at Styles (179 pages, ≈ 3 h 19 m); The Hound of the Baskervilles (220 pages, ≈ 4 h 04 m).
Which is harder to read: The Hound of the Baskervilles or The Mysterious Affair at Styles?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Hound of the Baskervilles: Challenging; The Mysterious Affair at Styles: Challenging.