Felted head-wreck

Since I'm heading off to my first Malice Domestic tomorrow, and it's by all accounts pretty craft-tastic, and since I just today finished Dandy Gilver No. 8 (working title Dandy Gilver and A Goodly Measure of Brimstone) so am in a wow-8-really? kind of mood, I thought I'd look back over the last seven covers as re-imagined by my pal Louise who has been making unsettling crafts to go with every new book since 2005.

It started innocently enough with the cover image of After the Armistice Ball on a felted cushion.

For Book No 2, The Burry Man's Day, she went 3D with a Dandy Dolly.  Now, dolls always creep me out a bit, especially when you walk into a room and they slowly turn round and stare at you, but this one was quite harmless, with her pink flapper dress and her long beads.

Then came Bury Her Deep and the spookiest finger puppets ever felted.  One of my nephews reached out for one at the launch party, then though the better of it and ran away.

Another change of pace for The Winter Ground, with a big-top desk-tidy for keeping small items like Tunnock's teacake badges safe.  (Tunnock's teacake badge model's own.)  It was cute, colourful, soft and dumpy and hardly unsettling at all.

Louise was saving up for the big one.  The odd-eyed, sock eared Dandy Dolly #2 (she's back and this time she's angry) that goes with  The Proper Treatment of Bloodstains.  DD2 doesn't even have to look round slowly at me when I go into my study to give me the heeby-jeebies.

So you can imagine my trepidation on publication day for An Unsuitable Day for A Murder.  I kind of wanted to ask the UPS guy to wait with me until the parcel was open and the contents, if necessary, locked in a cupboard.  But Louise is messing with me.  Look:

A pretty, wearable (and often worn), hearts and flowers and measuring tape brooch.

I wonder what she'll do for the next one.  Fabulous prizes if you guess.