Murder Comes to Call Cover Reveal!

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Jessie: in New Hampshire, where more snowy weather is in the forecast for tomorrow!

One of the things I think is most magical about reading and writing is the way that thoughts and images in my head will have at least a passing resemblance to those of my readers or to the authors of books, I in turn, read. One of the things I hope the most about crafting stories is that what I am imagining can be expressed in a vivid enough way for it to reach readers as fully fleshed out as the characters and situations seem to me.

I always hope that a similar thing will occur when I’m asked by my editors to provide cover art suggestions for my books. I try to communicate by sharing images and shortlists of words and phrases that I think will get my ideas across. Despite my best efforts, it can be startling to see an image in front of you of what someone else imagines when you describe a scene or character or situation.

Still, there are months between the time my editors request cover ideas and when I receive my first glimpse of the artwork. During that time I usually forget all about the fact that someone, somewhere, is creating a cover. I’m busy writing the next book, or working on copy edits, or creating blog posts like this one, and cover art is rarely on my mind. But then one day, I’ll receive an email, unexpectedly, from my editor announcing the cover is ready. I always cross my fingers and hope that we have a match between what I described and what the artist interpreted.

So, here’s the latest cover! It’s the first time I’ve had an interior scene for the Beryl and Edwina series. I think the artist captured the sense of an English country house. I just love the way the victim’s feet poke out past the potted plant, just as they do in the story! I guess crossing my fingers worked!

Readers, what do you like to see in a book cover? Does it matter if it accurately reflects the story itself? Writers, do your covers look the way that you expect?

Published by Jessie Crockett

Jessie Crockett wears a lot of hats, both literally and literarily. As Jessie Crockett she is the Daphne Award winning author of Live Free or Die and the nationally bestselling Sugar Grove series. As Jessica Ellicott she has received starred reivews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal for her historical mystery Murder in an English Village. As Jessica Estevao she writes the Agatha Award nominated Change of Fortune Mysteries. She loves the beach, fountain pens, Mini Coopers and throwing parties. She lives in northern New England where she obsessively knits wool socks and enthusiastically speaks Portuguese with a shocking disregard for the rules of grammar.

32 Thoughts

  1. Love the cover, Jessie! Glad you are happy with it, too. I’ve heard some real horror stories from authors about the covers they’ve been stuck with.

    Yes, I expect the cover to reflect the story. It’s a real disconnect when it is clear the artist has no idea what the book is about.

  3. I love the new cover! The cover is what makes me first pick up a book. For me, I like to see a colorful, fun cover that reflects the story.

  4. LOVE the cover for MURDER COMES TO CALL! I love when covers tell a story and this one does. Also like the small subtle hints to the era in which the story takes place in from the type of plant to the detail in the banister. A good cover grabs your attention and says check me out. Honestly some times a cover will grab me where the title or the unknown to me author may not. I do think that they cover needs to reflect the story within the book. If it doesn’t, then it doesn’t make sense to me.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

  5. I love your COVER. I am drawn to BOOKS by the COVER first I WILL admit. But, I am an artist. I draw, water color them in. I work in many media’s, quilts,knitting,crochet..I see pictures in my head
    Or in thought bubbles. Some may understand or not. A creative.

    That’s why I look at Covers. Many years ago that’s how I came to find Barbara Ross at a grocery store 🙂 A small wall book shelf in the small town we were in back then, because no real bookstore close 🙁 I So I glide by. Glancing past, you Notice covers. Here shot out past half naked men,Victorian dresses & western men on horses. All ok but not for me most times. Hers serene but not, coastal,lighthouse let you know it was a mystery.

    Yours is perfect with out words conveys it all. Cute fun, mystery, fabulous Characters, even cozy. Bingo.
    Blessings for total success. You got me at the COVER .
    Bahaahaa 🙂

  6. Great cover, Jessie!

    To date, I’ve given ideas for three covers and none of them are like what I envisioned. But people seem to like them, so I guess something is going right.

  11. Your Beryl and Edwina covers (& stories) are great and I do like this cover as well! I do like for covers to reflect the story, but that being said however, I never buy a book based on it’s cover, if I did there are some books I would never would have gotten and would’ve missed out on some good stories. I have been known to cover book covers I can not stand to look at..lol!!

  15. Yes, I love bright colorful covers. However, I do expect them to reflect the story and characters. I don’t like when they have the wrong type or dog or cat on the cover or a romance novel with the wrong hair colors of the couple.

  16. Love it! A cover should make you want to read the book, and this one certainly does! Who is dead? Why? How did Edwina and Beryl get involved? Now I have to wait for the answers. And it’s got me wondering about the cover of the book I’m working on.

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