YMMV / I Heard That Song Before

• Accidental Aesop: It's unclear if Mary Higgins Clark intended this, but it can be argued the story has an aesop about the dangers of addiction. Grace was an alcoholic which partly led to the breakdown of her marriage and caused the death of herself and her unborn child with it later being revealed the killer took advantage of her alcoholism to orchestrate her demise. Susan was a cocaine addict, which indirectly led to her death when she blackmailed a dangerous man for drug money. And Richard's gambling addiction means he's constantly in debt, with some of the people he owes money to threatening his life, and his addiction ended up causing the entire plot as he went to increasingly desperate and immoral lengths to support himself.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: Around the motive for Susan's murder. When confronted by Vince and Kay, Richard confirms that he murdered her because he feared she'd reveal his theft of the paintings (and likely wounded pride that she dared blackmail him). However, his mother says he told her he killed Susan for refusing his sexual advances. While Richard lying to his mother about his motives is probable, given Richard's envy of Peter and the fact he was happy to let Peter be a suspect, it doesn't seem impossible that jealousy could've played a role in the murder too.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Richard crossed it by murdering Susan to stop her blackmailing him. While stealing his stepdad's priceless artwork to sell and fund his gambling debts is scummy, it utterly pales compared to punching and strangling a vulnerable eighteen year old girl to death. Richard only sank into further depravity from there, committing several more murders and attempted murders, while letting suspicion fall upon his innocent, long-suffering stepbrother. After all that, he also still doesn't have the self-control to curb his gambling addition over two decades later.
  • Elaine could arguably retain some sympathy for having helped cover up Richard's murder of Susan, as Richard told her after the fact it was a panicked, spur-of-the-moment act; one could argue Elaine didn't fully understand the cold-bloodedness of what her son did and was trying to protect the whole family from the repercussions. However, she definitely crossed the MEH when it's revealed she willingly lured Jonathan Lansing to a remote location under the pretext of a job offer (after she got him fired from his original position), knowing full well Richard intended to kill him.
• Strangled by the Red String: A milder example compared to some. Kay and Peter start out as acquaintances, with Kay being attracted to Peter but not knowing much about him personally. The story then completely skips over their courtship to their wedding, with Kay filling in a few details in a flashback. They only dated a little over a month before they decided to get married. The author does at least give them several scenes together as a couple afterwards, which flesh out why they fell in love, such as having things in common and their genuine affection for each other, but some readers still find it a bit jarring. It actually forms a plot point, as many people doubt that Peter truly loves Kay because of how quickly they got married, believing he may have more sinister motives.
• The Woobie: Gladys Althorp. Her husband is a self-absorbed, controlling jerkass who cheated on her, and her beloved daughter has been missing for over twenty years, with her murdered body later turning up not far from their house. No one has ever been held responsible for Susan's death and the man Gladys is certain did it appears to have gotten off scot free. She's also dying of a terminal illness but is in so much physical and emotional pain she doesn't mind too much, saying that at least she will get to see Susan again. Her only wish is to see Peter brought to justice for killing her daughter. Then after her death it turns out she erroneously accused Peter of Susan's murder, nor did she live to see the real killer arrested and convicted (mostly because of her husband selfishly hiding vital information).
• Woobie Family: The Lansing/O'Neil family. Annie and Jonathan's baby daughter had just been born when Annie suddenly died of an embolism. Jonathan never got over it and began drinking heavily, resulting in him losing jobs and fighting with his mother-in-law (who had also lost her child and had to step up as a parent to her granddaughter) then vanished off the face of the Earth and is believed to have committed suicide. Kay is left believing that her father didn't love her enough to stick around for her or perhaps even blamed her for her mother's death. And then it turns out that Jonathan never committed suicide; he was actually murdered to cover up another murder he had no knowledge of, while his daughter and mother-in-law were left to believe he'd abandoned them all this time.

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