 With the exception of "Meet the Tiger", chapter titles of Templar novels usually contain a descriptive phrase describing the events of the chapter; for example, Chapter Four of "Knight Templar" is titled "How Simon Templar dozed in the Green Park and discovered a new use for toothpaste".Although Charteris's novels and novellas had more conventional thriller plots than his confidence game short stories, both novels and stories are admired.As in the past, the appeal lies in the vitality of the character, a hero who can go into a brawl and come out with his hair combed and who, faced with death, lights a cigarette and taunts his enemy with the signature phrase "As the actress said to the bishop ..."

The period of the books begins in the 1920s and moves to the 1970s as the 50 books progress (the character being seemingly ageless).