# Is "N or M?" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of N or M? by Agatha Christie (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1941) is identified by: The true first is the US edition (Dodd, Mead, August 1941), which preceded the UK Collins Crime Club edition (November 1941). Corrected: the true first is US Dodd, Mead (1941), which preceded the UK Collins edition of November 1941 — not the other way around.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the US edition (Dodd, Mead, August 1941), which preceded the UK Collins Crime Club edition (November 1941)
- Wartime paper rationing delayed and thinned UK production, so the American issue came first
- The US first is in blue cloth, pp
- (vi) plus 289, with a dust jacket illustrated by Leo Manso; the UK first runs only about 192 pages on lighter rationed paper
- Tommy and Tuppence
- Publisher imprint reads Dodd, Mead and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | Dodd, Mead and Company |
| Year | 1941 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the US edition (Dodd, Mead, August 1941), which preceded the UK Collins… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The true first is the US edition (Dodd, Mead, August 1941), which preceded the UK Collins Crime Club edition (November 1941). Wartime paper rationing delayed and thinned UK production, so the American issue came first. The US first is in blue cloth, pp. (vi) plus 289, with a dust jacket illustrated by Leo Manso; the UK first runs only about 192 pages on lighter rationed paper. Tommy and Tuppence.

## Is this the true first?
Corrected: the true first is US Dodd, Mead (1941), which preceded the UK Collins edition of November 1941 — not the other way around.

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

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *N or M?* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/n-or-m
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.