History Literature / TheCinderellaMurder

* GallowsHumour: When Jerry finally regains consciousness after being badly beaten by an intruder and learns his attacker is still at large, he remarks that the worst part of it all is that his co-workers now know he "sneaks greasy fast-food" (the intruder broke in while Jerry was out picking up a hamburger).

* AnchoredShip: Laurie Moran spends a lot of the novel uncertain about she feels regarding Alex Buckley; she's fond of him and gets the sense he's fond of her too, but she's still grieving for her late husband Greg and also knows that Alex is rumoured to be involved with lots of women. Alex isn't quite the ladies' man he's made out to be and has eyes for no one but Laurie, but he's unsure how she feels towards him or if it's the right time for him to confess his feelings. [[spoiler:In the ending, Alex impulsively kisses Laurie and tells her he's in love with her. Laurie doesn't reject him exactly, but says she needs a bit more time, with Alex insisting [[IWillWaitForYou he's willing to wait]]]].

* ParentalTitleCharacterization: Laurie notes with a slight pang that her son Timmy, who is now nine, has increasingly started to call her "Mom" rather than "Mommy" as a sign he's getting older. She thinks that it doesn't seem so long ago that he was still a toddler.
* PastExperienceNightmare: After catching a red-eye plane from Los Angeles to New York in preparation for the show, Laurie falls asleep in her office and has a disturbing nightmare about the day her husband was murdered in front of their son (she didn't personally witness the murder, but she knows how it happened and has imagined it many times).

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:After Martin throws him under the bus to cover up his involvement in his crimes, Steve breaks into Martin's house, waits for him to come home and then shoots him twice before turning the gun on himself. Martin ends up surviving, just, which means he can go straight to prison for racketeering, child sex abuse and various other crimes. No one is remotely sympathetic about him being shot and in fact, the emergency services being called to his home enabled them to find evidence of his crimes]].

* GutFeeling:
** Rosemary Dempsey has suffered from anxiety since childhood thanks to her overbearing, overly-critical mother and often gets a sense things will go wrong, though it just tends to be paranoia. On May 7th 1994, she had an unshakeable feeling all day that something terrible would happen, but initially dismissed it as anxiety over her husband's birthday party. Then early the next morning, the LAPD called to tell her they'd found her daughter's body...
** When Leo Farley learns that Rosemary's neighbour Lydia was found murdered in Rosemary's backyard shortly after she'd agreed to appear on ''Under Suspicion'', he finds it to be too much of a coincidence and starts following the case, eventually catching on that Steve Roman's pick-up truck was seen near Rosemary's house at the time of Lydia's murder and that Steve himself has been following Leo and his family.

* {{Hypocrite}}: In college, Keith was rather [[CrazyJealousGuy possessive of Susan]] and constantly argued with her about her allegedly flirting with other men. Keith himself was cheating on Susan [[ReallyGetsAround with numerous girls]], including one of her own roommates. He tended to [[PsychologicalProjection project his own insecurities and shortcomings onto Susan]], in particular feeling that he was never good enough for her and so tried to 'knock her down a peg', so to speak.
* IconicItem: Susan Dempsey became permanently linked to her silver high heels in the public consciousness, especially because one shoe had slipped off as she ran for her life, leading to her being nicknamed "Cinderella". However, her mother points out "the {{irony}}" that Susan hardly ever wore things like that; she'd merely bought the shoes for a seventies-themed party and only wore them to her audition because her agent suggested it. Rosemary explains that Susan was far more attached to her favourite necklace, which had a gold horseshoe pendant and was also found with her body, but this was overlooked in favour of the shoes. Rosemary says the moment the police described the necklace, she and her husband knew for certain the body was their daughter's before even seeing her. [[spoiler:In a further stroke of irony, the necklace is revealed to be far more important to solving Susan's murder than the shoes, which are barely relevant at all]].

* KilledOffscreen:
** When Lydia figures out that Steve isn't supposed to be at Rosemary's house, she suddenly gets a sense she's in danger. A few pages later, Rosemary tells Laurie in a phone call that Lydia was found beaten to death in her backyard, believed to have interrupted a burglar.
** [[spoiler:While waiting for his dive partner to arrive, Dwight leaves a voice message for Laurie asking her to call him back, as he has important information. He's so focused on his phone call, he doesn't hear footsteps on the boat behind him. A little later, the police inform Laurie that they've pulled Dwight's body from the sea and it appears someone tried to make it look like an accident]].
* LosingAShoeInTheStruggle: [[spoiler:When Hathaway is holding Laurie at gunpoint and he's distracted by an approaching police car, Laurie kicks the hand holding the gun away from her, hard enough that her shoe slips off. It makes her think of Susan's silver shoe, though this time things work out very differently]].

* MortonsFork: Dwight faces a dilemma after Jerry is attacked in Dwight's home; Dwight has secret surveillance footage of the attack, but revealing he has it will also mean revealing he's been spying on the production crew, which could mean him being kicked off the show and not being able to help uncover who killed Susan, plus it could wreck his reputation. Dwight ultimately decides not to reveal the footage, as the attacker is wearing a ski mask and the video is too poor quality to reveal any distinguishing features, so he figures it wouldn't help much.

* NoSocialSkills: Dwight tends to be highly awkward in social situations, sometimes coming off as abrupt or blunt, not always picking up on social cues, and rapidly switching from one subject to another, unrelated one. He's also extremely introverted; he doesn't enjoy hanging around large crowds and finds interacting with people over a long period of time to be exhausting. He does recognise emotions in other people, but tends to pick up on so much it becomes overwhelming for him. It's speculated he's on the autism spectrum, though personally Dwight doesn't like to label himself as such. The first time he meets Laurie, he rather suddenly brings up that her husband was murdered, which Laurie finds a bit off-putting; later Dwight feels bad about the way he brought it up, as he'd only been trying to establish a rapport with Laurie due to him also feeling a deep sense of loss over Susan's murder, and hopes he didn't upset her.

* RedHeadsAreUncool: Nicole is naturally a strawberry blonde and was a shy, dorky girl with little self-confidence as a teen; she tended to be so focused on her studies she didn't have much room to figure out who she was beyond that. Her more glamorous and outgoing roommate Madison tended to look down on her, though her other roommate Susan was protective of her and even tried to set her up with a classmate. Her parents insisted she attend a college closer to home where she could room with someone on campus, as they were afraid she would get "lost in the crowd". Nicole states in hindsight they were right, referring to herself as "A follower. A lemming" who blindly trusted the first man who showed her attention and made her feel important, not realising he was taking advantage of her [[spoiler:as like many members of Advocates for God, she was emotionally vulnerable and easily led by Reverend Collins]]. As an adult, Nicole is more confident and comfortable in her own skin, and dyes her hair dark brown.

