The Reaper

The Reaper

Untitled (The Kiss) 1971 (detail)

Romance and death, two essential ingredients for the mystery novel, may both be found on the cover of Peter Lovesey's The Reaper. It is the upper, smaller photo that provides the source of interest for Covering Photography. It is a largish detail of a vertical image by Ralph Gibson, originally appearing in Déjà Vu, the second volume of Gibson's influential Black Trilogy (the other two titles being The Somnambulist and Days at Sea), published from 1970 to 1975. The larger, color photo is by Cheryl L. Cipriani, who designed most of the covers in this Soho Press mystery series.