So what are you thoughts on the US (LHS) and UK (RHS) covers? Which would entice you to pick the book up if you were not familiar with Andrea Camilleri?
Here is the Euro Crime review, by Maxine, of August Heat.
I like both styles of covers but I do feel the UK ones can give too much of the plot away.
I almost made a comment about the cover in my review - I like the picture on the UK cover more BUT now having read the book I don't think the cover fits at all - to me that cover says 'lovely beach scene, gentle & lazy summer days ahead' whereas the book was about the awfulness of the heat and no one did any lazing about in comfy chairs. So it was like false advertising almost.
ReplyDeleteThe UK cover looks really cosy - perfect for a day on the beach.
ReplyDeleteAnd as to revealing the plot - so many covers are just irrelevant to the plot or totally confusing so I would hardly think about what it meant anyway.
Karen - I love these cover opinions : ). I like the UK cover better, too. And even though it doesn't really fit the story, I still think it's a terrific cover.
ReplyDeleteI love the Picador (UK) covers of these books, the artist is wonderful. There is nothing wrong with the US cover here, in another context I might really like it, but to me these Picador covers are brilliant. Though I do agree with you Karen that they can give too much of the plot away, so like a blurb I never examine the pic too closely before I read the book. Then, when I have finished, I take a look like a child with one of those picture books with hidden clues! Very nice.
ReplyDeleteBernadette - agree that the pic does imply lovely beach scene, etc, but it does also imply "disappearance" in the empty deck chair, so stretching a point, appropriate? One thing is clear, though, that these UK covers are clearly created by someone who has read the book(s). Whereas the US cover, though nice in itself, just says "nice pic, nice place".
I really enjoy these cover posts Karen!
ReplyDeleteNot having read the book I can't comment from that point of view, but I love the font and the colours of the UK cover. Not too keen on the case at the top, it looks a bit "Famous Five" to me.
The US one is a bit peely-wally and bland, but I'm rather taken with the shark or whatever it is :o)
Oh wow, Donna, and I thought it was a boat! See what you mean. Maybe the US cover is growing on me. (Though I don't think sharks came into the plot any more than deckchairs - or boats - if memory serves. I do remember the box (on the UK cover) though.)
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a boat too! It does look like a shoe as well :).
ReplyDeleteI think I like the UK cover better because the US cover looks bland, like one is driving on a pleasant day in Vermont, Virginia or Wisconsin, on the way to the beach.
ReplyDeleteThe UK cover to me conveys extreme heat, blazing sunlight and sitting on that beach and being baked. I don't see anything that's giving away a plot line to me, just unrelenting heat and hot sun. That kind of pulls me into the book although I'd read it sitting in my air-conditioning.
Yes, looking at it with my "Donna-sensitized" eyes I thought it looked a bit like a shoe, also. I was trying to remember if a shoe featured in the plot but I don't think it did. Well, the cover certainly has achieved the positive effect of making us all really look at it (in both cases!).
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