Cozy Mysteries discussion

I have people on the covers of two of my cozy mysteries. Backyard Bones has the back-lit murderer standing over a grave. It was done so readers couldn't tell who he was.
The Murder House has a woman over-laid on about a third of the front cover and repeated on the back. She's a murder victim (and neighbors think she's a ghost) and I very much wanted the reader to know what she looked like. My covers are not typical cozies, though.

My cozy covers (Julianna Deering: Drew Farthering Mysteries) have people with faces and even legs! But no feet. ;)

They're very 1930s Art Deco looking, so they fit the books really well.

I don't know the reason for this. My cozy Murder Strikes a Pose has a woman with both feet, though one is sort of covering the other so it looks like she has one very fat foot. ;-)

Good luck in recovering from your eye surgery!

Mine don't have people because I want my readers to picture the characters themselves. Ours are set in Hawaii, so we want Hawaiian-themed covers with a hint as to a theme in the stories. (In fact, I prefer not to have people on any of my book covers, and I have nine published in various genres.)

In my case, it is very deliberate, but I don't know about other people.

As a reader, I prefer my covers to be illustrations, and illustrations definitely seem to be the popular way to go. Perhaps that's why there are fewer people on covers? Just wild speculation....

Carol wrote: "I can understand leaving people off so readers can picture the characters for themselves, or so readers cannot recognize a possible clue to a murderer. In fact, that was the first and most logical ..."

Carol, I specifically asked my cover artist not to put people on my illustrated cover. My cover is of Sweet Marissa's Patisserie which is the crime-fighting headquarters of my cozy mystery, The Ginseng Conspiracy. I just wanted the patisserie to show all the beautiful, luscious pastries in the window. And as Lorna mentioned, I think it is a great idea for readers to picture the characters for themselves through the descriptions.

I wish there was a way to show our covers here so you could see what I mean. My cover is on my site. Thanks.

Susan Bernhardt

I often use silhouettes on my covers so the reader can use their imagination to add a face. I've also noticed that writers like Rhys Bowen frequently have a person on the cover. All I really care about is that the cover actually has something to do with the story.

My newest cover has a hand, that's the only human part showing, on it. It's called Bluebells and Shotgun Shells, so I featured the bluebell flowers and shotgun shells on the cover.

I very much vote for the 'no people' cover. For me, the person on the cover, when there is one, never looks like what's in my head, and for some reason I hate that.

Hi,

I've introduced myself elsewhere, I have five mysteries on Kindle set in Ireland or Scotland. I took my own cover shots and what was important to me was to give a sense of location.

For Murder At Irish Mensa I walked through Dublin for an afternoon and photographed locations in the book. The winner had to be the statue of Molly Malone outside Trinity College. Not only are the statue and college in the book, I managed to get a police officer in the shot, so it has immediate connotations of crime. The statue is constantly surrounded by people taking photos and getting snapped standing beside Molly, so I had to wait a while and be swift!

So I hope this meets everyone's expectations - there is a person and a statue of a person, but not a character from the story.

I used another location shot from that day for Murder at Dublin Mensa, which has people in a nice street scene.
A photo I took in Scotland is on the front of Murder At Scottish Mensa. This depicts two uniformed, kilted bandsmen watching soldiers walk by on a granite-walled street.

However Murder At Kildare Mensa shows a mare and foal, since horses are Kildare's biggest industry and feature in the book. Murder At Wicklow Mensa shows a set of steps in a woodland as the theme is outdoors and hill-walking. So these do not feature people, because the theme was well depicted without them.

I think its because it's quite rare to find an artist who can actually draw a human. Secondly, I think it's probably cheaper to draw or use computer manipulation/CGI or prop photography inanimate objects.

I am thankful honestly that most publishers go for photography; a badly drawn picture can be a major turn off!

I like the illustrations and vector type with people on covers over an actual model type. With cozy mysteries it's cute to keep the features indistinguishable, like half the body or something, or someone turned sideways

I won this book here on Goodreads and received it today. I can't stop looking at the cover!! I can't wait to read and review it!

In my opinion, paranormal and fantasy books have the most beautiful covers. For cozies I like the small town. library, house, coffee shops, bakeries, art galleries etc. I collect cozy mysteries not new but used, (budget) But I do have quit a bit but not enough time! And the authors of these cozy mysteries are soo friendly! An honor to meet and speak with them!.