# Is "Lord Edgware Dies (US: Thirteen at Dinner)" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Lord Edgware Dies (US: Thirteen at Dinner) by Agatha Christie (William Collins, 1933) is identified by: UK Collins Crime Club, September 1933, priced the printed price on the spine; 252 pages plus advertisement leaves. The UK Collins printing is broadly accepted as the true first edition, first impression, despite the near-simultaneous US issue under the variant title.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK Collins Crime Club, September 1933, priced the printed price on the spine
- 252 pages plus advertisement leaves
- A Hercule Poirot novel
- Published almost simultaneously in the US by Dodd, Mead as Thirteen at Dinner (also rendered 13 at Dinner)
- Publisher imprint reads William Collins
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | William Collins |
| Year | 1933 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK Collins Crime Club, September 1933, priced the printed price on the spine |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
UK Collins Crime Club, September 1933, priced the printed price on the spine; 252 pages plus advertisement leaves. A Hercule Poirot novel. Published almost simultaneously in the US by Dodd, Mead as Thirteen at Dinner (also rendered 13 at Dinner).

## Is this the true first?
The UK Collins printing is broadly accepted as the true first edition, first impression, despite the near-simultaneous US issue under the variant title.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Collins impressions and reprints follow; a Book Club and cheaper reprints came afterward.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Lord Edgware Dies (US: Thirteen at Dinner)* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/lord-edgware-dies-us-thirteen-at-dinner
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.