In her autobiography, Agatha Christie writes of her friend Katharine Woolley as being a fascinating character who was extremely demanding and rude, yet charming and well-spoken. Katharine was the inspiration for the murder victim Louise Leidner in Murder in Mesopotamia (1936).

A running joke throughout the movie is Katharine and Leonard Woolley's flirtations and active sex life being overheard by others. However, it is believed that the real Woolleys' marriage was never consummated, with Leonard seeking to divorce Katharine in 1929 for her refusal to consummate the union. He later dropped the case. It is speculated that Katharine had androgen insensitivity syndrome, meaning she would have had no uterus.

Agatha reads Lady into Fox by David Garnett, first published in 1922.