Welcome to Sushi Scandal, where the real mystery is how this cover made it out of the design kitchen without being sent back for serious seasoning.
At first glance, you might think this is a children’s board game called “Chopstick Detectives,” or perhaps the rejected poster for a failed Food Network show starring corgis and soy sauce. But no — it’s a paranormal cozy mystery, and the cover is serving… none of that.
Let’s start with the main course: a single piece of sushi, floating like it’s been abducted by invisible chopsticks. It’s not resting. It’s not grounded. It’s just… levitating. This roll has entered its ascension arc.
Surrounding it is an aggressive geometric frame in mustard yellow — a color so loud it’s practically screaming over the other elements. The bold, white serif title “Sushi Scandal” is crammed into the frame like it’s trying to escape. And the subtitle, “A Pride Street Paranormal Cozy Mystery,” is wedged in with all the subtlety of a footnote on a napkin.
Then, of course, we have the Chopsticks of Doom, angled diagonally for no discernible reason, slicing the composition into two confused halves. They’re perfectly clean, perfectly straight, and perfectly useless.
And the dogs. Oh, the dogs. Black silhouettes of what might be corgis? Chihuahuas with a gym membership? They’re sniffing suspiciously at the mystical sushi like they’ve uncovered the secret ingredient is betrayal. Their poses mirror each other like a Magic Eye puzzle and their outlines are so sharp they could double as cookie cutters.
Let’s not forget the steam, which curls in symmetrical cartoon clouds, like someone added it last-minute and used the “Make It Steamy” button in Clip Art Express. The result is more hot yoga flyer than whodunnit.
The overall vibe? A graphic design group project gone rogue. None of the elements belong together, the colors are having a turf war, and the fonts have declared full anarchy. Paranormal? Only if you consider the unnatural pairing of sushi and clip-art corgis.
Cozy? Maybe.
Mystery? Yes — the mystery is what this cover is even trying to do.
So here’s to Sushi Scandal, the only book cover that manages to combine fine dining, dog silhouettes, and vector chaos in one spicy mess. One thing’s for sure — someone rolled the dice and lost the plot.