# Is ""N" Is for Noose" by Sue Grafton a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of "N" Is for Noose by Sue Grafton (Henry Holt, 1998) is identified by: First printing is identified by the copyright page carrying both a stated First Edition and a stated First Printing, under the Henry Holt and Company imprint with no later-printing statement. The US Henry Holt hardcover is the true first edition; fourteenth Kinsey Millhone alphabet novel.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing is identified by the copyright page carrying both a stated First Edition and a stated First Printing, under the Henry Holt and Company imprint with no later-printing statement
- The binding is quarter cloth with a black spine over purple boards; the first-state dust jacket is the metallic pictorial jacket with the printed price present on the flap and should be unclipped
- Publisher imprint reads Henry Holt
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Sue Grafton |
| Publisher | Henry Holt |
| Year | 1998 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing is identified by the copyright page carrying both a stated First Edition and a stated First Printing, under the Henry Holt… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing is identified by the copyright page carrying both a stated First Edition and a stated First Printing, under the Henry Holt and Company imprint with no later-printing statement. The binding is quarter cloth with a black spine over purple boards; the first-state dust jacket is the metallic pictorial jacket with the printed price present on the flap and should be unclipped.

## Is this the true first?
The US Henry Holt hardcover is the true first edition; fourteenth Kinsey Millhone alphabet novel.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No significant book-club edition issue point affecting the true first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *"N" Is for Noose* by Sue Grafton a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/n-is-for-noose
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.