CR2: Book 25 The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I read this (somewhat, occassionally) boring Sherlock Holmes story with the full intent of casting the inevitable movie sequel.

One morning, John Watson (Jude Law) wakes to find his "flat-mate" Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) sitting at the breakfast table examing a walking stick. It had been left by someone who had called on them the evening before (while our heroes had been out clubbing) and Holmes deducts it's the cane of one Dr. James Mortimer. Watson looks it over and adds that Dr. Morimer (played with rich subtleties by awesome character actor and sometimes Pajiba commenter, Brian Jensen) is most likely a country doctor who does much travelling on foot. Holmes complements him on his detective work, which pleases Watson with much pleasant pleasure. Soon, Mortimer calls again and talks to Holmes about a curse placed on a family in his village and pleads for help.
Way long ago, a man named Hugo Baskerville and some buddies kidnapped a farmer's daughter while her family was away. They tied her up and went to have a few drinks before returning, finding she had escaped. Baskerville called his hunting dogs down on the girl, but they were both later found dead. A gigantic black dog was seen eating his face.

Dr. Mortimer went on, telling how Sir Charles Baskerville had just passed. He was a good man, and his death had really saddened the local populace. He had been found by his butler out in the gardens, no sign of foul play, and the cause of death was attributed to heart disease. Thing is, Sir Charles had recently started taking the legend of his family's curse a little more seriously and refused to go out onto the moors at night.
Mortimer claimed to have once seen the great dog when visiting Baskerville Hall one evening. He also eluded to less-public details of the death, including footprints he found on the night of Sir Charles' death: footprints of a very, very large animal.

So, Holmes and Watson are on the case. They meet with Sir Henry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Sir Charles' only living relative, recently arrived from Canada. There are a few (not quite) bewildering mcguffins: missing boots, an escaped killer from Notting Hill (Hugh Grant), sounds of women crying in the night... The locals are totally freaked out.

But do they really need to be? Are they safe? Is the legendary Hound back and after more than just Baskerville blood? Or is it just a herring, set loose to distract from another plot altogether?

I wasn't the biggest fan of this story, but I won't belittle its importance to the Holmes mythology. He does some mad detecting, and is seemingly undeterred in the face of a supernatural beast. And he even gets to play his violin for all the fan-boys to squee over!
Yet, maybe, MAYBE, with a few more gut-punches and/or explosions, this might have been a more thrilling ride.