When you have a book that’s been around for 25 years, especially if it’s the first in a gratifyingly long series, the publishers tend to dress it in a lot of different ways. Funnily enough, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice didn’t strike the imagination of the in-house reader, who decided to pass on the paperback rights. They put both Beekeeper and A Grave Talent up for bid, and Bantam Books bought the rights. Those were given covers that were very different from their St Martins Press hardbacks, first in a bright mass market edition, and later in more subdued trade paperback.
England gave Beekeeper its own faces—in hardback, then trade,
and now the Allison & Busby paperback.
And although there’s the occasional reversion to the earlier YA sensibilities–
they also manage designs that are simply classic.
So as we celebrate Beekeeper‘s 25th anniversary this year, this gorgeous one is the cover that’ll be around the halls of Bouchercon.