The Voodoo Room’s front cover is revealed! 

It’s a milestone that I’ve approached with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Whether we like it or not, people do often judge a book by its cover!

I want to tell you about the cover because it’s something I’m really proud of.

You’d be forgiven for thinking I’d veered into supernatural horror. I assure you, my literary feet remain planted in crime fiction. Louis and Sabina are still chasing real villains, not dark spirits. 
‘The Voodoo Room’ explores themes of domestic abuse, controlling/ coercive behaviour and child abuse, facilitated by the weaponisation of spiritual beliefs. The villain of the story uses Mauritian voodoo against the victims, hidden behind the mask of the ‘longanis’ (the Mauritian Creole term for a voodoo practitioner). 

My initial idea was for the longanis to be stood behind a representation of the character ‘Zara’, one of the children in the story. The hand over her mouth is symbolic of abuse – how often do we hear survivors say their abuser swore them to secrecy, whether through manipulation or downright intimidation? Going deeper, we know that culture, shame and so-called ‘honour’ can play a massive role in silencing victims, particularly children. The intersection of gender, sexual orientation, disability and race is also a powerful dynamic that can create barriers to disclosure. To me, that front cover is a reminder to do everything I can to tear away that repressive hand and allow the victim their freedom to speak out.

The longanis mask, I’m afraid, is a conversation for another day. My plan is to introduce you properly to the super-talented Eire Benson and let her tell you in her own words how she took my brief and turned it into the hideous, red-maned monster that now graces The Voodoo Room’s front cover. I’m still reeling at the complexity of her work, the intricate layers of sinister detail. Sufficed to say, I’m delighted with the finished product!

My greatest concern was that people would see the cover and assume the book belonged to the supernatural horror genre. The inclusion of Louis and Sabina in the background, I hope, will convince the prospective reader that this is indeed a work of crime fiction.

It has been fascinating to see AI’s take on Louis and Sabina – their images have been generated based on my descriptions of them in the novels. Louis perhaps looks a little more weathered at this early stage in his career than perhaps I would have liked, but you’ll see from reading ‘The Voodoo Room’ that he has a lot on his mind!

So, there you have it! A brief explanation of The Voodoo Room’s front cover. I hope you love it as much as I do, and that it has you feeling eager to read the novel when it launches on 18th October 2025. 

Keep your eyes peeled for more blog posts, but please also sign up to my newsletter. This will be your opportunity to learn more about The Voodoo Room’s origin and set yourself up to receive ‘first looks’ and entries into prize draws for all manner of exciting gubbins!

As always, I’m thankful that you’re with me on this journey and I can’t wait to share this next step with you!

Roshan