Wednesday, August 22, 2018

I Have Elly Griffiths Covered (Again)!


I haven't done a "Cover-Off" for a while, so you probably thought I'd forgotten all about them. Poppycock! I was just biding my time, and when I stumbled across the UK and US covers of Elly Griffiths' The Stranger Diaries while preparing to tell you that her book was on my radar, I decided it wouldn't hurt to bring the book to your attention one more time.

I always seem to be behind trends (probably because I don't really care much about them one way or the other), but I had to smile when I saw that one of the covers I'm showing you today is an example of the floral trend I recently read about. I've already touched lightly on this tendency to use pretty flowers on covers with my post about Kate Morton's The Clockmaker's Daughter. None of us liked the pretty flowers on that particular UK cover, so let's see if they do any better with this one...




In a word: No. I don't think the UK cover is a winner here either, although the colors used and the type of plant chosen do look vaguely poisonous as if they're meant to put us on our guard. For all I know, the UK edition of The Stranger Diaries could be the memoirs of someone who worked in the poison garden at Alnwick Castle. (Fun place to visit by the way.)

If I'm to choose between a dark and potentially dangerous plant and an old house, I'm going to choose the house every single time-- unless I'm looking at a book about botany. The wavy line that "fractures" the house on the US cover lets me know that something's not right while not keeping me from wanting to walk right in through the front door.

So in my opinion, the US cover is the winner, hands down. What about you? Which cover do you prefer? UK? US? Neither one? Inquiring minds would love to know!


6 comments:

  1. I agree with you, Cathy. The US cover is the winner for me, too. There's just something about that house lurking behind the trees...

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  2. I like the British cover because I like the design, colors and flowers. But I might not think it's a mystery if I saw it in a bookstore.

    So I'd say for a mystery I'd prefer a different cover. Old houses don't pull me in. Maybe too many covers in my teenage years with that theme.

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    1. Old houses have always pulled me in, from my childhood to the present day. Different strokes for different folks! :-)

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  3. True. So you must be a Gothic book lover.

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    1. I wouldn't call myself a lover, but I do enjoy one now and again.

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