* TheTragicRose: Rosemary Dempsey, the mother of the Cinderella Murder victim, hasn't had the easiest life. From an early age, Rosemary's mother was extremely critical of her and constantly putting her down or expecting her to fail, while acting like she was just doing it for Rosemary's good. This has given Rosemary lifelong anxiety. She and her husband had to wait a decade before they finally had a child, Susan, whom they adored. Unfortunately, Susan was murdered on her father's sixtieth birthday and the killer never caught. Rosemary was widowed three years ago (she attributes her husband's fatal stroke to grief over Susan) and ''then'' the first real friend she manages to make in her new neighbourhood gets brutally murdered in her backyard. [[spoiler:Things start looking up for Rosemary when Susan's murderer is finally brought to justice, though Laurie knows that the grief will never truly go away]].

* WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent: Dwight recalls that his father would get annoyed and criticise him as a child for being "weird", snapping at him to stop pacing (which he does when he's nervous) and to stop being awkward, especially as it made other people uncomfortable.
* WouldHitAGirl: [[spoiler:Hathaway lost his temper and attacked Susan when she refused to do as he asked, culminating in him fatally strangling her with his bare hands. He later intends to kill Laurie, holding her at gunpoint and nearly shooting her; he even considers strangling her like he did with Susan]].
* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler:Martin Collins is revealed to be a paedophile who has sexually abused dozens of young girls over the years. Luckily, his crimes are discovered and he's arrested before he can do anything to harm the twelve-year-old girl he intends to make his latest victim]].

* AddictionDisplacement: Steve Roman clearly replaced his drug dependency with the gym and obsessive devotion to his church, the latter of which Reverend Collins heavily exploits to get him to do his bidding. [[spoiler:It backfires when Collins cuts Steve loose from the church, with Steve having a complete mental breakdown and violently turning on his former mentor]].

* AxCrazy: Steve Roman, one of Martin Collins' right-hand men, isn't the most mentally stable chap and has a tendency to become violent when he's angered and stressed. Steve is well aware of his issues and expresses he [[ReluctantMonster doesn't want to hurt people anymore]], which is why he joined the Advocates for God in the first place, hoping to get control of his anger and become a better person. The immense pressure he's under from Martin causes his self-control to slip; when Rosemary's neighbour Lydia Levitt catches him snooping around her house, he snaps and beats her to death when he can't convince her he's meant to be there. Then, when he's unexpectedly caught by Jerry rifling through the production team's notes for any mention of AG, he badly beats him too. [[spoiler:When he realises Martin has only ever used him and is now washing his hands of him, Steve shoots him twice before killing himself]].
* BaldOfEvil: Steve Roman keeps his head shaved and while "evil" might be a bit harsh considering he doesn't want to be this way, he's definitely a shady guy with a tendency towards extreme violence and a willingness to do anything the corrupt Reverend Collins asks of him. Timmy Moran notices Steve watching him and his family at a restaurant and remarks on his bald head, saying that in a way he's trying to hide his hair to disguise himself.

* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler:Steve does anything and everything Martin asks of him, seeing him as someone with a direct line to God and the man responsible for changing his life for the better. He continually makes excuses for Martin's excessive spending of church donations and other shady acts. After Steve makes some terrible mistakes trying to follow Martin's orders and Martin publicly condemns Steve as an unhinged man who "somehow found his way" into the church, absolving himself of any responsibility, Steve does ''not'' take it well]].

* DomesticAbuse:
** Martin's father was physically and psychologically abusive towards his mother, using beatings and threats to control her. He would also [[AbusiveParent beat Martin]], with his mother being too afraid and broken [[UselessBystanderParent to defend him]].
** Martin himself was emotionally and psychologically abusive to his ex-girlfriend, taking advantage of her low confidence and desire to belong to manipulate her into doing anything he wanted, though she didn't initially realise it, especially as Martin was more subtle and calculating than his father. For starters, Martin was much older than his girlfriend [[spoiler:Nicole (who was only eighteen and rather naive)]] and he was [[UnequalPairing in a position of authority over her]] as her church leader. [[spoiler:Susan picked up on the power imbalance, asking Nicole why someone like him would even be interested in a college sophomore]]. Martin also had [[spoiler:Nicole]] soliciting her friends for donations to the church and encouraged her to distance herself from her friends, telling her that those who questioned their relationship were "trying to corrupt [her]".[[spoiler:When Nicole discovered Martin was a paedophile, he threatened to kill her and everyone she loved, even saying he'd hunt down and kill her as-yet-unborn children and grandchildren, if she ever told anyone... and Nicole knew he meant it. Even twenty years later, she remains petrified he will follow through on his threats]].
* DramaticIrony: A tragic example with Lydia Levitt. She reveals to Rosemary she had quite [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll a colourful past as a road groupie in the 1960s]], but she then met her husband, settled down to have children and now lives in a peaceful but slightly dull gated community. Lydia remarks to herself that while she doesn't regret her past, she prefers to have a more stable life and sees "the benefit of following rules" because she's all too aware of what can happen when people let things spin out of control, including seeing friends die of drug overdoses and relationships implode because "one person's idea of live and let live is another person's idea of betrayal". However, it is in fact in Lydia's supposedly safe, uneventful gated community that she gets brutally murdered, while she's just trying to be a good neighbour, no less.

* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:Dwight realises that Hathaway - his former mentor, his business partner and oldest friend - had something to do with Susan's murder after watching footage of Alex's interview with Keith, Nicole and Madison. When Nicole mentions that Susan couldn't find her lucky necklace in her room and stormed off to look it before heading to her audition, Dwight recalls that Susan had walked into the computer lab while he was in there with Hathaway, having what was supposed to be a private conversation about REACH. Realising that Susan went to the lab to retrieve her necklace and that Hathaway could've killed her for what she overheard, Dwight furiously confronts him with his suspicions. Unfortunately, his suspicions are confirmed when Hathaway kills him, too]].

