History Literature / EstherDiamond

** "Does it mean anything to you, Dr. Zadok, when I tell you that I’m...Lithuanian?"

--> '''Delilah:''' He had just about [[spoiler: the most pronounced speech impediment I've ever heard]].

--> '''Lopez:''' Johnny Be Good Gambello was just found dead.
--> '''Esther:''' What?
--> '''Lopez:''' Yeah, they just fished him out of the east river The initial estimate is that he’s been dead for twenty-four hours.

* WretchedHiveOfScumAndVillainy:

* EmpoweredBadassNormal: During his stint as a vampire hunter, Max worked with a Serbian villager who'd manage to kill an undead vampire, and turned out to have drank blood from its corpse in order to gain superhuman strength to protect the village form the rest of the vampires. [[spoiler: unfortunately, he has to be killed due to having trouble controlling his new thirst for blood]].

* DirtyOldMan: Martin Livingston, a PosthumousCharacter in ''Unsympathetic Magic'', while respected for being a WealthyPhilanthropist, was also a philanderer who made a rather forceful pass on at least one woman who was forty years younger than him. Many of the mobster patrons at the restaurant Esther waitresses at in ''Doppelgänger'' and ''The Misfortune Cookie'' also apply.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Fenster's in ''Poltergeist''.

* {{Confessional}}: Its speculated Father Gabriel in ''Doppelgänger'' became a priest hoping to hear more about how his mobster father died via confessions.

* EmergencyTransformation: how [[spoiler: Leischneudel]] became a vampire, having gotten drunk with another vampire, and talking about his health problems (not lethal, but chronic), which caused the equally drunk vampire to turn him out of pity.

* EverybodyLives: even the villains survive to be arrested in [[spoiler: ''Polterheist'']].

* InadequateInheritor: the Fenster’s, even the nicer ones, are considered this in comparison to their recently-deceased matriarch. It’s even briefly speculated the phenomena terrorizing the store is her wrathful ghost, whose feeling this trope from beyond the grave.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: Both Barclay Preston-Cole and Garry Goudini in ''Disappearing Nightly'' as they recount how their respective assistants disappeared during their acts.
* InsufferableGenius: Catherine Livingston and arguable Lysander Singh.
* IWantGrandkids: Lopez's mom.

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: The villain in book 3 initially isn't that likable but gradually shows some helpfulness and humor before TheReveal.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Frequently. The villain of the first book (not to mention said villains fate) is mentioned in nearly all of the sequels. ''Abracadaver'' is also an ImmediateSequel to ''The Misfortune Cookie'' and not only reveals who the previous book's killer was, but has Max and Esther explain said killer's motives and methods in copious details for some of the other people involved in the case who hadn't been present during their EurekaMoment.

* MuggleBestFriend: Esther to Max.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The antagonists of Polterheist both have somewhat mild versions of this, one realizing that [[spoiler: his]] partner intends to take things a lot further than they'd talked about [[spoiler: by actually summoning a dangerous spirit]], and the other upon actually seeing the creature they're summoning in the flesh.
* NeverHeardThatOneBefore: Catherine Livingston, when Esther greets her by saying, "Dr. Livingston I presume?"

* OccultDetective: Max is an older, more research-oriented version of this.

* PoorCommunicationKills: A somewhat humorous example occurs in ''Vamparazzi.'' There's an ugly mob of LoonyFan's and people who think Daemon Ravel is a vampire and/or murderer outside the theater. Daemon's assistant Victor texts him to come in through the fire door. An exhausted Daemon had turned off his phone and not checked his texts though, and his coming in through the front door earns him a lot of abuse for the mob, while stirring them up more. And because Victor thought that Daemon was still going to come in through the fire door as soon as he heard someone outside, he opened it, accidentally letting the mob in to storm the theater for the climax.

* SkepticNoLonger: Fairly often with supporting characters. Jeff in ''Unsympathetic Magic'', and the third victim in ''Doppelganger'' are good examples.

