# Is "Artists in Crime" by Ngaio Marsh a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh (Geoffrey Bles, 1938) is identified by: First edition, Geoffrey Bles, London, 1938, the sixth Roderick Alleyn novel and the book that introduces the painter Agatha Troy, Alleyn's future wife. The UK Geoffrey Bles edition (1938) is the true first and precedes the US Lee Furman edition of the same year.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, Geoffrey Bles, London, 1938, the sixth Roderick Alleyn novel and the book that introduces the painter Agatha Troy, Alleyn's future wife
- The UK first was issued in red cloth lettered in white, in a dust wrapper with its printed price
- The first US edition was published by Lee Furman, Inc., New York, in 1938, bound in light red cloth with the spine stamped in yellow; its original dust jacket is notably scarce
- Publisher imprint reads Geoffrey Bles
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ngaio Marsh |
| Publisher | Geoffrey Bles |
| Year | 1938 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, Geoffrey Bles, London, 1938, the sixth Roderick Alleyn novel and the book that introduces the painter Agatha Troy, Alleyn's… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, Geoffrey Bles, London, 1938, the sixth Roderick Alleyn novel and the book that introduces the painter Agatha Troy, Alleyn's future wife. The UK first was issued in red cloth lettered in white, in a dust wrapper with its printed price. The first US edition was published by Lee Furman, Inc., New York, in 1938, bound in light red cloth with the spine stamped in yellow; its original dust jacket is notably scarce.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Geoffrey Bles edition (1938) is the true first and precedes the US Lee Furman edition of the same year.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Reprints follow the Bles first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Artists in Crime* by Ngaio Marsh a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/artists-in-crime
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.