Cover art has always been an integral part of the crime fiction experience. No area of literature has dedicated more time and ingenuity to creating a graphic experience for dedicated readers and casual bookstore browsers alike. Provocative, inspired, and insightful, the best crime covers bring out new layers in the texts they enclose. Despite the occasional fallow period of stock photography and jumbo fonts, the art isn’t dead. It’s alive and well. To celebrate the tradition, each month CrimeReads editors highlight the very best covers from the newest books in crime, mystery, and thrillers.
Angie Kim, Miracle Creek (FSG/Sarah Crichton Books)
Design by Na Kim
A woodsy, light-burst vision from the always evocative Na Kim, perfectly complementing Angie Kim’s moving debut legal thriller.
Dylan Struzan, A Bloody Business (Hard Case Crime)
Art by Drew Struzan
Another beautiful throwback cover from Hard Case, this time a lush painting from the icon of movie posters, Drew Struzan, whose wife Dylan Struzan penned this epic tale of the life of an American gangster.
Patrick McGuinness, Throw Me to the Wolves (Bloomsbury)
Design by Katya Mezhibivskaya
A redacted, broken memory for a story about the intersection of past and present and a terrible rush to judgment.
Antti Tuomainen, Palm Beach Finland (Orenda Books)
Design by Mark Swan
A perfect, witty cover for a story about sun-bleached Florida style crime brought to the chilly Finnish shores.
Olivia Kiernan, The Killer in Me (Dutton)
Design by Christopher Lin
A lush color scheme that falls somewhere between L.A. an Miami Noir is an effective counterpoint to this deeply felt crime story out of Ireland.
Jennifer MacMahon, The Invited (Doubleday)
Design by Michael Windsor
An eery distillation of the gothic aesthetic brought to the modern-day abode, an evocative signal of what’s to come in this story about the dream of the perfect house, gone wrong.
Leye Adenle, When Trouble Sleeps (Cassava Republic)
Design by Michael Salu
A flashing, violent neon sign seems appropriate for the arresting, gut punch of a novel from the supremely talented Adenle.
