Or, as a life choice ...

[sholio]

... what if I changed my entire cover 12 hours before the preorder locks for release?

But I was struggling with some aspects of the previous cover and I loved the suggestions in the comments and ...



The keys may be a bit much (there are a plot-relevant set of keys in the book, though!) but I feel like it's hitting the genre tropes a bit better now...?

Edit: New version! (Just some minor tweaks.)




Added a bloody knife tucked into the bushes and toned down the snow a bit.

Comments

[passingbuzzards]

The keys are a nice touch imo! (Having started reading this one today...)

[sholio]

Thank you! ♥ It's a fun little easter egg for readers. (I hope you enjoy it!)

[yhlee]

ADORBS.

[sholio]

WHEEEE.

[goss]

Nice! I like that you zoomed in to the house's doorstep. Feels like it draws you into the story with all the little details.

[sholio]

Your suggestions were SO GOOD! Thank you SO MUCH! You have a wonderful artistic eye for this kind of thing. <3 (I know you didn't mean necessarily to do the candy cane thing *and* the keys-or-whatever-object thing at once, but it turned out to work really well for the actual plot of this book.)

[goss]

Yay! Glad to know they were helpful. :) :)

[sallymn]

Oh that's a lovely cover!

[sholio]

Thank you! :)

[rheanna]

I really like that cover!

[sholio]

Thank you!!

[vass]

Oh hell yeah. The candy cane murder is perfect, it says "Christmas cozy" so clearly. The knife is good too. I liked the old art, but this one's branding is much clearer and still looks very good.

[sholio]

Excellent! Thank you so much!

[philomytha]

That is a really fantastic cover, those were great suggestions! Also I have started reading it and am having a blast and the keys are indeed looking like an excellent Easter egg :-D

[sholio]

Thank you! And I'm delighted you're enjoying it! :D

[leesa_perrie]

That does look better! I think I'd be hopeless at covers if I ever wrote professionally, lol!

[sholio]

Thank you! I mean ... it's a professional skill that I happened to have alongside of being a writer; a lot of writers get someone else to do their covers, and quite validly so!

[ellenmillion]

YES to the keys!! I like this a lot! Much less generic.

[sholio]

Thank you! I'm delighted with it; I just keep looking at it and smiling. I hope your book release is going swimmingly!

[sheron]

I like this a lot! I like the keys

[sholio]

Thank you! :) The other one really wasn't off-brand for the genre, but I think this one is much more compelling. (We'll see if readers agree!)

[ranalore]

The other cover didn't really grab me, but this one is a delight. I haven't even started reading the book, and I can tell there are details here that will turn out to be easter eggs when I run across them in the text. That's a great invitation that any regular reader of cozies will recognize.

[sholio]

Oh, wonderful! Thank you so much. :)

[michelel72]

This is a great cover; the candy-cane treatment tickles me. (And the positions of the knife and cat make me think the cat is judging someone for leaving something so tacky on the front stoop, heh.)

[sholio]

Thank you! Hahaha, cats probably would. xD

[genarti]

I love this! Super cute, and the genre signals are nice and clear.

[sholio]

Thank you!!

[via_ostiense]

I got the book and am excited to read it! Currently starting on Moose-Taken Identity.

[sholio]

Thank you! :) I hope you enjoy!

[yalumesse]

I like this one much better! I think the knife could be more subtle, though. It looks like it might hurt the cat :(

[sholio]

Thank you! The knife being too close to the cat was my main concern there, actually, so if you're also noticing it, I'll need to think about knife placement.

[yalumesse]

Could it go in front of the 'plant pot' in the front-left, above the "J" in "Julie"?