Montclaire Mysteries by E. A. Allen

Most designers cringe at the moment their uncle or cousin asks them to offer up some free design work. I’m no exception to this. And when my own dad (who has spent the better part of the past decade writing mystery novels) began asking me to design his book covers, I wasn’t jumping at the opportunity.

However, I’m guessing persistence was one of those traits that made him a good intelligence officer. It was truly masterful the way he was able to twist almost any conversation into a grand inquisition regarding how long it might be before I designed something for him. It probably took a year or two of steady pressure, but soon enough there I was – pushing pixels for my dad. I imagined this was how foreign operatives felt after that fiftieth message from my dad. I would have turned coat and razed the Kremlin just to get him to stop calling.

But I’m also proud of what I do. So the result is a series of cover art over the last 6 years that has attempted to build and maintain a brand for E. A. Allen’s Edwardian era mystery novels, most of which feature detective Gerard De Montclaire, a hero who resembles a french version of Sherlock Holmes with far more emotional baggage.

Percy St.-John

An unbreakable cipher, a dead priest with expensive shoes, a hermit who has conversations with saints, an angry French girl, a guardian angel with attitude, a murderous master criminal, and a gaggle of angry demons might stop an ordinary fifteen-year-old safe-cracking genius, but not Percy St.-John. He’s out to prove he did not steal a mysterious ancient book that may hold the key to mankind’s greatest hope and greatest danger.

This is the latest work from E. A. Allen and his first break into the Young Adult genre. In order to make this story appeal visually to those readers, we had to take on a style that is common within the culture of YA. Heavy illustration, a sense of mysticism and adventure – all the things you’ve seen on Amazon, excluding the twenty thousand Gone Girl rip-offs that seem to never end.

Additionally, this book is the first of a possible three in the series, all featuring a safe-cracking genius. For that, I wanted a design that was wrapped around a combination dial and handle present on all books. This simple consistency in theming will play out nicely in the years to come, and might just catch some eyes for the subsequent books if they’ve read the first.

Gerard De Montclaire Short Stories

In addition to novels, E. A. Allen is a prolific short story writer with a significant following on Amazon. If this is your thing, check out his author page. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, it’s likely you’ll be able to read one for free on Kindle.

And if you do that, please do leave a kind rating. Of course, if you leave a scathing review, I can’t promise my dad won’t find you. He does have a particular set of skills.