Rollin’ Out the Old Gold

An editor at Litro, the self-identified “little London literary magazine with a big worldview,” asked me recently to submit a selection of my 12 favorite vintage crime-novel covers. I hesitated to take the assignment, knowing that to pare my extensive collection down to a mere dozen choices was not going to be easy. Sure enough, in the end I left plenty of sacrificial carnage on my office floor in order to give the editor what she wanted. You’ll find those results here.

But since I know how to blog about covers myself, I am installing below the picks I didn’t have room for in Litro. Enjoy!

And to My Beloved Husband, by Philip Loraine (Pocket, 1953)
Artist: William Rose



The Butcher’s Wife, by Owen Cameron (Dell, 1956)
Artist: William Rose



Call Me Deadly, by Hal Braham (Graphic, 1957)
Artist: Walter Popp



Murder in Majorca, by Michael Bryan, (Dell, 1957)
(Bryan was a pseudonym used by Brian Moore.)
Artist: Unidentified



Let Them Eat Bullets, by Howard Schoenfeld (Gold Medal, 1959)
Artist: Barye Phillips



Bare Trap, by Frank Kane (Dell, 1960)
Artist: Harry Bennett


Solomon’s Vineyard, by Jonathan Latimer (Pan, 1961)
Artist: Sam “Peff” Peffer



Guilty Bystander, by Wade Miller (Signet, 1963)
Artist: Mitchell Hooks



Incidentally, my post about vintage covers is just one of several mystery- and crime-fiction-themed pieces appearing this month in the pages and on the Web site of Litro. A number of other free posts can be found here, including several short works of fiction worth reading when you find a spare moment or two.