Just what the heck is going on here?

We were wandering round Borders on Oxford St, checking out the latest novels to hit the stands, and saw these three covers competing for eyeball time, all on the same table, and all in the Borders 3 for 2 deal.

Checking out the publication dates, it looks like Panic came first, from Sphere in 2005; then Betrayed from Pocket Books in 2006; and Without Consent from Hodder in 2007.

So, was it a simple case of the two latter publishers saying to the designers "Hey, we like that book Panic. Make it like that. No, not a bit like that, exactly like that"?

Anyhow, a quick web hunt reveals that the Official Typeface for Novels About Murder™ is Downcome from Misprinted Type. Just make sure you use in it red, m'kay?

(And yep, we know our cover for The Seven Days of Peter Crumb isn't a million miles away from the ones above, but heck, at least it's a different typeface...)