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* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The series tends to feature the domestic lives of the various suspects, and it's rare for there to be a killer who doesn't have any loved ones (spouse, children, parents etc.).
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* HelloAttorney: In ''Green Grow the Dollars'', Hilary, the girlfriend of one of the main guest characters, is a ''pro bono'' lawyer who "would have been noticed anywhere" due to her figure and taste in makeup and clothing.
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* IgnoredEnamoredUnderling: In ''Green Grow the Dollars'', secretary Barbara Gunn has been in love with her boss for six years and has some bitterness about how "the woman who had moved into Scott's apartment was named Hilary, not Barbara."
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* ShooTheDog: In ''[[spoiler:The Longer the Thread]]'', an innocuous freight forwarder helps the police gather evidence against the murderer. He's taking his grandsons on a trip to a historical site when he finds out that the killer has decided HeKnowsTooMuch (although Thatcher and the cops are racing to be BigDamnHeroes).
--> ''Suddenly a shadow fell across his path. Moreno turned, then stiffened. The murderer stood there, ten feet away. Nothing was said. "Boys," said Moreno, his voice suddenly lifeless. "Go down to the courtyard." [[WouldHurtAChild He saw the murderer shift.]] "[[PrivacyByDistraction Go look at the cannonballs]]." Armando and Felipe scampered off. Moreno remained where he was. He knew quite well he was looking at death.''
--> ''Suddenly a shadow fell across his path. Moreno turned, then stiffened. The murderer stood there, ten feet away. Nothing was said. "Boys," said Moreno, his voice suddenly lifeless. "Go down to the courtyard." [[WouldHurtAChild He saw the murderer shift.]] "[[PrivacyByDistraction Go look at the cannonballs]]." Armando and Felipe scampered off. Moreno remained where he was. He knew quite well he was looking at death.''
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* BadassBystander: In "Death Shall Overcome," the exposed murderer flees through the halls of the New York Stock Exchange and is overpowered by an unnamed U.S. Steel specialist who takes in how he's running from the cops.
--> '''U.S. Steel Specialist:''' My boy, I don't know why they want you, but...
--> ''With that, he pivoted and landed a competent rabbit punch. He followed this up with a short, powerful jab. The murderer folded. He did not slump to the ground since he was held erect by the crushed tangle surrounding him. The U.S. Steel specialist might be sixty and overweight, but he had not boxed at Dartmouth for nothing.''
--> '''U.S. Steel Specialist:''' My boy, I don't know why they want you, but...
--> ''With that, he pivoted and landed a competent rabbit punch. He followed this up with a short, powerful jab. The murderer folded. He did not slump to the ground since he was held erect by the crushed tangle surrounding him. The U.S. Steel specialist might be sixty and overweight, but he had not boxed at Dartmouth for nothing.''
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* SuicideBySea: The killer in ''[[spoiler:By Hook or by Crook]]'' commits suicide by taking a small boat out to sea in the middle of a hurricane.
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* IWantGrandkids:
** In ''East is East,'' the one scene where Dr. Khan's parents appear has them urging him to date while pointing out that his sister has given them grandkids, but they'd like more. [[spoiler:He's already married to a woman who is helping him embezzle money.]]
** In ''Something in the Air,'' Mitch Scovil's sister-in-law has recently had a baby, and during Thanksgiving dinner, Scovil's mother-in-law accidentally shows frustration that Mitch and his wife haven't had kids.
** In ''East is East,'' the one scene where Dr. Khan's parents appear has them urging him to date while pointing out that his sister has given them grandkids, but they'd like more. [[spoiler:He's already married to a woman who is helping him embezzle money.]]
** In ''Something in the Air,'' Mitch Scovil's sister-in-law has recently had a baby, and during Thanksgiving dinner, Scovil's mother-in-law accidentally shows frustration that Mitch and his wife haven't had kids.
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Society Marches On has been renamed; cleaning out misuse and moving examples
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*** Dr. Bullivant, the head of the obstetrics department, had been performing abortions for money and writing them up as miscarriages, [[SocietyMarchesOn pre-Roe v. Wade.]]
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*** Dr. Bullivant, the head of the obstetrics department, had been performing abortions for money and writing them up as miscarriages, [[SocietyMarchesOn pre-Roe v. Wade.]]
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* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: In ''A Stitch in Time,'' once the "cesspool" of corruption at the hospital is exposed, many of the relatively innocent employees start taking early retirement or transferring to other hospitals before guilt by association sentiment has a chance to rear its head.
