Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on Dartmoor, with his face contorted in terror and the footprints of a huge dog near his body. On arrival in England, Sir Charles's American heir, now Sir Henry Baskerville, engages Holmes to come to Devon and get to the bottom of the age-old legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles - a phantom which kills.From the outset, Holmes is convinced there is a human murderer at work and he lays a deep plan to foil him.
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?