# Is "Mrs McGinty's Dead (US: Blood Will Tell)" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Mrs McGinty's Dead (US: Blood Will Tell) by Agatha Christie (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1952) is identified by: Poirot novel that also features detective-story writer Ariadne Oliver. The US Dodd, Mead edition (February 1952) is the true first, preceding the UK Collins edition (3 March 1952).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Poirot novel that also features detective-story writer Ariadne Oliver
- US Dodd, Mead edition published February 1952
- UK Collins Crime Club edition published 3 March 1952, so the US edition precedes the UK by about a month
- The US retitling 'Blood Will Tell' was used for the Detective Book Club edition (and the earlier newspaper serialization), not for the primary Dodd, Mead trade edition, which kept the original title
- Publisher imprint reads Dodd, Mead and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | Dodd, Mead and Company |
| Year | 1952 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Poirot novel that also features detective-story writer Ariadne Oliver |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Poirot novel that also features detective-story writer Ariadne Oliver. US Dodd, Mead edition published February 1952; UK Collins Crime Club edition published 3 March 1952, so the US edition precedes the UK by about a month. The US retitling 'Blood Will Tell' was used for the Detective Book Club edition (and the earlier newspaper serialization), not for the primary Dodd, Mead trade edition, which kept the original title.

## Is this the true first?
The US Dodd, Mead edition (February 1952) is the true first, preceding the UK Collins edition (3 March 1952).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Detective Book Club 'Blood Will Tell' issue and later Collins/Dodd, Mead printings and reprints follow the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Mrs McGinty's Dead (US: Blood Will Tell)* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/mrs-mcgintys-dead-us-blood-will-tell
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.