Display: Once Upon A Crime

Once Upon A Crime Display

Inspired by the gorgeous cover of Heist Society, this crime display currently graces the entrance to the school library.

When the library recently ordered a new set of Agatha Christie books I didn’t want the event to pass unmarked – or for the new books to go straight back on the shelf where the old ones used to stand. So I designed this crime display. As it is on the wall of the library’s entrance I needed something that would appeal to all ages. I took the crime scene display one regularly sees, with the white outline of a body on black card, and played with it until I had something that was a little more interesting.

Resources

For those of you who don’t know Heist Society by Ally Carter, it is simply the best book. My review of the whole series can be found here. I love its cover and thought it would make great inspiration for my display. The rest of my inspiration came from a variety of crime displays and posters, most notably a poster from Confessions From A Bibliophile.

I created the black and red wording at the top using the font Chiller printed on red card.

Thanks goes to one of our wonderful and very talented volunteers who created the beautiful painting for this display and made the gold frames using paper serving plates.

Each of the book covers at the base of the display is accompanied with a card which indicates the relevant title, author and location of the book or series. Copies of these books were placed on display around the library when the display was first revealed.

Finally, I obtained the yellow caution tape through my local Volunteer Coast Guard. I wasn’t sure the police would hand over their police line tape, no matter how academic my purpose. I’m sure you could find similar tape at a local hardware store or use what ever connections you have to local rescue or construction services.