# Is "The Eye of the Beholder (Indemnity Only)" by Sara Paretsky a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Eye of the Beholder (Indemnity Only) by Sara Paretsky (The Dial Press, 1982) is identified by: The correct title is 'Indemnity Only', the US Dial Press first, 1982. The US Dial Press 1982 edition is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The correct title is 'Indemnity Only', the US Dial Press first, 1982
- The first printing is identified on the copyright page by a number line that includes the 1, with an unclipped dust jacket carrying the original 1982 price
- This is Paretsky's debut and the first V.I. Warshawski novel, a cornerstone of the female private-eye school of crime fiction
- Publisher imprint reads The Dial Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Sara Paretsky |
| Publisher | The Dial Press |
| Year | 1982 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The correct title is 'Indemnity Only', the US Dial Press first, 1982 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The correct title is 'Indemnity Only', the US Dial Press first, 1982. The first printing is identified on the copyright page by a number line that includes the 1, with an unclipped dust jacket carrying the original 1982 price. This is Paretsky's debut and the first V.I. Warshawski novel, a cornerstone of the female private-eye school of crime fiction.

## Is this the true first?
The US Dial Press 1982 edition is the true first. The UK Gollancz edition is a later first-thus.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club editions are typically smaller, lack the printed jacket price, and may show a blind stamp or dot on the rear board; later trade printings drop the 1 from the number line.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Eye of the Beholder (Indemnity Only)* by Sara Paretsky a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-eye-of-the-beholder-indemnity-only
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.