# Is "After the Funeral (US: Funerals Are Fatal)" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of After the Funeral (US: Funerals Are Fatal) by Agatha Christie (William Collins, Sons, 1953) is identified by: UK: Collins Crime Club, 18 May 1953, priced the printed price on the jacket, retaining Christie's original title After the Funeral. The US Dodd, Mead printing under the variant title Funerals Are Fatal actually appeared a couple of months before the UK Collins edition, so it is chronologically the earliest printed appearance.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK: Collins Crime Club, 18 May 1953, priced the printed price on the jacket, retaining Christie's original title After the Funeral
- This title is the only Christie Crime Club book to print the publisher's date at the rear of the volume rather than on the verso of the title page
- US: Dodd, Mead, March 1953, as Funerals Are Fatal
- Publisher imprint reads William Collins, Sons
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | William Collins, Sons |
| Year | 1953 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK: Collins Crime Club, 18 May 1953, priced the printed price on the jacket, retaining… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
UK: Collins Crime Club, 18 May 1953, priced the printed price on the jacket, retaining Christie's original title After the Funeral. This title is the only Christie Crime Club book to print the publisher's date at the rear of the volume rather than on the verso of the title page. US: Dodd, Mead, March 1953, as Funerals Are Fatal.

## Is this the true first?
The US Dodd, Mead printing under the variant title Funerals Are Fatal actually appeared a couple of months before the UK Collins edition, so it is chronologically the earliest printed appearance. The UK Collins edition remains the first under Christie's original title After the Funeral; collectors should note the two titles are distinct issues and decide accordingly. Poirot.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Collins and Dodd, Mead printings and book-club issues follow; the Crime Club first has no later-printing statement and the distinctive rear-of-book dating.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *After the Funeral (US: Funerals Are Fatal)* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/after-the-funeral-us-funerals-are-fatal
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.