This fiction by Grant Allen is one of his "mystery books" and is considered one of the first detective stories with a powerful female protagonist. Hilda, works as a nurse for a popular doctor in a London hospital and is nearly murdered by the man who is her chief suspect; she flees to South Africa to reformulate her strategy in safety. The story circles around the events that follow.

Hilda Wade: a Woman with Tenacity of Purpose was Grant Allen's last book and its chapters were serialized in The Strand Magazine. Allen could not complete the final chapter before dying, so Arthur Conan Doyle, his neighbor and friend agreed to write it.

This work presents valuable insights into human psychology, and morality of humans, and the pleasures provided by fiction. This story is genuinely thrilling, and an exciting mix of adventure, romance, drama, suspense and can be termed a New Woman novel.