* {{Greed}}: [[spoiler:It's revealed that Hathaway was really the one who came up with the idea for REACH, although Dwight did most of the coding for the search engine. As Hathaway was still employed by UCLA at the time, by law the REACH technology belonged to UCLA, not Hathaway. However, he realised he could make a ridiculous amount of money from it if he claimed Dwight - a student - solely invented it and then went to work for him in the private sector. Hathaway manipulated Dwight into agreeing to this, claiming that REACH would be more beneficial for people if it were released in the private sector; unfortunately for Hathaway, Susan overhead the conversation and saw right through him. She also pointed out that Hathaway would use the tech and Dwight's innocent, benign image to run a profits-driven company, essentially duping the public and investors about the nature of the company, which is fraud. Unable to persuade her to keep quiet and unwilling to lose out on the fortune REACH could make him, Hathaway murdered Susan. Even in the climax, when Hathaway knows he's about to be exposed and has a chance to run for it, he desperately tries to set up someone else for his crimes, as he doesn't want to give up everything he's gained]].
* GreedyTelevangelist: Reverend Martin Collins, the founder and leader of megachurch Advocates for God, is obsessed with power and control, both in the form of amassing wealth and in having complete dominion over his followers. He claims that the generous donations his church collects go to helping the poor and needy, but he also frequently dines at fancy restaurants, goes on expensive holidays, wears pricey clothing and owns multiple homes, including having a mansion all to himself. Martin claims that it gives him a better image and that a bit of indulgence to reward his hard work for others is harmless, but many people wonder just how much of the donated money really goes to the poor.
* {{Groupie}}: While discussing her past with Rosemary, Lydia says that in the 1960s she travelled a lot with touring rock bands and that this is actually where she first met her husband, who was working as part of a band's security detail. When Rosemary asks if Lydia was a back-up singer, she laughs and says she can't carry a tune to save her life, before clarifying that she was a professional groupie, nearly causing Rosemary to spit out her drink in shock.

* {{Jerkass}}: Frank Parker is often short-tempered and impatient, and he mostly participates in ''Under Suspicion'' because he doesn't want any bad publicity for his newest, Oscar-nominated movie and so he can have some control over how he's presented on the show. However, he does genuinely love his wife and prevented her from working with a director who would've exploited her, albeit by using his influence to pull strings behind the scenes and block her from being cast (she was initially furious, but admits in hindsight it was absolutely the right call). [[spoiler:His frustration over constantly having to defend himself regarding the Cinderella Murder is also understandable given he had absolutely nothing to do with it, besides Madison practically blackmailing him over it]].

* NeverBeHurtAgain: Martin Collins provides a pretty dark example. Growing up, he witnessed the way his abusive father controlled his mother with violence and coercion; she was unable to leave him or protect Martin from being abused too. When he grew up, Martin vowed that he would never be controlled by anyone. He studied domestic violence and coercive control in college, and applied what he knew to founding his own church and manipulating hundreds of people into obeying him unquestioningly so he would always be the one in power.

* OneHitWonder: In-universe, Madison Meyer is indicated to be this. She briefly became famous in the 1990s for her breakout role as the lead in Frank Parker's first studio film, ''Beauty Land''. She even won a Spirit Award for her performance. However, although she had a few more roles afterwards, her career as a leading actress didn't last long, she hasn't had any studio film offers in ten years and it's clear that ''Beauty Land'' is still her biggest success twenty years on, considering how frequently Madison likes to remind people and herself that she "got a Spirit Award" for the role. The only ''other'' thing she's remembered for is her alleged involvement in the murder of her roommate, who was intending to audition for the same part.

* PosthumousCharacter: Susan Dempsey, the so-called Cinderella Murder victim, who was killed twenty years ago. She has a brief phone conversation with her mother at the beginning of the novel and we're told a little about her, but apart from a flashback near the end Susan never appears alive on-page. We're filled in on details about her as a person and her relationships to other characters as the ''Under Suspicion'' crew attempt to solve her murder.
* PrimaDonnaDirector: Frank Parker is known for being a meticulous and strict director who insists on getting his own way; he particularly cannot tolerate tardiness. He once fired a crew member for being five minutes late and also says this is the reason he let Madison audition in Susan's place, as by that point Susan was fifteen minutes late. Of course, some people have speculated it was because he already knew Susan was dead. [[spoiler:Frank actually had no idea where Susan was or what had happened to her; he let Madison audition because after he telephoned Susan's room to see where she was, Madison showed up on his doorstep and begged him to try her out in the role. As by this time Susan was an hour late and couldn't be contacted, it's understandable he went with Madison]].

* ProperlyParanoid: [[spoiler:Nicole has spent twenty years terrified that the Advocates for God will track her down and harm her and her family on Reverend Collins' orders, and thus has taken steps to slip under the radar. Considering that Collins has kept tabs on her over the years - including knowing her mother died a few years ago in her hometown - is easily able to track down her current address and has a man with a history of violence following her, Nicole's paranoia comes off as justified]].

* RecoveredAddict:
** Keith Ratner was on his way to full-blown alcoholism in his youth, if he wasn't there already. After joining Advocates for God, he managed to get sober and has stayed that way for years; he's now TheTeetotaler. When Madison meets up with him at a bar, she's surprised that he's drinking club soda rather than alcohol, given that when she last hung out with him regularly he was rarely without alcohol.
** Steve Roman was a drug addict but managed to kick the habit by joining Advocates for God, which is part of the reason he's so devoted to the church and Reverend Collins.

* RichGenius: Dwight Cook was a teen prodigy at computer science, who created an at-the-time cutting-edge search engine at the age of nineteen and dropped out of college to release it in the private sector, quickly making millions off it. Under Dwight, REACH continues to create new tech, allowing them to stay relevent and prosperous even though the search engine is now considered obselete.[[spoiler:It's revealed that it was technically Dwight's mentor, Professor Hathaway, who came up with the idea for the search engine, although Dwight did the majority of the coding]].

* SacrificialLamb: Lydia Levitt is Rosemary Dempsey's neighbour in the gated community she moved to following her husband's death. Rosemary initially finds Lydia to be a bit annoying and nosy, but realises she's kind and well-intentioned, and they become friends. Lydia is given a fair bit of characterisation, including an unexpectedly wild past as a rock band groupie back in the 1960s, enough to make her a likable and sympathetic character. Then just before the halfway mark, she's rather shockingly murdered by Steve Roman after she catches him snooping about Rosemary's house, greatly upsetting Rosemary. Lydia's murder demonstrates just how dangerous both Steve and Advocates for God can potentially be, and also draws the attention of Leo Farley, who is convinced the murder is connected to his daughter's show.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: During a preliminary interview, Keith Ratner becomes infuriated over Laurie and Alex questioning him about his poor treatment of Susan and the reliability of his alibi, prompting him to quit the show and storm out; when Laurie reminds him he already signed a contract with them, Keith yells "So sue me!". However, when Keith tells Reverend Collins what happened, the reverend orders him to stay on the show to keep an eye on things, [[SubvertedTrope so he reluctantly returns and stays for the rest of the production]].

