# Is "Parker Pyne Investigates (US: Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective)" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Parker Pyne Investigates (US: Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective) by Agatha Christie (Dodd, Mead, 1934) is identified by: A collection of twelve stories featuring Parker Pyne, and the first appearance of the character Ariadne Oliver. Precedence here is unusual and disputed: multiple sources place the US Dodd, Mead edition (June 1934) ahead of the UK Collins edition (November 1934), which would make the US printing the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- A collection of twelve stories featuring Parker Pyne, and the first appearance of the character Ariadne Oliver
- The US edition, Mr
- Parker Pyne, Detective (Dodd, Mead, Red Badge Mystery imprint), was published in mid-1934, reportedly June 1934
- The UK edition, Parker Pyne Investigates (Collins), followed in November 1934
- Publisher imprint reads Dodd, Mead
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | Dodd, Mead |
| Year | 1934 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | A collection of twelve stories featuring Parker Pyne, and the first appearance of the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
A collection of twelve stories featuring Parker Pyne, and the first appearance of the character Ariadne Oliver. The US edition, Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective (Dodd, Mead, Red Badge Mystery imprint), was published in mid-1934, reportedly June 1934. The UK edition, Parker Pyne Investigates (Collins), followed in November 1934.

## Is this the true first?
Precedence here is unusual and disputed: multiple sources place the US Dodd, Mead edition (June 1934) ahead of the UK Collins edition (November 1934), which would make the US printing the true first. This should not be stated as a settled UK-first, unlike most Christie titles.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Two of Christie's fourteen Parker Pyne stories are not in this collection; they were gathered later. Later impressions and reprints of both the US and UK editions follow their respective first printings.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Parker Pyne Investigates (US: Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective)* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/parker-pyne-investigates-us-mr-parker-pyne-detective
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.