This was the final book to feature Templar's longtime love interest and partner, Patricia Holm, a recurring character dating back to the first Saint novel, but who had only made a few story appearances over the preceding decade. Charteris decided that Templar should no longer be tied down to just one woman (although he had enjoyed romantic dalliances in several previous books, such as "The Saint Sees it Through", suggesting his relationship with Holm was non-exclusive). Later continuation writers would not bring Holm back to the series (due primarily to most later books being adaptations of the 1960s TV series, in which she did not appear), although Charteris did attempt to get the novel "The Saint's Lady" (1979) published, and Holm appears in that work. There is also a brief reference to Holm in the final book of the series, "Salvage for the Saint" (1983), in which it is indicated that Holm left the relationship with Templar some time previously. In "Saint Errant", Holm appears in the stories "Iris", "Lida" and "Luella," before making her exit from the series.