* TheSociopath: Reverend Collins has many sociopathic traits: he is obsessed with controlling and dominating others, views people primarily as tools to get what he wants, has zero remorse for hurting and deceiving people, sees himself as above the law, is skilled at charming and manipulating people and intentionally targets vulnerable people to take under his wing. He has learned to be patient and calculating over the years rather than acting recklessly, although on one occasion after he receives some bad news in a phone call, he impulsively flings his phone at a wall. He also has few qualms about conspicuously spending church donations on personal luxuries, confident that he can get away with it.
* StalkerWithoutACrush:
** Martin Collins orders Steve Roman to monitor Nicole's movements and to keep a close eye on everyone else involved in ''Under Suspicion'', just in case Nicole mentions anything to do with Advocates for God. Steve subsequently stalks just about everyone connected to the show. He's not exactly subtle about it though, including using the same cream-coloured pick-up truck and even wearing his work uniform with the Keepsafe security logo on it, which [[NiceJobFixingItVillain eventually leads to Leo and the police putting two-and-two together]].
** Dwight Cook uses hidden surveillance equipment to keep tabs on the production crew while they're staying at his house, which he offered for them to use for the shoot to save money, and hacks into the participants' cellphones; in his case he wants to monitor everyone's conversations to see if they've learned anything new about Susan's murder or if Susan's killer will give themselves away, believing he can figure things out faster than the ''Under Suspicion'' team this way.
* TheSvengali:
** Reverend Martin Collins positions himself as a mentor to members of his congregation, in particular the inner circle of Advocates for God, who tend to be vulnerable, lonely people desperate to improve themselves and find purpose. Under the guise of helping them craft a closer relationship with God and find the purpose and belonging they seek, Martin manipulates people into becoming his unquestioning followers, willing to do anything in service to God: i.e. him. Martin forces the reluctant Keith Ratner to participate in ''Under Suspicion'' and report back to him, telling him that it would be selfish to refuse. He also has Steve Roman, a mentally unstable former drug addict, commit criminal acts in his service [[spoiler:and coldly casts him aside when Steve's actions catch up to him, claiming that Steve acted alone]].
** Ex-UCLA professor Richard Hathaway regarded Dwight Cook as one his favourite students and they developed a close friendship, closer than the average mentor-pupil relationship. He also left his teaching position at UCLA to help Dwight run REACH. However, Hathaway is revealed to have less than scrupulous intentions and took advantage of both Dwight's genius and his issues with social interaction (it's implied Dwight may be autistic) to benefit himself. Notably, [[spoiler:Hathaway persuaded Dwight - then just nineteen - to take sole credit for REACH's founding technology so they could release it in the private sector; Hathaway convinced Dwight that REACH would better serve people this way, though in reality it was so he could make money off it]]. Hathaway continues to manipulate Dwight in the present, persuading Dwight to let him handle the business-side of the company so Dwight isn't overwhelmed trying to deal with investors and public appearances, and focuses largely on making profits. [[spoiler:When Dwight proves he's not as gullible as Hathaway believes, figuring out that he murdered Susan and furiously confronting him, Hathaway is unable to convince him it was an "accident" and murders Dwight]].
* TeacherStudentRomance: It's rumoured that when Richard Hathaway was a professor at UCLA, he had affairs with some of his female students. Laurie discovers that a student had reported him for inappropriate behaviour, but no proof was uncovered and the student dropped her complaint after no one else came forward to support her claims. Hathaway himself insists there's no truth in the rumours. Given Susan was one of Hathaway's favourite students, the ''Under Suspicion'' team wonder if Susan could've found out about the affairs, or if she was romantically involved with Hathaway herself. [[spoiler:While Susan wasn't in a relationship with Hathaway, it turns out the rumours are true and that one of the students Hathaway was involved with was Madison Meyer, though she cut him off when he didn't show up for their intended date on May 7th 1994, which enabled her to attend Frank Parker's audition instead. The reason Hathaway missed the date was because he was too busy murdering Madison's roommate]].
* TechBro: Richard Hathaway, the co-founder of billion-dollar Silicon Valley tech company REACH, fits this archetype, especially compared to Dwight Cook, who is more of a classic nerd. Hathaway is much older than many examples, being in his late fifties, though he's noted to be a physically fit and handsome man who often gets dates with younger women; he was in his late 30s when he got in on the dot-com boom in the 1990s by helping Dwight make money off a then-revolutionary search engine, before they branched out. He's the brains behind the business side of REACH and primarily deals with investors; he's charismatic and extroverted, and Laurie notes that he's much more comfortable on camera than Dwight is. Hathaway also has some of the sleazier traits associated with tech bros; it's rumoured he was involved with students - some of whom were in their teens - when he still worked at UCLA and he's mostly interested in using REACH to make money (while Dwight is in it more for scientific advancement and improving people's lives, which is what Hathaway ''claims'' to be interested in). [[spoiler:It's revealed he murdered Susan because she knew his plans for REACH were illegal and unethical, and is prepared to kill again so as not to lose his luxurious lifestyle]].

* TheAce: Susan Dempsey was not only a beautiful and talented aspiring actress, she was highly intelligent with a gift for computer programming; her former computer science professor says that while Susan could've made it as an actress, he thinks she could've easily become a star in the tech world, too. She was also kind-hearted and well-liked; the only reason Madison has negative thoughts towards her is purely from jealousy and she can't really think of a bad thing to say about her. This makes it all the more tragic and shocking, especially for Susan's parents, that her life was so violently cut short.

* AccidentalTruth: To take suspicion off himself, Keith tells Laurie and her team that [[spoiler:Dwight or Professor Hathaway could've killed Susan because she was actually the one who invented the search engine that launched REACH to success]]. Everyone else states this is incredibly unlikely [[spoiler:because Susan was working on voice-to-text technology, not a search engine]], and that Keith's claims are just proof of how little he knew about Susan's studies. Keith is actually unknowingly closer to the truth than he realised; [[spoiler:while Susan wasn't involved in REACH's creation, she did overhear that Hathaway technically created it and wanted Dwight to claim ownership to get around intellectual property laws that would prevent him making money off it, and Hathaway indeed killed her to stop her from reporting him]].
* AdamWesting: [[spoiler:In the epilogue, it's revealed Madison Meyer has been cast in a supporting role in Frank Parker's next movie, playing "a ruthless businesswoman willing to do anything to get ahead". Considering Madison was so eager to be a star she jumped at the chance to take her friend's audition, 'persuaded' Frank to give her her first film role in exchange for backing up his alibi in a murder case and was even suspected of killing her friend to guarantee her own success, she's practically playing herself (and Frank knows it). Leo even hangs a lampshade on it ("Talk about typecasting!") when he hears the news]].

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Madison was enamoured with Keith in college because he was a party-loving rocker-type, who took her out drinking even though she was underage and hooked up with her behind his girlfriend's back. Madison has some interest in trying to rekindle their relationship in the present, but when she realises that he genuinely has tried to change to a strait-laced, clean-living church-goer, she quickly goes off him. [[spoiler:She also has a thing for her former college professor Richard Hathaway; she found the idea of secret trysts with a professor exciting in spite (or because) of the potential repercussions and in the present she giggles about how "naughty" it is that they're sneaking around with each other again (although Hathaway remarks that seeing as they're now both adults and he's no longer a university professor, there isn't really anything inappropriate about their relationship)]].