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* SlippingAMickey: In ''Going for the Gold'', an athlete is slipped [=OTC=] cold medicines right before going down the ski run. Because she never takes medications, the "drowsiness" side effect hits her much harder than normal. Because she ''is'' an Olympic skier (the setting is the Lake Placid Olympics), she makes it down the ski run in one piece and can still provide important evidence.
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* VigilanteMilitia: In ''Ashes to Ashes,'' after a school is bombed (without hurting anyone or causing much damage) during the middle of a community dispute, hundreds of parents organize patrols to guard it and make sure there's no second attack. This only lasts for a couple of chapters before the killer is caught and the concerned parents find out the whole purpose of the bombing was [[spoiler:to frighten them and distract them from other issues]].
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* TheCon: The murder victim of ''Ashes to Ashes'' is a protest group leader trying to stop a parochial school from being torn down (along with the rest of the block) to build condos. [[spoiler:The victim found out that he was tricked into starting the protest group solely to drive down the property values so his FalseFriend co-founder could buy several buildings cheap and then sabotage the protest group so the land would be expensive again once the development resumed.]] Interestingly, Thatcher notes that the scheme was actually legal, but that the killer, [[spoiler:an aspiring politician]], didn't want the bad publicity that would come with exposure.
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* RealEstateScam: The murder victim of ''Ashes to Ashes'' is a protest group leader trying to stop a parochial school from being torn down (along with the rest of the block) to build condos. [[spoiler:The victim found out that he was tricked into starting the protest group solely to drive down the property values so his FalseFriend co-founder could buy several buildings cheap and then sabotage the protest group so the land would be expensive again once the development resumed.]] Interestingly, Thatcher notes that the scheme was actually legal, but that the killer, [[spoiler:an aspiring politician]], didn't want the bad publicity that would come with exposure.
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* IRememberBecause: In ''Going for the Gold,'' Thatcher questions how an extremely busy salesgirl can remember a transaction involving a fake check five days after it happened.
--> '''Captain Milliken:''' She says she doesn't often sell an American Indian headdress to a German.
--> '''Captain Milliken:''' She says she doesn't often sell an American Indian headdress to a German.
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* AccidentalSuicide: In ''[[spoiler:Murder Makes the Wheels Go Round]]'', as the murderer journeys to kill a witness, the police (alerted by Thatcher) chase after him. When the murderer realizes that they're after him, he loses control of the wheel in a moment of shock and panic, dying in a fiery car crash.
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* InUniverseFactoidFailure: The murder motive in ''Pick Up Sticks''. It seems the killer didn't realize [[spoiler:the land he'd bought for a new vacation resort was part of the Appalachian Trail]]. Thatcher points out at the end of the novel that if the killer had done ''any'' local research, he would have learned that. [[note]] At the time the novel was written, the path of the Trail was still being laid out, so searching title deeds at the state capitol wouldn't, and didn't, turn up the public byway across those farms.[[/note]]
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Under the pen name B.R. Dominic, the authors wrote a second, political-themed series, the ''Literature/BenSaffordMysteries''.
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* DarkHorseVictory: In ''Accounting for Murder'', the combination of his natural incompetence and the bad publicity from the murder of an auditor guarantee that TheAllegedBoss won't hold onto his job for long. His nephew and a couple of ambitious division managers consider themselves potential successors for the company presidency and occasionally behave accordingly. In the end, [[spoiler:the job goes to the company controller, who has spent the entire book offscreen, wisely making excuses to avoid going back to the main office amidst all of the drama and police investigations.]]
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* WhyAreYouLookingAtMeLikeThat: In ''[[spoiler:By Hook or by Crook]],'' Thatcher explains how the killer's motive involved being afraid that his family would turn on him if a certain DarkSecret got out, given how an [[ObnoxiousInLaws obnoxious in-law]] had been opposing him in every way lately. Said in-law summarizes everyone's (otherwise un-described) reaction to Thatcher's statement by saying, "I don't see why you're all looking at me that way."
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* StartToCorpse: Often, the murder (or at least the first murder) occurs around a quarter of the way through book. However, there are a few books, such as ''Green Grow the Dollars'' and (despite initial indications) ''[[spoiler:Come to Dust]]'' where no one is murdered until around the halfway point. In contrast, in ''Going for the Gold,'' there's a dead body by the end of the first chapter.