* StupidEvil: [[spoiler:Buonrati]] in ''Doppelgänger'' certainly qualifies (something that is heavily lampshaded InUniverse) for bragging about murdering prominent members of multiple rival crime families over the phone (as well as boasting of Godlike powers born from dark magic and his confidence that he would never be caught). Given the heavy police surveillance, he should have guessed that phone was bugged (and sure enough, it was). Not only does that give the police the evidence to arrest the guy, but it also lets the other mobsters know that he's the killer ''and'' that he bragged about (something which is almost as big of a taboo for them as the actual killing) over a phone which he had to have at least known ''might'' be tapped. The fact that the mob is planning to have the guy murdered in jail when he's last mentioned is no big surprise.

* HiddenDepths: Clarisse is a bit of an UpperClassTwit, but is prepared to fight back agains the demon with just a candlestick, takes care of a wounded Dolly, and seems to have been just as passionate about her and Barclay's act as he was.

* MistakenForGay: In ''Unsympathetic Magic'', Biko says that due to his mannerisms and interests (poetry readings, wine tasting, keeping hand sanitizer, speech choices and the way he dressed) he'd always assumed that Darius Phelps was [[CampGaygay]] (and it's implied Jeff thought so to) until he walked in on him having sex with Catherine Livingston one night. [[spoiler: In fact, Darius ''was'' gay, and was being mind-controlled into having sex with her]].

* RunningGag: Max asking people if they're Lithuanian.

* TheObiWannabe: Max wonders if he might have been this to Hieronymus, due to how little they communicate and [[spoiler: feeling neither particularly outraged, saddened or betrayed after discovering Hieronymus was EvilAllAlong]].
* ThePrimaDonna: Glory Gee in ''Disappearing Nightly'', and Rachel in ''Vamparazzi''. Glory is also a DirtyCoward, being the only hostage not to try and fight back against the BigBad.

* TheBeastMaster: zigzagged, when Sarah, one of the kidnapped assistants from ''Disappearing Nightly'' is familiar enough with Alice, the tiger who was kidnapped with her and hasn't been fed in a while, to keep her calm and give a few basic commands, but she isn’t Alice's trainer and has little overall control of her.

* BeleagueredAssistant: Daemon Ravel's PA Victor is pretty high-strung, although its unclear if his natural personality, or how high-matinecne Daemon is plays a bigger role in this.

* {{Confessional}}: Its speculated Father Gabriel in ''Doppelgänger'' become a priest hoping to hear more about how his mobster father died via confessions.

* DetectiveMole: combined with LivingWithTheVillain: in [[spoiler: ''Disappearing Nightly'']], with said Mole even taking the leftovers from the meals that Max, Esther the rest of the Amateur detectives had while investigating [[spoiler: his]] crimes and used them to feed [[spoiler: his]] prisoners!

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything?: CampGay, FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: [[spoiler: Esther's agent Thack]] saying he doesn’t practice blood-drinking and thinks of it as moving past the tradition-oriented and restrictive past of vampire society. This feels a bit like a statement about his sexuality, ironically the opposite of the main themes of 'Series/TrueBlood'' with actual vampirism ben an analog for homosexuality. Given the books release date, this could have even been an intentional TakeThat.

* HateAtFirstSight: played for laughs, off-screen when [[spoiler:Clarisse]]. was summoned by the villains spell and fell face first into a pile of vomit Glory Gee had made when she threw up after her own arrival. [[spoiler: Clarisse]]. still seems a bit sore about it (with Glory’s personality probably not helping).

** ''Vamparazzi'' gives us two of Esther's co-stars; Daemon Ravel a {{Narcissist}}, and DirtyCoward who displays a keen LackOfEmpathy and enjoys kinky sex with his groupies a bit too much, and Mad Rachel a self-absorbed and shrill [[ThePrimaDonna prima donna]], as well as AbhorrentAdmirer {{Paparazzi}} Al Tarr, who gleefully writes lies and half truths accusing a man he knows to be innocent of murder and practically incites a lynch mob in the process. ** ''Polterheist'' features Preston Fenster, a profit-obsessed, Christmas hating, politically incorrect MeanBoss and his daughter Elpseth, a snarky LoonyFan {{Goth}} who's obsessed with death and fairly rude to Esther for not living up to the image Elpseth had formed of her from her performance in Daemon's play.

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: the villain in book 3 initially isn’t that likable but gradually shows some helpfulness and humor before TheReveal.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: the antagonists of Polterheist both have somewhat mild versions of this, one realizing that [[spoiler: his]] partner intends to take things a lot further than they'd talked about [[spoiler: by actually summoning a dangerous spirit]], and the other upon actually seeing the creature they're summoning in the flesh.