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Madison was jealous of Susan and saw her as a rival because Susan was widely viewed as a 'better version' of her. They were both attractive and talented actresses, even having similar physical features and so often going for the same roles in campus productions, but Susan was generally seen as more 'natural' and less "primped" than Madison. Susan was also skilled at IT and was quite popular, while Madison had few real friends and only went to college to appease her parents. It's well known that Madison was Frank Parker's second choice for the role in his first studio picture, with some whispering that Madison may have resorted to murder to ensure Susan wouldn't get the part. Madison also had feelings for Susan's boyfriend Keith, but he never regarded her as anything but a fling and always returned to Susan. After Susan died, Madison recalls that Keith drunkenly shouted that she would always be "a cheaper, lesser version of [Susan]", adding it was the only time he'd ever made her cry; the words have stuck in her head for two decades.

* AttentionWhore: Madison is practically the definition of this trope; for most of her life she's been obsessed with being a star and just about everything she does is in service to that. When Frank Parker learns Laurie wants her to appear on ''Under Suspicion'', he recommends they show up to her house with a camera crew, as she won't be able to resist. Laurie does as he recommends and tells Madison "I want to give you airtime on a show with more than ten million viewers" for good measure, which works like a charm. When she first sees Laurie and the camera crew outside her front door, Madison still makes them wait two minutes before answering so she can touch up her make-up. Madison shamelessly flirts with just about every attractive man she comes across (even if they're already taken or the setting is inappropriate) and she starts making demands for special treatment on the ''Under Suspicion'' set before they even begin shooting (including insisting they only film her from her "good side"). It's made clear that her main reason for appearing on ''Under Suspicion'' is less about solving Susan's murder than it is about getting back in front of a camera on a popular TV show.

* BlatantLies: Shortly after agreeing to participate in ''Under Suspicion'', Madison meets up with Keith to persuade him not to mention their affair on the show. During an interview a week or so later, when Susan's college boyfriend is brought up Madison acts like she barely remembers him - including asking what his name is - and insists he was always faithful to Susan as far as she knew. She tries so hard to distance herself from Keith that Laurie finds it suspicious, thinking it's strange that Madison wouldn't remember Keith given he was her murdered roommate's boyfriend, they were both taking theatre classes at UCLA ''and'' he became a semi-famous TV actor not long after Madison got her first major role.
* BrokenPedestal:
** Nicole was extremely admiring and protective of her boyfriend [[spoiler:Martin]] in college, frequently arguing with Susan and accusing her of trying to drag her down when she expressed doubts about [[spoiler:Martin]]'s supposedly good intentions. Nicole's faith in [[spoiler:Martin]] was shattered when she realised [[spoiler:he was a paedophile and was willing to go to any lengths to silence those who were a threat to him. She remains utterly terrified that one day he will track her and her husband down and kill them both]].
** [[spoiler:Steve does anything and everything Martin asks of him, seeing him as someone with a direct line to God and the man responsible for changing his life for the better. He continually makes excuses for Martin's excessive spending of church donations and other shady acts. After Steve makes some terrible mistakes trying to follow Martin's orders and Martin publicly condemns Steve as an unhinged man who "somehow found his way" into the church, absolving himself of any responsibility, Steve does ''not'' take it well]].
** [[spoiler:Keith finds Martin intimidating, but still trusts and believes in him. After Keith finds out that Martin indeed personally knows Steve Roman and has some knowledge of his criminal activities, and it's pointed out to him that Martin always tends to offer help to the same type of families - namely ones with young girls - Keith starts to realise Martin is not the wise and benevolent man he thought and agrees to call him wearing a police wire. Two months after the full extent of Martin's crimes have been revealed, Keith has become disillusioned with Advocates for God entirely and is more than happy to make money exposing all their dirty secrets]].
* CareerResurrection: In-universe, Madison desperately hopes that by participating in ''Under Suspicion'', it will bring her renewed attention and revive her all-but-dead acting career. She also knows it will bring her back in contact with Frank Parker, the director who originally gave her her big break. [[spoiler:Madison may get her wish in the end, with ''Variety'' reporting that Frank intends to cast her in a "comeback-worthy" supporting role in his next movie]].

* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Susan's mother never approved of her romance with Keith; Rosemary wasn't vocal about her disapproval and didn't try to actively break them up, but it was obvious to Keith and Susan she would prefer they weren't together and never thought Keith would amount to anything. Susan tried to reassure Keith that her mother was just overprotective and wouldn't approve of any boy she brought home. However, considering Keith was a binge-drinking womaniser who constantly accused Susan of cheating, and that Rosemary would often receive calls from Susan crying about something Keith had done, Rosemary had good reasons to dislike him. To this day, Rosemary is convinced that Keith had something to do with her daughter's murder, much to Keith's chagrin.

* DoNotCallMePaul: Madison Meyer's birth name is Meredith Morris, but she never cared for it, finding it dull and old-fashioned. She initially tried out "cute" nicknames to make herself stand out, but they didn't work: she tried calling herself "Merry" only for people to constantly think she was saying [[AccidentalMisnaming "Mary"]], while "Red" didn't make much sense [[NonIndicativeName given she's a blonde]]. When she enrolled at UCLA, Meredith changed her name entirely to Madison Meyer, as the only thing she liked about her birth name was the alliteration.

* DumbBlonde:
** Madison is a {{downplayed|trope}} example. She's an attractive blonde who comes off as shallow, insensitive and unsubtle; she was never very academically inclined (she only agreed to go to UCLA to make her parents happy and dropped out within two years to pursue acting), loves to gossip and can barely hide her self-absorption. However, she's not always as vapid as she appears; she makes some insightful observations and can actually be quite cunning, but she's [[ItsAllAboutMe so fixated on herself]] she tends to miss the bigger picture (for example, it didn't occur to her to mention to the cops that [[spoiler:Susan probably didn't take her own car to the Hollywood Hills because she was too concerned about getting her own alibi straight, even though this is a vital clue that could've helped to further put her in the clear for Susan's murder)]].
** {{Inverted|Trope}} with Susan, who was blonde and is noted by several characters to have been a gifted computer programmer. She also saw right through Advocates for God's claims of being dedicated to good deeds [[spoiler:and had enough knowledge of intellectual property law that she was regarded as a career-ending threat by her killer]].
* DyeHard: InUniverse:
** Upon first meeting Madison, Laurie notices she has a stripe of mouse brown in her blonde hair, indicating she's due for another dye job soon. Madison is obsessed with trying to maintain her youthful looks, especially as her most famous film role has her with blonde hair, but she's also a bit short on cash given her acting career dried up long ago.
** It's noted that Nicole had strawberry blonde hair in her youth based on her old photos, but she now dyes her hair dark brown, contributing to her drastically different appearance. Besides now being more confident with herself than she was in her teens, it's implied Nicole dyes her hair to make herself [[DyeOrDie less recognisable]] to those that knew her when she attended UCLA, [[spoiler:specifically the Advocates for God]].

