Holmes and Watson attempt to thwart the schemes of the infamous blackmailer Charles Augustus Milverton from blackmailing Lady Eva Blackwell. But things do not seem as easy as they do and Holmes must sacrifice his morality and his honourable career to stop Milverton from wrecking her marriage.

Holmes investigates a killing which has all the hallmarks of the worst kind of Ruritanian vampire. He is sceptical (to say the least) about the possibility that the undead are up to their mischief just a short train journey from his rooms in Baker Street. If a local resident really found his South American wife sucking blood from their young son, what might it signify?

Holmes investigates when a man dies and the manuscript of his recently-completed book is stolen. He has to discover who was behind an unusual proposal to buy a house and all of its contents.

Mrs Warren, a London lodging-house keeper, comes to Holmes with a curious story of a reclusive and eccentric tenant. Mrs Warren's husband has been abducted and then quickly released again, perhaps a case of mistaken identity. Holmes decides the case is more important than it appears.