[1] Nurse Hilda Wade and the Watson-esque Dr. Hubert Cumberledge (narrating) attempt to track down the murderous Sebastian.

Wade is the daughter of the murder victim, and agrees to marry the persistent Dr. Cumberledge only once Sebastian is brought to justice.

[3] The final two chapters were finished posthumously by Allen's friend and neighbor Arthur Conan Doyle.

It was a pleasure for me to do them for him, and so relieve his mind, but it was difficult collar work, and I expect they were pretty bad.Hilda Wade addresses a variety of themes relevant to late 19th-century medicine, including the applied or abstract nature of biological research, the role of nurses compared to doctors, and particular kinds of knowledge as 'masculine' or 'feminine'.

[6][3] Writing in 1995, David Skene-Melvin describes the book as lackluster compared to other romantic intrigues published in the same era.