* PetTheDog: Literally, Rachel from ''Vamparazzi'' is a dog person, and spends a lot of time gushing over Nelli
* PoorCommunicationKills: A somewhat humorous example occurs in ''Vamparazzi''. There's an ugly mob of LoonyFan's and people who think Daemon Ravel is a vampire and/or murderer outside the theater. Daemon's assistant Victor texts him to come in through the fire door. An exhausted Daemon had turned off his phone and not checked his texts though, and his coming in through the front door earns him a lot of abuse for the mob, while stirring them up more. And because Victor thought that Daemon was still going to come in through the fire door as soon as he heard someone outside, he opened it, accidentally letting the mob in to storm the theater for the climax.

* SkepticNoLonger: fairly often with supporting characters. Jeff in ''Unsympathetic Magic'', and the third victim in ''Doppelganger'' are good examples.

* SummonBiggerFish: subverted, Sarah tries to sicc Alice the tiger on the demon at the climax of ''Disappearing Nightly'' but although it’s a game effort 1) Alice isn’t actually the bigger fish in this scenario and 2) Alice seems to realize this and refuses to attack.

* ThatManIsDead: played for laughs with vampire actor and self-proclaimed actual vampire Daemon Ravel's efforts to distance himself from his birth identity.

* WhamLine: "Does it mean anything to you, Dr. Zadok, when I tell you that I’m...Lithuanian?"

--> '''Delilah:'' He had just about [[spoiler: the most pronounced speech impediment I've ever heard]].

--> ''Esther:''' What?

* WickedStepmother: subverted. when looking for motives for the disappearances in the first book, Esther wonders if Dixie resented her father’s assistant Dolly for being his mistress, but the two got along great [[spoiler: and seem to have as strong of a bond as an actual mother and daughter when we see them together]].
* WretchedHiveOfScumAndVillainy: Altuna, Pennsylvania.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Father Gabriel]] and [[spoiler: Rick]].

* {{Jerkass}}: Quite a few (including more than one BigBad). In ''Disappearing Nightly'' Max's assistant Hieronymous is pretty standoffish towards Esther. Several of the mobsters in ''Doppelganger'' display the expected social graces for their profession, although most are more slimy that rude. ''Vamparazzi'' gives us two of Esther's co-stars; Daemon Ravel a {{Narcissist}}, DirtyCoward and pervert who displays a keen LackOfEmpathy, and Mad Rachel the self-absorbed and shrill ThePrimaDonna, as well as AbhorrentAdmirer {{Paparazzi}} Al Tarr, who gleefully writes lies and half truths accusing a man he knows to be innocent of murder and practically incites a lynch mob in the process. ''Polterheist'' features Preston Fenster, a profit-obsessed, Christmas hating, politically incorrect MeanBoss and his daughter Elpseth, a snarky LoonyFan {{Goth}} who's obsessed with death and fairly rude to Esther for not living up to the image Elpseth had formed of her from her performance in Daemon's play.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Occasionally. One good example is Garry Goudini, whose kind of an EntitledBastard, whose dialogue often screams ItsAllAboutMe. While everyone else is concerned about their missing assistants he largely just focuses on Alice the tiger due to her importance in his act and can barely bother to remember his human assistant Sarah. However he provides many useful and key insights to the investigation in just the couple chapters, praises Max's bookstore to be a relaxing atmosphere, and comforts a hysterical Delilah even after the UnsettlingGenderReveal.

* MistakenForGay: In ''Unsympathetic Magic'', Biko says that due to his mannerisms and interests, he'd always assumed that Darius Phelps was gay until he walked in on him having sex with Catherine Livingston one night. [[spoiler: IN fact, Darius ''was'' gay, and was being mind-controlled into having sex with her]].

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything?: CampGay, FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: [[spoiler: Esther's agent Thack]]. saying he doesn’t practice blood-drinking and thinks of it as moving past the tradition-oriented and restrictive past of vampire society. This feels a bit like a statement about his sexuality, ironically the opposite of the main themes of 'Series/TrueBlood'' with actual vampirism ben an analog for homosexuality. Given the books release date, this could have even been an intentional TakeThat.

