Le cercle des spectres #[nn]

From Mosquito's 2012 album Deflandre: Le Cercle des Spectres, this atmospheric Franco-Belgian volume announces itself with a cover steeped in deep crimsons and muted grays. A pale, white-haired woman in a striking red coat holds her hands to her head in apparent anguish, while two uniformed schoolgirls watch silently from arched gothic doorways behind her — and in the foreground, a glass display case holds an array of miniature chess-like pieces that hint at something quietly sinister. The tension between the vivid central figure and her eerily composed observers makes for a cover that lingers well after the book is set down.