Sights on the Sites

• A couple of years back, Killer Covers showcased a trio of paperback fronts emphasizing stairway dangers. More recently, Pulp International put together a much larger gallery with the same theme. From its choices, I’m particularly fond of E.T. French’s Never Smile at Children (1959), with cover art by Lou Marchetti.

• Speaking of Pulp International, dig this façade from Robert O. Saber’s Murder Honeymoon (1953), “a digest-style paperback from the Australian imprint Phantom Books.” The art,” we’re told, “originally fronted Saber’s 1952 Original Novels thriller City of Sin, … and was painted by the always amazing George Gross.”

• Boy, they sure don’t make magazine covers like this anymore.

• Another fine specimen of that breed.

• I hadn’t previously noticed this novel-cover theme of women silhouetted in windows. But of course, now I’ll be watching for more examples every time I enter a bookshop.

• Advice for do-it-yourself book-front designers.

• Ed McBain wrote so many novels, that assembling a complete collection of their fronts would be quite daunting. However, Bear Alley’s Steve Holland has made a running start at the task.

• And here’s something I wish was done more often: For the blog Criminal Intent, author Charles Finch interviews David Rotstein, the art director with Minotaur Books who created the jacket for Finch’s new Charles Lenox historical mystery, The Inheritance.