Agatha Christie's rival, Edgar Wallace, is mentioned several times. Tommy puts up bookshelves to house the works of the prolific Wallace and other detective fiction. Tuppence bemoans that they have never had an "Edgar Wakllace case" and says that this new assignment will be their first. Tommy mentions that the security man at the gambling house looks like King Kong, a reference to the author's last work, the screen story for the 1933 fantasy/horror classic. Many aficionados consider the plotting of "The Crackler" as intended by Christie to satirize Wallace's slapdash style.