* GoodLuckCharm: Susan owned a gold necklace with a little horseshoe charm pendant, which she believed was lucky; her parents gifted it to her on her fifteenth birthday and the next day she won the part of Sandy in a high school production of ''Grease''. Ever since, she was rarely without it. The necklace was found near her body, [[SymbolicallyBrokenObject with the chain broken]] in the struggle with her killer. [[spoiler:It turns out the necklace played a role in the events leading up to Susan's death and is vital to figuring out who killed her]].

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Susan Dempsey was blonde and was noted by everyone who knew her to have been a [[NiceGirl kind and bubbly girl]] with a strong sense of right and wrong. She tended to get along with most people and rarely thought ill of anyone, even if they didn't always deserve it, as her [[EasilyForgiven continual forgiveness]] of her no-good boyfriend proved. [[spoiler:Her belief that she could still trust her favourite professor even after learning of his illegal business plan and his attempt to rope a vulnerable student into it, and then her vocal refusal to turn a blind eye to this, unfortunately led to her being murdered]].

* HasAType: Nicole shows an attraction to men who give her confidence and validate her. It's implied this is partly why she and Dwight never went very far as a couple, because Dwight's "personality quirks" meant he wasn't that good at picking up on Nicole's insecurities and emotional needs despite being a nice person. Nicole was instead drawn to [[spoiler:Martin]], who exploited her low self-esteem and desire to be important to someone to isolate and control her. Nicole eventually married Gavin Melling, who also gives her the confidence and affection she craves, albeit in a much healthier and more selfless way compared to [[spoiler:Martin]].

* ItMeantSomethingToMe: Although she never tells him so, Madison's inner monologue reveals she really did have feelings for Keith and was genuinely upset he always preferred Susan to her, even though he was willing to fool around with her on the side. Even two decades later, she's hurt when Keith dismisses their past relationship as just two kids fooling around, wondering "Is that all I was to him?"

* {{Jerkass}}:
** Madison Meyer is a demanding, self-absorbed and fame-hungry diva. She's generally more concerned about getting publicity to restart her acting career and convincing everyone ''she'' didn't kill Susan or conspire to cover for Frank Parker, rather than helping to solve the murder of her roommate and supposed friend. [[spoiler:She all but admits that after she learned Susan had been killed near his house, she persuaded Frank to cast her in his movie in exchange for confirming his alibi, though whatever her other faults, she isn't a murderer]].
** Frank Parker is often short-tempered and impatient, and he mostly participates in ''Under Suspicion'' because he doesn't want any bad publicity for his newest, Oscar-nominated movie and so he can have some control over how he's presented on the show. However, he does genuinely love his wife and prevented her from working with a director who would've exploited her, albeit by using his influence to pull strings behind the scenes and block her from being cast (she was initially furious, but admits in hindsight it was absolutely the right call). [[spoiler:His frustration over constantly having to defend himself regarding the Cinderella Murder is also understandable given he had absolutely nothing to do with it, besides Madison practically blackmailing him over it]].

* LosingAShoeInTheStruggle:
** Susan was wearing silver high heels when she was killed, which she'd chosen to glam up her appearance for her audition; when her body was found she was only wearing one shoe. The other shoe was found near the entrance of the park, she having lost it as she was fleeing from her murderer; the press fixated on the shoe and the fact Susan had been on her way to an audition with an acclaimed director, dubbing the crime the Cinderella Murder.
** [[spoiler:When Hathaway is holding Laurie at gunpoint and he's distracted by an approaching police car, Laurie kicks the hand holding the gun away from her, hard enough that her shoe slips off. It makes her think of Susan's silver shoe, though this time things work out very differently]].
* TheLostLenore: Two students were in love with Susan Dempsey in college and continue to be deeply affected by her death.
** Despite his poor treatment of her, Keith Ratner appeared genuinely heartbroken over his girlfriend's murder; he says he regrets the way he treated her and he was so torn up he dropped out of college, then threw himself into his acting career and into making himself a better person, especially via his involvement with Advocates for God. Madison recalls that the day he learned she'd agreed to star in ''Beauty Land'', the movie Susan intended to audition for prior to her death, Keith turned up at her room drunk and berated her for being willing to work with Frank Parker, the man who "killed my Susan", and permanently broke off their affair. Keith vocally resents that people really think he could've killed Susan and that his reaction was because of a guilty conscience or an attempt to throw off suspicion. [[spoiler:Keith is pretty upset when he learns Advocates for God is essentially one big scam and, worse yet, that Reverend Collins - whom he credited with helping him through his grief over Susan - is a child abuser; he's only too willing to help the police bust Collins and then publicly spill the beans on the church]].
** Dwight Cook was enamoured with Susan in college and still regards her as [[TheMourningAfter the only woman he ever fell in love with]]. He was never confident enough to tell her of his feelings and she was oblivious despite everyone else finding it obvious, plus she already had a boyfriend (even though he mistreated her). Dwight was devastated when she was murdered and is determined to help uncover who did it, to the point of spying on the production crew and the other participants. [[spoiler:Dwight discovers who the killer is first, but unfortunately this gets him killed too]].
* LoveMartyr: Susan was devoted to her high school sweetheart Keith Ratner, even choosing to attend UCLA because it was the college he was going to despite getting into other colleges like Stanford. She stood by Keith despite being aware of the (accurate) rumours he went off with other girls, his jealousy and tendency to pick fights with her, and his excessive drinking and partying; many people, especially Susan's mother, [[WhatDoesSheSeeInHim felt she was too good for Keith]]. He himself admits he was [[InsecureLoveInterest aware and deeply insecure]] about what others thought of him, and tended to mistreat Susan to make himself feel better; he now regrets being such a terrible boyfriend to her, though some people wonder if his poor treatment of her extended to fatally strangling her.

* MatchmakerFailure: Susan attempted to set up her friend and roommate Nicole with her research partner Dwight. They acknowledge that she was well-intentioned and that on the surface them pairing up made some sense: they were both shy, nerdy, smart and trying to get out of their shells. However, there was simply [[NoSparks no attraction between them]]. Nicole thinks that while she just needed a confidence boost and time to figure out who she was, Dwight's issues with social interaction went much deeper (it's implied he's on the autism spectrum or has some other kind of neurodivergent condition), not to mention that Dwight was already in love with Susan, which she didn't realise but everyone else found obvious.
* MinorWithFakeID: Madison got fake [=IDs=] for herself, Susan and Nicole so they could go drinking and clubbing, especially where celebrities would hang out (Madison and Susan were 19, Nicole was only 18). After leaving L.A. Nicole kept her fake ID and occasionally used it rather than give her real name when she first moved to the Bay Area, including initially giving the name on her ID to her future husband when he chatted her up [[spoiler:because she was afraid of being tracked down by Martin Collins]].

