the25centpaperback:

The Terrorists by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, cover by Unknown Artist (1978)

I don’t usually like photographic covers, especially on mystery novels, because the genre has such a strong tradition of beautiful painted paperback covers. I admit I don’t mind the covers of these early Vintage Books editions of the classic Martin Beck mysteries by Swedish geniuses Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. It’s mainly because this cover, and the other covers from the same editions, focus on the vintage props (the toggle switch, the wires and the background magazine here) that immediately locate the novels in a particular time and place.