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Trivia
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* RecycledScript: While the overall stories and characters are fairly distinct, ''[[spoiler:Ashes to Ashes]]'' and ''[[spoiler:Brewing Up a Storm]]'' have eerily similar reveals about the victim, motive, and killer. In both books, [[spoiler:an idealistic activist leader discovers that a supposed ally is cynically manipulating the group in exchange for money to finance that person's political ambitions. In both books, the victim is killed in a fit of pain and anger after privately confronting the killer.]]
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*** Martin has been lying to patients about their health, so they'll pay him for unnecessary gall bladder removals. When another doctor confronts him about this, Martin fires him.
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*** Martin has been lying to patients about their health, health so they'll pay him for unnecessary gall bladder removals. When another doctor confronts him about this, Martin fires him.
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* RecycledScript: While the overall stories and characters are fairly distinct, ''[[spoiler:Ashes to Ashes]]'' and ''[[spoiler:Brewing Up a Storm]]'' have eerily similar reveals about the victim, motive, and killer. In both books, [[spoiler:an idealistic activist leader discovers that a supposed ally is cynically manipulating the group in exchange for money to finance that person's political ambitions. In both books, the victim is killed in a fit of pain and anger after privately confronting the killer.]]
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* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate:
** The intrigue of ''A Stitch in Time'' involves a hospital overflowing with corruption and ethics breaches.
*** Dr. Wendell Martin, the murder victim, causes a patient's death through extreme negligence during an operation and (aided by his colleagues Wittke, Neverson, and Bullivant) tries to cover it up.
*** Martin has been lying to patients about their health, so they'll pay him for unnecessary gall bladder removals. When another doctor confronts him about this, Martin fires him.
*** Martin, Wittke, Wittke's two sons (who are also doctors), and Neverson write their patients expensive (and sometimes unnecessary) prescriptions for drugs from a company that they secretly own while cheaply importing those drugs from abroad.
*** Martin has been accepting cash payments for operations and not reporting them to the IRS.
*** Dr. Bullivant, the head of the obstetrics department, had been performing abortions for money and writing them up as miscarriages, [[SocietyMarchesOn pre-Roe v. Wade.]]
*** [[spoiler:Neverson kills Martin to keep him from implicating the others.]]
** The villain in ''[[spoiler:Green Grow the Dollars]]'' has a [=PhD=] in [[spoiler:botany]] and resorts to murder after a failed attempt to steal a colleague's work.
** The intrigue of ''A Stitch in Time'' involves a hospital overflowing with corruption and ethics breaches.
*** Dr. Wendell Martin, the murder victim, causes a patient's death through extreme negligence during an operation and (aided by his colleagues Wittke, Neverson, and Bullivant) tries to cover it up.
*** Martin has been lying to patients about their health, so they'll pay him for unnecessary gall bladder removals. When another doctor confronts him about this, Martin fires him.
*** Martin, Wittke, Wittke's two sons (who are also doctors), and Neverson write their patients expensive (and sometimes unnecessary) prescriptions for drugs from a company that they secretly own while cheaply importing those drugs from abroad.
*** Martin has been accepting cash payments for operations and not reporting them to the IRS.
*** Dr. Bullivant, the head of the obstetrics department, had been performing abortions for money and writing them up as miscarriages, [[SocietyMarchesOn pre-Roe v. Wade.]]
*** [[spoiler:Neverson kills Martin to keep him from implicating the others.]]
** The villain in ''[[spoiler:Green Grow the Dollars]]'' has a [=PhD=] in [[spoiler:botany]] and resorts to murder after a failed attempt to steal a colleague's work.
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* RealEstateScam: The murder victim of ''Ashes to Ashes'' is a protest group leader trying to stop a parochial school from being torn down (along with the rest of the block) to build condos. [[spoiler:The victim found out that he was tricked into starting the protest group solely to drive down the property values so his FalseFriend co-founder could buy several buildings cheap and then sabotage the protest group so the land would be expensive again once the development resumed.]] Interestingly, Thatcher notes that the scheme was actually legal, but that the killer, [[spoiler:an aspiring politician]], didn't want the bad publicity that would come with exposure.
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* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: In ''Come to Dust'' [[spoiler:The killer steals a $50,000 bond that was entrusted to him by a colleague right before he disappeared. He mistakenly believes that his missing colleague is an embezzler, which emboldens him to pocket the bond on a whim. When it turns out that his colleague isn't an embezzler, he tries to return the bond, only to find the building locked down due to police presence. He later goes on to murder a seventeen-year-old boy to cover his tracks.]]
--> '''Thatcher:'' [[spoiler:Ralph]] was not born to be a criminal. He was an accidental one if there ever was one.
--> '''Thatcher:'' [[spoiler:Ralph]] was not born to be a criminal. He was an accidental one if there ever was one.
