Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme here at Books by Proxy. Join me every Friday as I pit cover against cover, and publisher against publisher, to find the best artwork in our literary universe.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
Welcome back to the Friday Face-Off! It’s been a while since I took part in this meme – thank you so much to those of you who kept it afloat – but I’m so glad to be back!
Where phones are concerned, there is literally only one book that came to mind. The signature edition of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. Published by HarperCollins, I’m pitting this phoney cover against the beautiful Fontana/Collins edition from 1993. Take a look (at these somewhat lacking in crispness images) and see which one gets your vote.
HarperCollins – Cover #1
Fontana/Collins – Cover #2
| The Friday Face-Off: Winner |
The HarperCollins edition is another example of their simple but eye-catching signature Christie style. The typeface and colours work brilliantly together and the phone – eerie shadow included – makes a bold and slightly sinister statement. By comparison, the Fontana/Collins cover goes for silhouetted detail in pink and black with their beautiful but dark image of a graveyard. This is the detail which at first glance made me lean towards the Fontana/Collins cover but, upon review, the striking HarperCollins cover won out for its bold imagery.
Which cover wins your vote this week? Have a cover of your own? – Post the link below!
Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads
Next week’s theme is:
When everything seem to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it…
A cover which features a plane
Remember to check The Friday Face-Off Feature Page for upcoming themes
| Links |
Books by Proxy 
Great choice of book and I agree with your choice too although I do like the other cover.
My link:
https://lynns-books.com/2017/05/12/twist-the-bones-and-bend-the-back-itch-it-a-cop-it-a-mel-a-ka-mys-ti-ca/#comments
Lynn 😀
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This was a bit of a difficult choice but I definitely stand by the phone!! 😀
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Great book choice and I agree the HarperCollins is much more striking 🙂
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Thanks! I really love all the HarperCollins signature editions but if you take a look at the latest cover I think that actually might be a favourite! 😀
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I like both covers, but I do prefer the one with the telephone – while the graveyard scene is lovely, I HATE that ugly chunk of black running along the bottom of the cover which really spoils it. This is my telephone-inspired offering this week – another crime whodunit… https://sjhigbee.wordpress.com/2017/05/12/friday-faceoff-dont-leave-me-hanging-on-the-telephone/
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I completely agree. I really liked it upon first glance but after looking at it for a while that black chunk started to annoy me! 😀
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I’m aware I’ve become a bit obsessed with those nasty big blocks that deface a fair number of covers – happily not so much these days… but I LOATHE them.
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Loathe away! I think I’d have less of an issue if the imagery merged a little more first but the cut off stamp of colour is agreeably awful!
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Got to be the original cover for The first Miss Marple mystery 😀
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Definitely! You can always rely on crime novels to have specific objects on their covers! 😀
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Omg I meant the first Poirot not Miss Marple! 🙈
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Oops! I thought you meant she had a phone on a Marple cover too! I was looking for it for a while! XD
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