Cover Me, I'm Going In
In which the author digs into suspense cover design tropes and begs you to add your two cents.
What about a cover tells you that a mystery or thriller is inside—and possibly also that it’s the kind of suspense/crime novel that will please you?
Is it the title? The font? A particular type of image? All of the above? Are there covers you love or design categories you’re sick of seeing? Help me out, readers!
With luck, I will have a new suspense novel out in early 2026, and we’re already talking about the cover. Yes! Cover thoughts, almost a year and a half pre-pub. Chats about design don’t always start this early, but in this case, the publisher wants to make sure the title will work, and that may depend on the cover and how the two work together, in combination. 1
In the very short time I’ve spent brainstorming a THEORY OF SUSPENSE COVERS, I’ve started hypothesizing, and I’m hoping you’ll jump in with some thoughts as well. Chances are that some of you will have lingo or insights far beyond mine.
Let me start out with the domestic suspense category, because that’s what I write and what I most often read. What tells us a book is squarely in this genre? Here’s what I’ve noticed. Doesn’t mean I always love it. Doesn’t mean I don’t.
SHOUTY SAN SERIF CAPS
I feel like the font (which can sometimes be Futura, Helvetica, or Gills Sans, a book designer website informs me) is trying to reach out and grab me by the throat. There’s also something about the way it’s spaced and centered, in some titles. I notice a lot of yellow—or even lime green—in the title or author’s name.
HOUSE/NEIGHBORHOOD AND OTHER DOMESTIC CUES
Several of the shouty covers above feature houses. But many books, regardless of font, feature houses. With such clear domestic—often suburban— imagery, the reader is reminded, “This nightmare could happen to you or your neighbor!” Show me a home, show me a yard, show me an escape ladder hanging down from a house…
SETTING in general, with a touch of menace or entropy, is another standard design which works especially well for readers like me who relish well-evoked place details.
Shout-out to fellow Antioch alum Peter Nichols, whose recent debut suspense, novel set in small-town Maine, has this cover.
I imagine the editors saying about the draft cover, “It’s beautiful. Maybe too peaceful, even?”
An intern adds, “Maybe we need bigger shoutier san serif letters. They’re good enough for Ruth Ware!”
To which the designer, who has already done his or her work well—did you notice the pier is falling apart and do you sense some weird isolation in that distant figure?—stifles a groan, goes back to work, and ten minutes later shouts Voila! I’ve added some scary typography, replacing the Is with red slashes! And manages to go home on time. (The slashes of red also inform the reader: This is mystery/suspense. But it’s also verging on horror, with a bit of gore, so be warned. See how much work a cover can do?)
For me, this cover stands out because it doesn’t look like all the other covers.
SPECIFICALLY: CRIME SCENE
Sometimes, you’ll get a hint about where the crime actually took place, whether that’s a river, a bend in the road, some cornfield down thataway.
I grew up in a neighborhood haunted by the recent disappearance of a young girl, and whoa, did we freak each other out, walking past a big cornfield behind our ugly 1970s houses. I convinced myself her body was found among those rustling stalks. Recent googling has challenged that memory. The dead girl was found in a nature preserve (shallow creeks, oak trees) to the north. Her murderer was found, fortunately. Chills. Geez, no wonder I write what I do.
Cue the river cover.
A man is standing on the river. I can take him or leave him.
Historical fiction abounds with pictures of women wearing the costume of the era, taken from behind, so you can’t see the protag’s face. Presumably, that leaves you room for imagining—perhaps even picturing yourself waltzing into that 19th century drawing room or WWII scene. (I have a friend who hates that cover trope and now that she has pointed it out, I can’t stop seeing it everywhere.)
Spy and action thrillers continue to lean into the silhouette look—person with gun, person running. To all that I say: no thank you.
In terms of my THEORY, I’ll hypothesize that if you want to signal “literary” or “suspense/literary” (over old-fashioned mystery or paperback thriller) the use of a full figure shown clearly acting out the plot, unless he is James Bond, is no longer cool.
Having said that, there are times when a face or body is used in a way that evokes mood and combines well with skillful graphics. I think this one is effective. (And wow, those blurbs in combination with the title!)
And here’s another cover that was very sticky for me, from the first time I saw it until the day I bought the book’s audio version. I remember a Substack post which I currently can’t locate, in which Vera Kurian was asked by a friend why there was a white girl on her novel’s cover. I thought, white girl? I didn’t realize she was white. In fact, I distinctly thought she wasn’t. (Blame the Audible thumbnail image and my middle-aged eyes.)
Looking online, I see that various editions look slightly different—or perhaps just appear so, depending on the third-party website where they are found. In any case: I like the way the face recedes into the darkness, especially in version two, with the font and title doing the attention-grabbing.
Vera, if you’re reading this, feel free to tell me I need an eye exam. And a memory exam on top of it.
As for the following example, I don’t need a black girl’s face to tell me this next book, called THE OTHER BLACK GIRL, is about a black girl. The Kindle version I bought uses an actual photo of the protagonist from the Hulu adaptation. I prefer the original, which used a more effective image. And those broken comb teeth—nice! (I’m enjoying the book, by the way.)
And then, we should have the rule breakers. In terms of my THEORY, I’m gonna say that if it’s a good book written by a well-known author and/or the publisher simply realizes they don’t have to lean into cliches, anything can—and SHOULD— happen!
But where are my examples?
Skimming the latest NetGalley covers and the bestselling titles at several online bookstores, I can’t find anything worth sharing at the moment.
Once we’ve excluded covers with SHOUTY FONT, melancholic or disturbing setting, crime location, and protag (or essential plot point) representation, there’s not a whole lot left. So maybe book buyers do need those clear signals, most of the time? Or maybe we are all ready for a change?
Tell me what you think. Share your aesthetic opinions, the louder the better.
If you’re an author and you have a cover design story to share, we’d love to hear it!
POST-PUBLICATION UPDATES:
Commenter Laura Lefler, whose novel TELL THEM YOU LIED comes out in May 2025, mentioned her less conventional cover, so I’ve added it here, especially since it is so different—in terms of not just imagery but also font. This cover would definitely grab my attention and the painted look is a nice nod to the characters, who are artists. Cool! Thanks, Laura!
I’ll add other commenters’ books when I get the chance.
Two more covers, from our commenters. Thank you, Maggie Smith and Sarah Zachrich Jeng!
We authors sometimes get to fill out an author cover survey for our publishers, noting what kind of covers we like or don’t like, and whether we have images in mind for a particular book in production. This is not necessarily the same as getting the cover of our choice or having an automatic veto. Much depends on contract and “pick your battle” politics. I have opinions, but I also know that my publisher has info I don’t have—like what covers, colors and fonts have recently become passe or what buyers and bookstore chains are favoring in the coming year or two. I will usually defer to my publisher unless it’s a cover I HATE. And sometimes, a cover I didn’t love at first grows on me!
This is fascinating. I love a gorgeous book cover and yes, I do judge books by their cover and avoid books with covers that signal genres/subgenres that I'm not interested in reading. (Looking at you, cozy mystery. A cat or dog on the cover is an almost always an automatic pass for me.)
I'm so interested in how cover design communicates genre (as well as subtler aspects of the book)! All of my covers (the hardcover and paperback releases of my debut had different cover designs) have had faces on them, which seems less common than setting for suspense.