It's hard enough for a book cover to stand out from the pack these days….but it's even harder when the same cover art is being used by another book at the same time. The Euro Crime blog illustrates quite a few examples, including this one, a Declan Hughes book from 2009 and a Malcolm Noble book coming out in November:
I followed the link to the web site where there are more examples. This is fascinating. Is it legal? If so, my forthcoming book will have the same cover as the Gideon Bible in hopes of every motel in America buying it and stuffing it in the nightstand.
I would assume that most of these images came from stock photography sources; thus, yes, it’s legal. Unfortunate, but legal.