# Is "The Hollow (US: Murder after Hours)" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Hollow (US: Murder after Hours) by Agatha Christie (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1946) is identified by: The US Dodd, Mead edition was published around September 1946, titled The Hollow (not Murder after Hours); the UK Collins Crime Club edition followed in November 1946, also titled The Hollow. The US Dodd, Mead edition (about September 1946) precedes the UK Collins edition (November 1946), so the US printing is the true first, not the UK edition as originally recorded.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The US Dodd, Mead edition was published around September 1946, titled The Hollow (not Murder after Hours); the UK Collins Crime Club edition followed in November 1946, also titled The Hollow
- The US first is a Poirot novel of about 279 pages in yellow cloth with black stamping
- The title Murder after Hours was not used until the 1954 US Dell paperback
- Publisher imprint reads Dodd, Mead and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | Dodd, Mead and Company |
| Year | 1946 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The US Dodd, Mead edition was published around September 1946, titled The Hollow (not… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The US Dodd, Mead edition was published around September 1946, titled The Hollow (not Murder after Hours); the UK Collins Crime Club edition followed in November 1946, also titled The Hollow. The US first is a Poirot novel of about 279 pages in yellow cloth with black stamping. The title Murder after Hours was not used until the 1954 US Dell paperback.

## Is this the true first?
The US Dodd, Mead edition (about September 1946) precedes the UK Collins edition (November 1946), so the US printing is the true first, not the UK edition as originally recorded.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings and reprints follow the 1946 first editions.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Hollow (US: Murder after Hours)* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-hollow-us-murder-after-hours
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.