# Is "Death in a White Tie" by Ngaio Marsh a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh (Geoffrey Bles, 1938) is identified by: UK Geoffrey Bles, London, 1938 first edition, first issue; the seventh Roderick Alleyn novel, in which Alleyn and Agatha Troy appear. UK Geoffrey Bles (1938) is the true first; a Keys Auctions record confirms London, Geoffrey Bles, 1938, first edition, first issue.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK Geoffrey Bles, London, 1938 first edition, first issue; the seventh Roderick Alleyn novel, in which Alleyn and Agatha Troy appear
- Bound in original red cloth lettered in white to the front board and spine (the first-state binding), standing about 7 9/16 inches tall, and illustrated with a floorplan frontispiece
- Issued in the pictorial dust jacket, which should retain its printed price
- US first edition Lee Furman, Inc., New York, 1938
- 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 | UK Geoffrey Bles, London, 1938 first edition, first issue; the seventh Roderick Alleyn novel, in which Alleyn and Agatha Troy appear |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
UK Geoffrey Bles, London, 1938 first edition, first issue; the seventh Roderick Alleyn novel, in which Alleyn and Agatha Troy appear. Bound in original red cloth lettered in white to the front board and spine (the first-state binding), standing about 7 9/16 inches tall, and illustrated with a floorplan frontispiece. Issued in the pictorial dust jacket, which should retain its printed price. US first edition Lee Furman, Inc., New York, 1938.

## Is this the true first?
UK Geoffrey Bles (1938) is the true first; a Keys Auctions record confirms London, Geoffrey Bles, 1938, first edition, first issue.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The US Lee Furman edition and later reprints follow the Bles first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Death in a White Tie* by Ngaio Marsh a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/death-in-a-white-tie
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.