English novelist Reginald Hill visited Australia to promote his books. He had already decided that the heroine of The Stranger House was to be an Australian so observed the local scene keenly. In the Author's Note to The Stranger House he says; 'Australia figures in my story and anything I got right about matters Australian is almost certainly down to Mel Cain and Christine Farmer of HarperCollins, who organized my only visit to their lovely country and made sure I had a great time. By the same token, anything I've got wrong is down to me, so let me put my hand up now and save you the bother of writing.'