# Is "Sparkling Cyanide (US: Remembered Death)" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Sparkling Cyanide (US: Remembered Death) by Agatha Christie (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1945) is identified by: The US Dodd, Mead edition was published in February 1945 under the title Remembered Death; the UK Collins Crime Club edition followed in December 1945 under the title Sparkling Cyanide. Contrary to the assumption that the UK Collins edition is the true first, the US Dodd, Mead edition (Remembered Death, February 1945) precedes the UK Collins edition (December 1945) by about ten months, making the US printing the true first appearance in book form.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The US Dodd, Mead edition was published in February 1945 under the title Remembered Death; the UK Collins Crime Club edition followed in December 1945 under the title Sparkling Cyanide
- The novel features the last appearance of Colonel Race
- The UK first is in red boards, spine lettered in black, with a pictorial dust jacket
- Publisher imprint reads Dodd, Mead and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | Dodd, Mead and Company |
| Year | 1945 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The US Dodd, Mead edition was published in February 1945 under the title Remembered… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The US Dodd, Mead edition was published in February 1945 under the title Remembered Death; the UK Collins Crime Club edition followed in December 1945 under the title Sparkling Cyanide. The novel features the last appearance of Colonel Race. The UK first is in red boards, spine lettered in black, with a pictorial dust jacket.

## Is this the true first?
Contrary to the assumption that the UK Collins edition is the true first, the US Dodd, Mead edition (Remembered Death, February 1945) precedes the UK Collins edition (December 1945) by about ten months, making the US printing the true first appearance in book form.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings and reprints follow. An earlier US magazine serialization (as Remembered Death) ran in 1944 but is not the book first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Sparkling Cyanide (US: Remembered Death)* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/sparkling-cyanide-us-remembered-death
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.