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* KarmaHoudini: In ''[[spoiler:Right on the Money]]'', the murderer (who has also robbed people who trust him) escapes to Europe as the police close in on him.
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* KarmaHoudini: KarmaHoudini:
** In ''[[spoiler:Right on the Money]]'', the murderer (who has also robbed people who trust him) escapes to Europe as the police close in onhim.him.
** In ''Come to Dust,'' one character is suspected of being a hit-and-run driver who recklessly kills two teenagers. It turns out that he's innocent, but it's never confirmed whether the real hit-and-run driver is ever caught.
** In ''[[spoiler:Right on the Money]]'', the murderer (who has also robbed people who trust him) escapes to Europe as the police close in on
** In ''Come to Dust,'' one character is suspected of being a hit-and-run driver who recklessly kills two teenagers. It turns out that he's innocent, but it's never confirmed whether the real hit-and-run driver is ever caught.
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* BigDamnHeroes: Several books (such as [[spoiler:''Going for the Gold'', ''The Longer the Thread'', and ''Green Grow the Dollars'']]) have Thatcher and his allies stop the murderer from claiming another victim by a matter of seconds.
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* BigDamnHeroes: Several books (such as [[spoiler:''Going [[spoiler: ''Murder Makes the Wheels Go Round,'' ''A Stitch in Time'', ''Going for the Gold'', ''The Longer the Thread'', and ''Green Grow the Dollars'']]) have Thatcher and his allies stop the murderer from claiming another victim by a matter of seconds.
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* KarmaHoudini: In ''[[spoiler:Right on the Money]]'', the murderer (who has also robbed people who trust him) escapes to Europe as the police close in on him.
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* BigDamnHeroes: Several books (such as [[spoiler:''Going for the Gold'', ''The Longer the Thread'', and ''Green Grow the Dollars'']]) have Thatcher and his allies stop the murderer from claiming another victim by a matter of seconds.
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* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In the climax of ''The Longer the Thread,'' Thatcher is horrified and distraught to realize that he's put a good man's life in danger as part of his BluffingTheMurderer scheme and desperately races to save the man's life.
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** In ''Double, Double, Oil and Trouble'', a fake kidnapping with a $1.5 million ransom is thoroughly and fatally derailed when the phony victim gets into a car accident. He gets medical treatment under a fake name, but it takes him three weeks to show up, saying he was released, instead of two days. This gains more media attention than anticipated and leaves lots of gaps in his story. Additionally, he's left with the terrifying knowledge a simple medical examination (which the authorities want done) could reveal the whole thing by picking up on his recent surgery. These complications cause a co-conspirator to silence the phony victim with a car bomb.
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* CareerEndingInjury: In ''Right on the Money,'' Doug Ecker was raised as the heir to his father's business for twenty-five years before two heart attacks forced him to take early retirement.
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* SerialSpouse: Thatcher's friendly competitor Tom Robichaux is married to a different woman in almost every one of his appearances. Thatcher has difficulty imagining how he's able to pay all of the alimony.
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* ExactWords: Thatcher's subordinate Everett Gabler relishes using exact words during an investigation. In ''Pick up Sticks,'' he purchases a shoddy piece of real estate to get evidence in an investigation rather than because he wants to live there.
--> ''Everett had his small conceits. One was a fancy for literal truth. "I am sure," he said, "that this transaction is going to afford me considerable satisfaction."
--> ''Everett had his small conceits. One was a fancy for literal truth. "I am sure," he said, "that this transaction is going to afford me considerable satisfaction."
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** The culprits in ''[[spoiler:Murder Against the Grain]]'' have been romantically involved in secret for about a year and turn to crime to finance a new life for themselves.
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* SecretRelationship:
** ''Going for the Gold.'' [[spoiler:Two of the athletes have been married for a year, but are afraid that the groom's rich parents won't approve of the bride and hope that this will change if she acquits herself well in the Winter Olympics.]]
** The culprits in ''[[spoiler:East is East]]'' are married, but keep it a secret so no one will think of them as co-conspirators. Not even their families know, judging from some IWantGrandkids comments.
** ''Going for the Gold.'' [[spoiler:Two of the athletes have been married for a year, but are afraid that the groom's rich parents won't approve of the bride and hope that this will change if she acquits herself well in the Winter Olympics.]]
** The culprits in ''[[spoiler:East is East]]'' are married, but keep it a secret so no one will think of them as co-conspirators. Not even their families know, judging from some IWantGrandkids comments.
