I’ve been reading mysteries longer than any other genre, although unlike fantasy, mysteries rarely have covers that will enrage me with how awful they are (yes, I’m still looking at you Avon). But that doesn’t mean I don’t have preferences.

One trend I tend to dislike are the super twee covers of many cozies. You know the ones I mean, where it looks like the cat or dog is the one solving the mystery, and their titles are always horrible puns. I just can’t take those books seriously. I mean, I’m possibly missing some great books, but I find the idea of non-fantasy crime-solving animals incredibly off-putting. (However, give me an actual talking dog or cat and I’m all in.)

So here are the mystery covers I particularly liked this year.

 

The Missing Page (2022) Cat Sebastian (Page & Sommers)
self-published
Cover by Bran at Crowglass Designs
Historical, LGBT *

 

Usually, Cat Sebastian’s covers are not for me. The covers for this series, however, I really like. It’s possible the switch from live models is due to these books being outside her regular genre (primarily a mystery instead of primarily a romance). Whatever it is, looking at these covers makes me want to read the series again.

This cover has many of the same elements as the cover for cover for Hither, Page, except the dark and light colors are switched top and bottom. The fonts, layout, art design, and even colors are the same or similar, clearly tying the two books together as part of a series.

I particularly love the simplicity of the drawings, which feel stark and a bit foreboding–a perfect mood for a murder mystery, but not so foreboding you don’t know things are going to work out in the end.

 

The Lords of Bucknall Club by J.A. Rock & Lisa Henry: A Case for Christmas (2021),  A Sanctuary for Soulden (2021)
self-published
Cover art by Mitxeran
Historical, LGBT *

More self-published books with excellent covers.

The style of dress makes it immediately apparent these are historicals, and the details place them in the early 1800s.

I particularly like the contract between the characters on A Sanctuary for Soulden. You can clearly see a class difference between the two as well as a personality difference (neat as a pin versus a tiny bit wrinkled) and the doctor’s bag emphasizes those differences.

 

Purloined Poinsettia (2022) Dahlia Donovan (Motts Cold Case Mystery)
Publisher: Tangled Tree Publishing
Cover designer: BookSmith Designs
Cozy, LGBT

 

They do a very good job tying the covers of this series (Poisoned Primrose, Pierced Peony, Pickled Petunia) together, as well as hinting this series and her London Podcast series are in the same world.

I very much like the simplicity of the drawings with the flowers and complimentary color schemes that pull everything together. And they are pulling no punches with the cat, making it clear he’s a (furless) Sphinx.

Plus the little pineapples are perfect.

 

The Mystery of the Spirits (2021) C.S. Poe (Snow & Winter)
Publisher: Emporium Press
Cover art by Reese Dante
LGBT *

 

Although I have never felt like the cover model looks like Sebastian, all the covers are monochrome and the exposure is blown out — precisely how the world looks to Sebastian, which is a detail I very much appreciate every time I see it.

It lets the design of the colors be both simple, and very obviously part of the same series (while always giving you that detail about Sebastian’s visual issues).

 

Lady Odelia’s Secret (2022) Jane Steen (Lady Helena Investigates)
Publisher: Aspidistra Press
No cover artist mentioned or easily found.
Historical

 

I love the silhouette trend—especially for historicals.

I’m sure they’re common partially as they would be less expensive than a live model shoot (as opposed to using stock images which so very many small press books do), but it also draws my eye to the cut of the characters clothes, helping to place it in history.

And it contains many details from the previous book, Lady Helena Investigates, such as the border, and a single background building.

The title font should differently have a much greater contrast to the background (since it’s not especially legible as a thumbnail) but that’s one of the things I’m willing to let slide on books put out by small presses.

 

Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking (2022) Raquel V. Reyes (A Caribbean Kitchen Mystery)
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Cover illustration by Joe Burleson
Culinary

 

Admittedly, I don’t like this cover as much as that of her first book, Mango, Mambo, and Murder, but it does follow the theme of the first book —- and does give you a couple things from the plot (ie the pumpkins).

This is just on the edge of being too busy for me, but the blue calms it down enough for me not to find it overwhelming.

 

Renovated to Death (2022) Frank Anthony Polito
Publisher: Kensington
No cover artist given or easily found
LGBT

 

I really liked the action in the cover. I just wish I’d liked the contents even half as much.

