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?

American heiress Henrietta Doran (known as Hatty) marries Lord St Simon, but she vanishes without trace on her wedding day, leaving London agog. Later, the police find her wedding dress in the Serpentine, a lake in a London park, with a note in the pocket of the dress. While investigating the case, Holmes suffers from nightmares, which he sees as a factor in the mystery.

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.

A man dies suddenly of a mysterious fever, and Holmes suspects murder.

The police are baffled by the murder of Willoughby Smith, and Inspector Hopkins looks to Holmes to solve the case.

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.

The Mazarin Stone, a famous jewel, acts as a magnet for crime. Holmes investigates the latest and perhaps most curious episode in its adventures.

When Susan Cushing first consults Holmes about the disappearance of her sister Mary, he shows little interest in the case. But then, at Christmas, Susan receives an alarming present in a cardboard box, and Holmes is quickly on the trail of a dangerous criminal.