The Valley of Fear

When
Sherlock Holmes receives a bungled tip-off from one of the agents of his
nemesis, Professor Moriarty, the great detective hopes to avoid a murderous
crime and bring the would-be assassin to justice. But on being informed soon
afterwards that one John Douglas of Birlstone Manor has been found with his
head blown apart by a shotgun, he realizes that he is too late. And so begins
an enthralling tale of revenge, vigilantism and secret societies, one that
transports the reader from the English countryside to the violent world of
the American frontier of the 1860s.

The fourth and final novel in the Sherlock Holmes canon, originally
published in the Strand magazine between September 1914 and May 1915, The
Valley of Fear is a riveting whodunit that showcases all of the classic
elements that have ensured the enduring popularity of the stories featuring
Conan Doyle’s most famous creation.