 

The Vanishing Type (2022) Ellery Adams (Secret, Book, & Scone Society)
Publisher: Kensington
From the dedication: To my favorite book designers and book cover designers: Hugh Thomson William Morris Margaret Strong Elbert Hubbard Mr. Boddington’s Studio (Rebecca Schmidt Ruebensaal) Coralie Bickford-Smith Hülya Özdemir
Literary

 

This is another cover that is on the border of being too busy—the lack of people and the slightly overexposed background help.

This is another series where I strongly prefer the earlier books in the series, which were a little less busy and a little more monochromatic (The Secret, Book, & Scone Society, The Whispered Word, The Book of Candlelight, Ink and Shadows, The Vanishing Type).

 

Murder Under Her Skin (2021) Stephen Spotswood (Pentecost and Parker)
Publisher: Doubleday
Cover illustration Rui Ricardo. Folio Art
Historical, LGBT

 

The design changed quite a bit from the previous book (Fortune Favors the Dead)—keeping only the authors name and colors consistent. But I did quickly recognize it as a sequel.

I don’t love this as much as the cover of the previous book, but there is plenty here to like. Your eye is drawn to the red at the center, and once you notice it, the woman’s outlines with her tattoos is a lovely touch.

It’s a nice cover, however, I’ll note a lot of the detail is lost in the thumbnail.

 

The Secret of Bow Lane (2022) Ashley Gardner (Kat Holloway)
Publisher: Berkley
Cover art by Larry Rostant
Historical

 

This is another cover that doesn’t do anything particularly outstanding, but it does match the previous books, especially the detail of the stairs.

Additionally, the locations have slowly shifted away from the house and out into the world–which matches the journey Kat has been making about her own circumstances as well as her relationship with her love interest. It’s subtle, but it is giving you a bit of Kat’s arc over the course of the series.

I know not everyone agrees, but if there is going to be a photograph I really prefer not seeing facial details—probably why I love the silhouette covers so much.

 

A Perilous Perspective (2022) Anna Lee Huber (Lady Darby Mystery)
Publisher: Berkley
Cover art by Larry Rostant
Historical

 

These covers always feel like small portraits; perfect since Lady Darby is a portrait painter.

And again, I prefer not to see the facial features of the cover models, because inevitably they feel wrong to me. (CS Harris’s Why Kings Confess was the worst for this.)

 

Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries by Mia P. Manansala
Homicide and Halo-Halo (2022), Blackmail and Bibingka (2022)
Publisher: Berkley
Cover design and illustration by Vi-An Nguyen
Cozy, Culinary

I love the bold colors and designs of these covers.

 

A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder (2022) Dianne Freeman (Countess of Harleigh Mystery)
Publisher: Kensington
No cover artist given or easily found.
Cozy, Historical

 

Although the font choice is harder to read than one might prefer, it’s not impossible, and it matches the rest of the series, as well as (to be honest) the tone of the books (trying just a tiny bit too hard to be fancy enough to fit in).

The drawn characters and background are lighthearted enough to show you this is a cozy mystery—there may be murder but it won’t be guts and gore and horror.

I also like that she always stands on her own—she is clearly linked to the male character here but isn’t swooning or requiring him for support, which tells you something else important about the book.

 

An Impossible Impostor (2022) Deanna Raybourn (Veronica Speedwell)
Publisher: Berkley
Book design by Kristin del Rosario
Historical

 

I utterly adore these covers.

They look like nothing else, and are clearly are part of the same series: A Perilous Undertaking, A Treacherous Curse, A Dangerous Collaboration, A Murderous Relation, An Unexpected Peril

They are beautiful and immediately draw attention to themselves without the details becoming overwhelming.

They are lovely and some of my favorite covers going right now.

 

Here is the breakdown of the publishers.

• Kensington (Independent Publisher): 3
• Aspidistra Press (Independent): 1
• Crooked Lane Books (Small Publisher): 1
• Emporium Press (Small Publisher): 1
• Tangled Tree Publishing (Small Publisher): 1
• Doubleday (Knopf Doubleday): 1
• Berkley (Penguin): 5
• Self-published: 3

Berkley is far and away the winner here, with about 30% of the covers, while self-published and Kensington each had about 20%. However, I choose to ding Kensington for not crediting their cover artists.

 

The Books of 2022: Yearly Reading Roundup

* Boinking