The Return of Copycat Covers

With the approach next weekend of The Rap Sheet’s 10th anniversary, I’ve been thinking about all the subjects this blog has covered over the course of its now almost 6,400 posts. Some things I’d change if I could, and there are instances where I think we our coverage could have been more focused or fun; yet most of what we’ve accomplished here, I believe, has been done well. But one area of personal interest that I realize hasn’t been mentioned of late is “copycat covers.” You know, book fronts that employ the same photographs (usually stock art) or paintings that can be found on one or more others.

For several years I posted somewhat regular pieces about this subject. However, the last time I addressed it was in a minor way in 2015. I still have plenty of copycatting instances, and my computer file of them continues to grow. So beginning today, I’m going to resume highlighting examples of such look-alike book façades, though I shall do so one or two at a time, without writing a great deal about them. (I think it was my self-imposed requirement of creating longer posts, with several covers under consideration, that proved daunting before and caused me to stop writing about copycat covers). I hope you enjoy this resurrected venture. And if spot any more duplicated fronts in your travels through bookstores or across the Web, please drop me an e-mail note here. On to our first two specimens …



Killer Pursuit, by Jeff Gunhus (Seven Guns Press, 2015); and Leave Her Hanging, by Harry St. John (Cheeky Minion, 2013)—which was among our nominees for Best Crime Fiction Cover of 2013.