# Is "Sleeping Murder: Miss Marple's Last Case" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Sleeping Murder: Miss Marple's Last Case by Agatha Christie (William Collins, 1976) is identified by: Published posthumously in 1976 by the Collins Crime Club in the UK and Dodd, Mead in the US. Precedence is disputed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Published posthumously in 1976 by the Collins Crime Club in the UK and Dodd, Mead in the US. Written in the early 1940s and held back for decades; the final Miss Marple novel in order of publication
- Sources disagree on precedence: most cite the UK Collins edition as first (October 1976), but some record the US Dodd, Mead edition appearing first (September 1976)
- Publisher imprint reads William Collins
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | William Collins |
| Year | 1976 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Published posthumously in 1976 by the Collins Crime Club in the UK and Dodd, Mead in the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Published posthumously in 1976 by the Collins Crime Club in the UK and Dodd, Mead in the US. Written in the early 1940s and held back for decades; the final Miss Marple novel in order of publication. Sources disagree on precedence: most cite the UK Collins edition as first (October 1976), but some record the US Dodd, Mead edition appearing first (September 1976).

## Is this the true first?
Precedence is disputed. Most references treat the UK Collins Crime Club edition as the true first, but a US Dodd, Mead priority (September 1976, ahead of the UK October issue) is credibly reported. Priority cannot be asserted with certainty.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Collins and Dodd, Mead printings and paperback editions follow the 1976 firsts.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Sleeping Murder: Miss Marple's Last Case* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/sleeping-murder-miss-marples-last-case
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.