The "Bloody Cover 2009" Has Been Found

For the eighth time the most original, most exciting, most remarkable… in short the most beautiful cover for a German language crime novel was selected. The jury for the Bloody Cover awards – in association with the German language crime novels authors' association Syndikat and the Krimi-Forum – nominated twelve finalists amongst the more than 300 crime novels released in the past year. The winners were then voted for by the general public.

The decision fell last Sunday – Fremder Schmerz by Renate Kampmann (List Verlag; cover design by Simone Becher, Bürosüd München) was awarded as the best cover for a crime novel of the past year. The second place was taken by Abgemurkst by Minck & Minck (Droste Verlag; cover design by Helge Jepsen, Essen), and third place went to Der du bist dem Vater gleich by Michael Koglin (Pendragon; cover design by Michael Baltus, Mediendesign; photograph by Steven Haberland).

The typography on all three covers is quite conservative. Apart from the fact that the title in the winning entry doesn't use German capitalisation, both Garamond and Copperplate Gothic are pedestrian choices. Gill Sans in the cover for Abgemurkst is an obvious pick for this type of illustrative design, and I think we all agree Rotis Semi Serif for the title and Helvetica Condensed for the author's name in the third cover are overused.