In the novel, Lady Westholme used a lethal dose of digitalis under the guise of an inconspicuous Arab servant in order to commit the murder. When Dame Celia and Dr Gerard found out that Lady Boynton had abused all of the children that were in her care (including Jinny) even for a short while (Mr Cope), they decided to kill her for revenge. She had an affair with Dr Gerard, delivered a child, and was sent away to a nunnery in Ireland while Lady Boynton kept the baby. In the adaptation, Dame Celia Westholme served as a maid in the home of Lady Boynton (who was then Mrs Pierce) before becoming a writer. Knowing Mrs Boynton's sadistic personality, she silenced her to keep her reputation and her social status. Before climbing the social ladder, she was incarcerated in the same prison where Mrs Boynton had been a warden. In the novel, Lady Westholme murdered Mrs Boynton in order to keep her past secret. Altering the murderer's motives and method.Her attempt fails when Jinny attacks her, not knowing that the undercover nun was in fact trying to kidnap her and not trying to save her. It transpires that Sister Agnieszka is an agent whose intent was to kidnap and sell Jinny. Adding a subplot involving slave traders.Dr Gerard, a Frenchman in the novel, becomes Scottish, develops a witty personality and becomes an accomplice to the murderer (whereas in the novel, he is completely innocent). Lady Westholme, a U.S.-born Member of Parliament, becomes the unconventional British travel writer Dame Celia Westholme in the adaptation. Jinny (Ginevra, in the novel) is adopted like Raymond and Carol, and she also becomes the prime motivation for the murderer, whereas in the novel she was Mrs Boynton's sole biological child. In the adaptation, Jefferson Cope was one of the orphans severely abused by Lady Boynton in his youth, and he decides to take his revenge by wiping out her financial empire and ensuring that she is kept in the dark, though she dies before she realizes her financial ruin.

Altering the backstories of several supporting characters.She couldn't have any children of her own, so she selected her children from orphanages, all of whom were badly abused and tormented. In the adaptation, she is also a sadist, albeit one who has compiled a financial empire. In the novel, Mrs Boynton is a tyrannical sadist whose occupation had been a prison warden, which is central to her murder. Omitting characters such as Nadine Boynton and Amabel Pierce.Adding new characters that never appeared in the original novel, such as Lord Boynton, Nanny Taylor, and Sister Agnieszka.Moving the central setting of the story from Petra in southern Jordan to an archaeological dig Ain Musa in Syria, where Lord Boynton is searching for the head of John the Baptist.

Appointment with death