In addition to its similarity to other Spenser novels involving the Boston Mafia, from Promised Land and Early Autumn (1981) to The Widening Gyre (1983), Pastime, and others, Chance is related to those Spenser novels where the detective explores the past of a victim or client: Mortal Stakes (1975), Stardust, and the recent Small Vices (1997). In Wilderness (1979), an independent novel, a husband and wife go into training to fight a mobster and break his hold over their lives, much as Spenser works to destroy the power that Marty Anaheim has over Bibi.

An early precursor of Chance was God Save the Child (1974), where Spenser uses his fists to humble an antagonist and break his psychological hold over a victim.

Similarly, in Chance, Spenser arranges for Bibi Anaheim to see his victory over Marty in a fistfight in order to destroy her image of Marty's invincibility.