Breaking news: this cover is a design crime in progress, and the only mystery left is who approved it. News at Eleven and Homicide should be a sharp, witty cozy mystery about journalism, intrigue, and murder. Instead, it looks like someone cracked open Microsoft Paint, discovered the shape tool, and thought, “Yes, this is Pulitzer-level stuff.”
Front and center, we’ve got our heroine — a “reporter” drawn in the stiffest flat art style imaginable. Her face is so expressionless, she looks less like she’s about to break a story and more like she’s about to ask if you want to add extended warranty coverage. Holding a microphone the size of a baguette, she radiates all the tension of a cardboard cutout at a trade show booth.
And then there’s the pug. Wearing a “PRESS” hat. Don’t get me wrong, dogs improve almost everything — except, apparently, clipart murder mysteries. This poor pup looks like a meme from 2011 glued in as an afterthought, destined to live forever in the uncanny valley of “cute but confusing.” Is he breaking the news? Solving the murder? Filing his taxes? We may never know.
The title design doesn’t help. NEWS AT ELEVEN sits in a bland, generic typeface, while HOMICIDE is blasted in bold pink italics like it’s trying to sell you a new energy drink. It’s supposed to be dynamic, but it’s really just tonal whiplash: “breaking news, and also a body count, but make it fun and flirty!”
Finally, the color scheme: beige, taupe, muted pink, and cream. Nothing screams homicide quite like the palette of a midrange motel wallpaper sample book. Cozy mysteries don’t need gore, but they do need charm, and this background looks like it was lifted from a waiting room wall.
Verdict: Yes, this is a horrible cover. It’s not cozy, it’s not mysterious, and it’s definitely not newsworthy. If homicide were reported like this, viewers would change the channel.