In "The Valley of Fear," a novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson become entangled in a complex case concerning an unexplained murder at Birlstone Manor. After the victim, Mr. John Douglas, is discovered dead, evidence points to a possible relationship with the Scowrers, an undercover American criminal organization. As Holmes investigates the case, he finds a maze of lies and assumed identities, which reveals that the murder is connected to a spectacular chain of events that occurred in the United States. The course of the investigation takes Holmes and Watson through a complicated network of revenge and lying before revealing the real motivations behind the murder and identifying the person responsible.