Cover Love – with Carmen Radtke #books

I read once that the main purpose of a book cover is to attract the reader’s attention. Obviously, it should have something to do with the subject of the book too – you wouldn’t put an image of a vegetable garden on a book called How to Crochet, but the cover needn’t tell the story of the book, just be appropriate in some way. It set me thinking – what makes us pick up a book in a bookshop? Sometimes it’s the author name, but it could also be the image. Or the title, or strapline, or maybe a combination of all of these. I thought it might be fun to find out what different people think. Over the next few months I’ll be asking different people in the book world to choose two books, one simply with a cover they like, the other one of their own book covers.

This week we have multi-genre writer Carmen Radkte, whose books range from historical crime fiction to cozy mystery to memoir and literary fiction. Over to Carmen:

A Spoonful of Murder by J. A. Hall

I tend to be attracted by illustrated covers. It’s about the mood as much as the content. If it makes me smile, I’m in. This cover has such a soothing look, with its overall blue, that I know I’m in for a cosy read. The strapline confirms it too, and the font oozes cosiness with its swirls and curves.

But what made me go for this book is the cat on the mug, with the tail curling to form the handle. It adds enough intrigue to make me curious about this particular murder mystery.

Genie and the Ghost

This is a cozy paranormal mystery, which combines a modern heroine with her great-great-aunt, a vivacious flapper who died in 1929. I gave the cover designer a picture of old Hollywood movie star Constance Bennett as inspiration for the ghost, and she came up with a design I instantly fell in love with. The blue colour scheme and the moon give the cover a darker feeling than usual cozy mysteries have, and the ghost has just enough substance to be real. It’s simple and classy, like an old movie poster, which captures the essence.

Thank you, Carmen – I love the blue cover theme this week!
I’ve read Genie and the Ghost – it really put a smile on my face!
You can find out more about Carmen and all her books on her Amazon Author Page, and I’ll leave you with an image of both her Genie and Adriana Darling books. The second is on pre-order for November 11th, so not long to wait!