# Is "The Five Red Herrings (US: Suspicious Characters)" by Dorothy L. Sayers a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Five Red Herrings (US: Suspicious Characters) by Dorothy L. Sayers (Victor Gollancz, 1931) is identified by: UK Gollancz 1931 is the true first, published March 1931 (sixth Lord Peter Wimsey novel). UK Gollancz 1931 is the true first; the US Brewer, Warren & Putnam edition of the same year appeared under the variant title Suspicious Characters.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK Gollancz 1931 is the true first, published March 1931 (sixth Lord Peter Wimsey novel)
- Octavo in original black cloth lettered in orange to the spine, with illustrated endpapers reproducing a map of Galloway, Scotland; a publisher's advertisement leaf is called for and is sometimes lacking
- The scarce dust wrapper carries the printed price
- The US edition was published the same year under the variant title Suspicious Characters by Brewer, Warren & Putnam, New York, its imprint stamped at the foot of the spine
- Publisher imprint reads Victor Gollancz
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Dorothy L. Sayers |
| Publisher | Victor Gollancz |
| Year | 1931 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK Gollancz 1931 is the true first, published March 1931 (sixth Lord Peter Wimsey novel) |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
UK Gollancz 1931 is the true first, published March 1931 (sixth Lord Peter Wimsey novel). Octavo in original black cloth lettered in orange to the spine, with illustrated endpapers reproducing a map of Galloway, Scotland; a publisher's advertisement leaf is called for and is sometimes lacking. The scarce dust wrapper carries the printed price. The US edition was published the same year under the variant title Suspicious Characters by Brewer, Warren & Putnam, New York, its imprint stamped at the foot of the spine.

## Is this the true first?
UK Gollancz 1931 is the true first; the US Brewer, Warren & Putnam edition of the same year appeared under the variant title Suspicious Characters.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Reprints follow the 1931 first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Five Red Herrings (US: Suspicious Characters)* by Dorothy L. Sayers a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-five-red-herrings-us-suspicious-characters
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.