Remember that post I did back in May about the proliferation of mystery book covers featuring crows? I had a thought cross my mind the other day (no, it didn't hurt) and did some searching.
Here are some of the results of that search, narrowed down to a dozen of the mysteries that have Red Herrings in their titles. I think you'll very quickly notice a theme. Let's take a look!
Did you notice the theme? Red herrings may be a popular plot device in mysteries, but it's rather obvious that showing fish on a cover is taboo! Out of a dozen covers with red herring in the title, there's only one that actually shows a fish. If you think about it for a second, it's completely understandable. Who wants a fish eye staring at them from the front of a book?
Now that you've taken a look at those covers, take another one. Which cover is your favorite? My favorite is Catriona McPherson's The Reek of Red Herrings, and following in second is A Plate of Red Herrings by Richard Lockridge.
Ooh, I love it, Cathy! So clever. And Jonothan Cullinane's Red Herring is shortlisted for this years Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel and Best First Novel...
ReplyDeleteI saw that!
DeleteI like Alan Bradley's, Catriona McPherson and Susan Maxwell's. Maxwell's at least has a red herring on it.
ReplyDeleteI like McPherson's, but again a side view of a woman.