The enduring appeal of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories has resulted in many pastiches, of varying quality. Some of the best have been written by David Stuart Davies, who, while remaining faithful to the original style of the stories, is not afraid to add some new twists to familiar characters and themes. "The Tangled Skein" is a fine example of his work.

It is the autumn of 1888. Following the successful conclusion of the investigation into the affair of the Hound of the Baskervilles, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson have returned from Dartmoor, little realising that fate will see them back in Devon before the year is out. Holmes receives a potentially lethal package, the first strand in the tangled skein, which he will need to unravel before this new adventure is resolved.

A threat to Holmes' life, murders on Hampstead Heath, and a strange phantom lady lead Holmes and Watson into the most dangerous investigation they have ever undertaken - an encounter which brings them face to face with evil itself, embodied in Count Dracula, the Lord of the Undead.