* NotHimself:
** Laurie and her team find it odd that, given Madison was known to be a social butterfly in college, she would've just been sitting around at home on a Saturday night and thus been able to audition for Frank Parker last minute. Madison claims she was sick that evening, but Alex and Laurie point out this doesn't make sense because she was still well enough to attend the audition; she was also able to leave for the Hollywood Hills half an hour away from campus immediately after receiving Frank's call and they think it unlikely she would've auditioned in sweatpants and no make-up, while Frank says she turned up looking "like a million dollars" just forty-five minutes after he called her. When they first met Madison, she also kept Laurie and her team waiting two minutes while she applied fresh make-up. Madison then claims she'd already gotten dressed up to go to a frat party but changed her mind, only for Nicole and Keith to confirm she wouldn't be caught dead at those kind of parties. [[spoiler:Madison eventually admits she was supposed to be going out with a man, but he stood her up; that man is later revealed to have been Professor Hathaway, who she really shouldn't have been fooling around with, hence the secrecy]].
** Nicole says that she spent the night of Susan's murder getting wasted at a local bar called O'Malley's, claiming she was stressed about an upcoming biology exam. Alex says this seems a bit extreme, especially as Nicole wasn't known to be a drinker, and asks if it was actually because of her earlier argument with Susan. Nicole admits she was upset about the argument, but insists it was just a minor disagreement between friends and it would've blown over, though as Alex points out, if it wasn't a big deal why did she get so drunk? [[spoiler:Nicole eventually explains that the fight was about Nicole's involvement in Advocates for God, her bringing Keith along to church meetings and her relationship with Martin Collins, with Susan insisting Nicole was being brainwashed and was now dragging her boyfriend into it too. Afterwards, Nicole stormed off to Martin's house to see him and be comforted, only to walk in on him sexually abusing a young girl, with Martin threatening to kill her if she ever told anyone. Nicole was so traumatised and guilt-stricken, she went straight to O'Malley's to [[DrowningMySorrows drown her sorrows]]]].

* ObliviousToLove: Susan was utterly oblivious that Dwight was in love with her, to the point she tried to set him up with her friend Nicole, despite people close to them thinking it was clear how he felt about her; Professor Hathaway says it "broke [his] heart" to see Dwight pining after Susan, Keith says that Dwight seemed to be constantly hanging around with her even outside their shared classes, Madison recalls that he would always "look dreamy" at Susan and Nicole also picked up that Dwight was far more interested in Susan than her. Dwight never told Susan how he felt about her, partly because of his social awkwardness and the fact she already had a boyfriend, and partly because it took Dwight a while to realise himself that he was in love with Susan. Not long after his LoveEpiphany, Susan was murdered.
* OlderThanTheyLook: When she started college, Nicole was only seventeen - she having skipped a grade - and looked even younger at times, with Laurie thinking that in her freshman college photo she could be mistaken for a fourteen-year-old girl; her shyness and naivety also played a part in this. Nicole speculates this is why [[spoiler:Martin Collins]] wanted to go out with her, [[spoiler:though as she eventually found out, not even she was young enough for him]].

* OldShame: Nicole is deeply ashamed of how she was at UCLA, regarding herself as a naive fool who spent more time with "crooks" than with her best friend and finding it so unbearable she's never even told her husband much about her past. [[spoiler:She was a devoted member of Advocates for God and believed herself to be in love with the church's young leader, Martin Collins, ignoring all of Susan's warnings about the church and even getting into a violent argument with her over it. Nicole found out the hard way that [[CassandraTruth Susan was not only right]], but that Martin was far worse than even Susan knew]].

* PlasticBitch: Madison is vain, shallow and manipulative, and it's obvious she's had some cosmetic surgery on her face, including Botox and fillers. Laurie observes that while Madison is an attractive woman, she wonders if she wouldn't have looked more attractive without the plastic surgery, especially as she's not even forty yet.

** [[spoiler:The fact that Susan's body was found only ten minutes from Frank Parker's home is nothing more than a coincidence,  besides that being where Susan was headed when she was killed. Frank had no involvement in her death; he not only had no motive for killing her, it was physically impossible for him to have carried out the murder and been back at his house in time to meet Madison based on the established timeline. The real killer did decide leaving Susan's body there would be a great way to throw off the investigation and place suspicion onto Frank, though]].

* SerialSpouse: Madison Meyer has been married and divorced three times, and later considers seducing Richard Hathaway into becoming husband no. 4, especially considering he co-runs [[GoldDigger a billion-dollar tech company]].

* StartingANewLife: Following Susan's murder, Nicole Hunter dropped out of college and moved out of Southern California. She initially used a fake ID when she first arrived in Northern California and was only too happy to take her husband's surname of Melling when they married, only using Hunter when she absolutely has to. She has no social media presence and Laurie also notes that she's so drastically changed her appearance, she barely looks like the same person even with the passage of time. Nicole doesn't keep in contact with anyone from her college years save Susan's mother Rosemary (and even then she only starting staying in touch with Rosemary because Rosemary happened to recognise her while visiting the Bay Area) and has barely told her husband anything about her time at UCLA. Laurie and her team start to question why. [[spoiler:Nicole is terrified that Martin Collins, her ex-boyfriend, would make good on his threat to kill her and everyone she loves if she ever told anyone what she knows about him and Advocates for God (of which she was a member in her sophomore year); she's also deeply ashamed of her involvement in the church and was eager to get away and reinvent herself]].

* TooGoodToBeTrue: Susan says this word-for-word to her mother in their last phone conversation, after finding out she'd been invited to audition for Frank Parker, with the possibility of landing the starring role in his first studio picture. Susan had meant it light-heartedly, but is proven horrifically correct; although the audition was legitimate, whilst Susan on her way there someone chased her down and strangled her to death. Twenty years later, Susan's mother tearfully recalls Susan's words as she's being interviewed about her daughter's murder.
* TookALevelInKindness: In college, Keith was a selfish, manipulative and hedonistic jerk who spent most of his time partying and hooking up with other girls behind his girlfriend's back; he would then get angry and suspicious over her allegedly being unfaithful to ''him'' with no proof. Twenty years later, while Keith is far from perfect he's made a real effort to become a better person and is disgusted by how he behaved in college; he atrributes this to a lack of maturity and low self-esteem, taking out his insecurities on others. He now tries to be kinder and more honest, and helps people in need via his church.
* TragicDropout: Nicole was an extremely bright student, including skipping a grade and graduating from high school a year early. Despite this setting her up for a promising future, Nicole dropped out of UCLA in her sophomore year at the age of 18 and never went back to school. She's now a homemaker in Northern California, with her husband earning enough money in finance that she doesn't have to work. While she's comfortable and happy, some people are surprised Nicole never did anything more significant with her talents, speculating that it's because of the grief and trauma of her college best friend being murdered. [[spoiler:While Nicole was devastated by Susan's death, in truth the reason she never continued her studies, or did much of else of prominence, is because she was scared of drawing too much attention and making herself and her family a target of Advocates for God]].

