# Is "4.50 from Paddington (US: What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!)" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of 4.50 from Paddington (US: What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!) by Agatha Christie (William Collins, Sons, 1957) is identified by: UK: Collins Crime Club, 4 November 1957, priced the printed price on the jacket, as 4.50 from Paddington. UK Collins Crime Club is the true first under the original title 4.50 from Paddington; the US Dodd, Mead edition carries the variant title What Mrs.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK: Collins Crime Club, 4 November 1957, priced the printed price on the jacket, as 4.50 from Paddington
- US: Dodd, Mead, November 1957, as What Mrs
- McGillicuddy Saw!. A useful point of issue: the title was changed from the working '4.54 from Paddington' to '4.50 from Paddington' at the last minute in the UK, but this change did not reach Dodd, Mead in time, so the US text refers to the 4:54 train rather than 4:50
- Miss Marple
- Publisher imprint reads William Collins, Sons
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | William Collins, Sons |
| Year | 1957 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK: Collins Crime Club, 4 November 1957, priced the printed price on the jacket, as 4.50… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
UK: Collins Crime Club, 4 November 1957, priced the printed price on the jacket, as 4.50 from Paddington. US: Dodd, Mead, November 1957, as What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!. A useful point of issue: the title was changed from the working '4.54 from Paddington' to '4.50 from Paddington' at the last minute in the UK, but this change did not reach Dodd, Mead in time, so the US text refers to the 4:54 train rather than 4:50. Miss Marple.

## Is this the true first?
UK Collins Crime Club is the true first under the original title 4.50 from Paddington; the US Dodd, Mead edition carries the variant title What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! and the uncorrected 4:54 time reference in the text.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings and book-club editions follow the 1957 firsts.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *4.50 from Paddington (US: What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!)* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/450-from-paddington-us-what-mrs-mcgillicuddy-saw
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.