* EmergencyTransformation: how [[spoiler: Leischneudel]]. became a vampire, having gotten drunk with another vampire, and talking about his health problems (not lethal, but chronic), which caused the equally drunk vampire to turn him out of pity.

* {{Jerkass}}: Quite a few (including more than one BigBad). In ''Disappearing Nightly'' Max's assistant Hieronymous is pretty standoffish towards Esther. Several of the mobsters in''Doppelganger'' display the expected social graces for their profession, although most are more slimy that rude. ‘’Vamparazzi'' gives us two of Esther's co-stars; Daemon Ravel a {{Narcissist}}, DirtyCoward and pervert who displays a keen LackOfEmpathy, and Mad Rachel the self-absorbed and shrill ThePrimaDonna, as well as AbhorrentAdmirer {{Paparazzi}} Al Tarr, who gleefully writes lies and half truths accusing a man he knows to be innocent of murder and practically inciting a lynch mob. ''Polterheist'' features Preston Fesnter, a profit-obsessed, Christmas hating, politically incorrect MeanBoss and his daughter Elpseth, a snarky LoonyFan {{Goth}} who's obsessed with death and fairly rude to Esther for not living up to the image Elpseth had formed of her from her performance in Daemon's play.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: the antagonists of Polterheist both have somewhat mild versions of this, one realizing that [[spoiler: his]]. partner intends to take things a lot further than they'd talked about [[spoiler: by actually summoning a dangerous spirit]], and the other upon actually seeing the creature they're summoning in the flesh.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: The bad guy of [[spoiler: ''Doppelgänger'']]. who wants to [[spoiler: wipe out three mob families]]. although his lack of concern for innocent casualties keeps him from being an AntiVillain.

** The line that reveals the identity of the first book's BigBad to both Max and Esther, and the readers, "He had just about [[spoiler: the most pronounced speech impediment I've ever heard]].

--> Lopez: Johnny Be Good Gambello was just found dead.
--> Esther: What?
--> Lopez: Yeah, they just fished him out of the east river The initial estimate is that he’s been dead for twenty-four hours.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Frequently. The villain of the fourth book (not to mention said villains fate) is mentioned in nearly all of the sequels. ''Abracadaver'' is also an ImmediateSequel to ''The Misfortune Cookie'' and not only reveals who the previous book's killer was, but has Max and Esther explain said killer's motives and methods in copious details for some of the other people involved in the case who hadn't been present during their EurekaMoment.

* TheCorruptor: Max, Lucky and Esther speculate that [[spoiler: Rick]]. was this too [[spoiler: Elpseth Fenster]].
* DetectiveMole: combined with LivingWithTheVillain: in [[spoiler: ''Disappearing Nightly'']]. even taking the leftovers from the meals that Max, Esther the rest of the Amateur detectives had while investigating [[spoiler: his]]. crimes and used them to feed [[spoiler: his]]. prisoners!

* {{Jerkass}}: Quite a few (including more than one BigBad). In ''Disappearing Nightly'' Max's assistant Hieronymous is pretty standoffish towards Esther. Several of the mobsters in''Doppelganger'', although most are more slimy that rude. ‘’Vamparazzi'' gives us Vampire actor Daemon Ravel a pervert who’s obsessed about his own image and displays a keen LackOfEmpathy, Mad Rachel the self-absorbed and shrill ThePrimaDonna and AbhorrentAdmirer {{Paparazzi}} Al Tarr, who gleefully writes lies and half truths accusing a man he knows to be innocent of murder and practically inciting a lynch mob. ''Polterheist'' features Preston Fesnter, a profit-obsessed, Christmas hating, politically incorrect BadBoss and his daughter Elpseth, a snarky LoonyFan {{Goth}} whose obsessed with death and fairly rude to Esther for not living up to the image Elpseth had formed of her from her performance in a play about a vampire.

* {{Paparazzi}}: Al Tarr in ''Vamparazzi'' is a profile writer, but the direction his profiles actually take cements him as this.
* PetTheDog: Literally, Rachel from ''Vamparazzi'' is a dog person, and spends a lot of time gushing over Neli
* PoorCommunicationKills: A somewhat humorous example occurs in ''Vamparazzi''. There's an ugly mob of LoonyFan's and people who think Daemon Ravel is a vampire and/or murderer outside the theater. Daemon's assistant Vitor texts him to come in through the fire door (where Victor will let him in). An exhausted Daemon had turned off his phone and not checked his texts though, and his coming in through the front door earns him a lot of abuse for the mob, while stirring them up more. And because Victor thought that Daemon was still going to come in through the fire door as soon as he heard someone outside, he opened it, accidentally letting the mob in to storm the theater for the climax.