* TwoTimingWithTheBestie: Susan's boyfriend Keith was cheating on her with her friend Madison (though she was [[ReallyGetsAround far from the only one]] and it was technically Nicole who was Susan's ''best'' friend). Keith and Madison mutually agree to not let the ''Under Suspicion'' crew learn of this, as it could look bad for them; Keith initially doesn't want to hide it as he's made an effort to take responsibility for his past mistakes, but Madison desperately doesn't want it to come out given she's already suspected of killing Susan and if people found out she was sleeping with her friend's boyfriend it would  only worsen matters, so she convinces Keith it would be bad for his image too. The crew suspect there may have been something going on between them [[spoiler:but it has no relevance to Susan's murder]].
* UrbanLegendLoveLife:
** Rosemary states with disgust that one of the most popular internet sleuth theories about her daughter's murder is that she was "some kind of slut involved with half the men on campus" and that's why she was killed. Laurie herself discovers one prevailing theory is that Susan took part in some kind of sex game with Frank Parker in an attempt [[CastingCouch to secure a role in his movie]], which [[OutWithABang ended in her death]]. While Susan was an attractive and popular girl, there's no evidence she was involved with anyone besides her long-term boyfriend Keith; when Laurie brings up the possibility, Rosemary even says she wishes Susan ''had'' stepped-out on Keith with someone else, given how little Rosemary thought of him.
** Grace finds a gossip website called "Who's Dated Who?" (which Jerry grumbles should actually be called "Who's Dated ''[[GrammarNazi Whom]]''?"), which purports to collect information on which celebrities have been romantically involved with each other. Alex Buckley has a section, linking him to numerous actresses, models, anchorwomen and so on. Laurie feels a bit uncomfortable about it, while when Alex himself reads it, he remarks that's he's never even ''heard'' of most these women he's supposedly dated.
* WhatBeautifulEyes: Susan Dempsey is noted to have had stunning blue eyes. While viewing a photograph of her, Laurie notes that while Susan was obviously an attractive young woman "the real beauty was in the energy of that stare".

* WithFriendsLikeThese:
** Madison and Susan were friends and roommates in college, although Madison wasn't an especially good friend to Susan; she was fooling around with Susan's boyfriend behind her back and she jumped at the chance to audition for the role that Susan went for, never showing much concern over why Susan herself didn't show up. Even after it was reported Susan had been murdered, Madison prioritised securing her role in Frank Parker's movie. She is deeply resentful over being accused of murdering Susan or covering it up, though, saying Susan was still her friend and she would never have hurt her. [[spoiler:It turns out she really had nothing to do with it, although she did take advantage of Susan's death to guarantee Frank would cast her and is still more concerned about using ''Under Suspicion'' to boost her career rather than solving the murder]].
** Susan and Nicole became best friends after becoming roommates in their freshman year at UCLA, with Nicole saying Susan took her under her wing and Rosemary remarking that Susan regarded Nicole as a sister. However, they didn't always get along as well as they appeared to, with Madison resenting that she always got painted as the "bad friend" when Nicole wasn't exactly clean either. Frank's wife Talia tells Laurie and Alex that the night of the audition, Susan and Nicole had a huge fight, with Nicole even throwing a book at Susan and Susan threatening to kick her out of their room. Madison also confirms she overheard them arguing and they both stormed out of the apartment. Less than an hour later, Susan may already have been dead. [[spoiler:Nicole eventually admits she fought with Susan after she found out Nicole had invited Keith to an Advocates for God meeting; Susan accused the church of being a cult and a scam, and insisted that Nicole was being brainwashed by Reverend Martin Collins (who was also Nicole's boyfriend), infuriating Nicole. She subsequently found out that Susan was right about Martin and his church, but never mentioned the fight or anything related to AG during the investigation out of fear of Martin's retaliation. She also [[PartingWordsRegret regrets that this is the last time she saw and spoke to Susan]], as she really did care for her]].

* ContrastingSequelSetting: The preceding novel was primarily set in a mansion in the (fictional) town of Salem Ridge in Westchester County, UsefulNotes/NewYorkState; the mansion was the primary filming location and the scene of the murder. This novel is primarily set on the opposite end of the country in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, along with a few other locations in UsefulNotes/California. As the murder this time took place in a park in the Hollywood Hills, the crew borrow a mansion in Bel Air to film some of the interviews and use it as a base camp to shoot at other key locations, such as the park and the UCLA campus.
* TheCorpseStopsHere: Though he wasn't found ''with'' the body, one of the main reasons Frank Parker is suspected of Susan's murder is because her body was found within walking distance of his house and she was headed there at the time. 

* ContrastingSequelSetting: The preceding novel was primarily set in a mansion in the (fictional) town of Salem Ridge in Westchester County, New York State; the mansion was the primary filming location and the scene of the murder. This novel is primarily set on the opposite end of the country in Los Angeles, along with a few other locations in California. As the murder this time took place in a park in the Hollywood Hills, the crew borrow a mansion in Bel Air to film some of the interviews and use it as a base camp to shoot at other key locations, such as the park and the UCLA campus.

* InternalReveal: It's revealed to the reader relatively early that Dwight Cook didn't kill Susan and doesn't know why she was killed, given he was in love with her and the lengths he goes to find out who killed her. The production team don't know this, though, treating Dwight as another potential suspect [[spoiler:at least until he is killed, too]], although Laurie can't help but think he's an unlikely suspect from the start.

* ImmoralJournalist: A journalist out for a jog happens to be passing Martin Collins' home when she hears [[spoilers:gunshots coming from inside]]. She initially pulls out her phone to call 911, then changes her mind and calls her editor first to ensure she gets first dibs on covering the incident.

* TerriblePickUpLine: Gavin tells Laurie that when he first met Nicole at a bar, he used the pick-up line "Do you have a band-aid? Because I grazed my knee falling for you." Laurie groans that this is really is a terrible line, although Gavin says he ''meant'' it to be silly and cheesy, hoping to win over Nicole with humour. It actually ''worked'', given Nicole willingly gave Gavin her phone number and they got married six months later.