London, May 1895. Two days after Oscar Wilde's conviction, Bram Stoker receives three anonymous blackmail letters — and turns to Sherlock Holmes. What Holmes uncovers, Stoker will write two years later as Dracula.
Manuscript completed · For the 130th anniversary of Dracula in 2027
The Story
Bram Stoker, business manager of the Lyceum Theatre and closest confidant of Sir Henry Irving, sees his life's work under threat. Three anonymous blackmail letters link intimate secrets from Irving's inner circle to the Whitechapel murders of 1888 — and they arrive two days after Oscar Wilde has been sentenced to two years' hard labour, in a climate where a single letter can erase a career.
Stoker turns to Sherlock Holmes. The enquiry leads into the Beefsteak Room of the Lyceum, to the wind-beaten cliffs of Whitby, into an Amsterdam clinic, and to the heart of the Victorian establishment. What Holmes uncovers by reason, Stoker transforms — step by step — into something else: a story in which he can conceal the truth precisely by writing it down.
Two years later, Dracula appears.
Three Layers, One Novel
The Mystery
Classical detection with fair play, the forensic methods of the 1890s, and Dr Watson as chronicler. A first-rate Holmes case in authentic Victorian setting — clues, red herrings, and a rational resolution that satisfies any reader of the genre.
The Artist's Process
Alongside Holmes's enquiry runs Stoker's creative transformation. Interspersed are notebook fragments in which he turns the events — while they are still unfolding — into Gothic fiction. The reader watches reality become myth, and a childhood trauma find its shape.
The Meta-Layer
Every transformation in Dracula is traceable; a discreet apparatus of notes documents the sources. In the epilogue of 1897, Holmes and Watson receive the finished book — and recognise what Stoker has made of their case.
Early Voices
I was looking for historical inaccuracies more intently at the beginning because, by the end, I was getting swept up in the story.
Tine Hreno, 1890s specialist, after full reading
Stands in the tradition of Michael Chabon, Anthony Burgess and Caleb Carr.
Editorial report, Publishing Push, London
About the Author
Adrian Vogler writes historical detective fiction in the tradition of Conan Doyle, Earl Derr Biggers and Robert van Gulik. His Holmes novel Der Fluch des Rosetta Stone (The Curse of the Rosetta Stone, 2025) was published as a ten-part serial in the manner of The Strand Magazine and holds a 4.9-star rating on LovelyBooks — Germany's largest reader community — with more than 800 contributions in its accompanying reading round.
The Bram Stoker Case is the more literarily ambitious step: a standalone novel, conceived for the 130th anniversary of Dracula in the spring of 2027.
Are you a beta reader? Read the manuscript before publication.
Request CopyManuscript available. Enquiries from agents and publishers to avf@e-mail.de.