* SensoryOverload: Hereditary vampire [[spoiler: Thackery]]. Lists this as one of the reasons he doesn’t drink blood (along with not actually needing to). yes, it would give him a big sensory boost, but considering that he lives in the noisy and somewhat smelly Manhattan, the idea of this makes him shudder.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: the antagonists of Polterheist both have somewhat mild versions of this, one realizing that [[spoiler: his]]. partner intends to take thinks a lot further than they'd talked about, and the other upon actually seeing the creature they're summoning in the flesh.

* SummonBiggerFish: subverted, Sarah tries to sick Alice the tiger on the demon at the climax of ''Disappearing Nightly'' but although it’s a game effort 1) Alice isn’t actually the bigger fish in this scenario and 2) Alice seems to realize this and refuses to attack.

** The line that reveals the identity of the first book's BigBad to both Max and Esther, and the readers, "He had just about [[spoiler: the most pronounced speech impediment I've ever heard].

* YouHaveOutLivedYourUsefulness: The Dragon suffers from this in ''Unsympathetic Magic'', and almost in ''Doppelgänger'', only surviving by luck.

* HateAtFirstSight: played for laughs, off-screen when [[spoiler:Clarisse]]. was summoned by the villains spell and fell face first into a pile of vomit Glory Gee had made when she threw up after her own arrival. Clarisse still seems a bit sore about it (with Glory’s personality probably not helping).

* INeedAFreakingDrink: Both Barclay Preston-Cole and Garry Goudini in ''Disappearing Nightly'' as they recount how their respective assistants disappear during their acts.

* {{Jerkass}}: Quite a few (including more than one BigBad). In ''Disappearing Nightly'' Max's assistant Hieronymous is pretty standoffish towards Esther. Several of the mobsters ''Doppelgänger''. ''Vamparazzi'' gives us Vampire actor Daemon Ravel a pervert who’s obsessed about his own image and displays a keen LackOfEmpathy, Mad Rachel the self-absorbed and shrill ThePrimaDonna and AbhorrentAdmirer {{Paparazzi}} Al Tarr, who gleefully writes lies and half truths accusing a man he knows to be innocent of murder and practically inciting a lynch mob. ''Polterheist'' features Preston Fesnter, a profit-obsessed, Christmas hating, politically incorrect BadBoss and his daughter Elpseth, a snarky LoonyFan {{Goth}} whose obsessed with death and fairly rude to Esther for not living up to the image Elpseth had formed of her from her performance in a play about a vampire.

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk-the villain in book 3 initially isn’t that likable but gradually shows some helpfulness and humor before TheReveal.

* PetTheDog: Literally, Rachel from ''Vamparazzi'' is a dog person, and spends a lit of time gushing over Neli

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything?: CampGay, FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: [[spoiler: Esther's agent Thack]]. saying he doesn’t practice blood-drinking and thinks of it as moving past the tradition-oriented and restrictive past of vampire society. This feels a bit like a statement about his sexuality, ironically the opposite of the main themes of 'Series/TrueBlood'' with actual vampirism ben an analog for homosexuality. Given the books release date, could have even been an intentional TakeThat.

* EmergencyTransformation: how [spoiler: Leischneudel]]. became a vampire, having gotten drunk with another vampire, and talking about his health problems (not lethal, but chronic), with causes the equally drunk vampire to turn him out of pity.

* DetectiveMole: combined with LivingWithTheVillain: in [[spoiler: ''Disappearing Nightly'']]. He even takes the leftovers from the meals that Max, Esther the rest of the Amateur detectives had while investigating [[spoiler: his]]. crimes and used them to feed [[spoiler: his]]. prisoners!

* DetectiveMole: combined with LivingWithTheVillain: in [[spoiler: ''Disappearing Nightly'']]. He even takes the leftovers from the meals that Max, Esther the rest of the Amateur detectives had while investigating [[spoiler: his]]. crimes and used them to feed his prisoners!