# Is "The Sittaford Mystery (US: The Murder at Hazelmoor)" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Sittaford Mystery (US: The Murder at Hazelmoor) by Agatha Christie (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1931) is identified by: US Dodd, Mead published on 14 August 1931 as The Murder at Hazelmoor, in orange cloth with black lettering and a circular landscape silhouette stamped to the front board, black lettering to the spine, and illustrated (red badge) endpapers; the jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap. The US Dodd, Mead edition (The Murder at Hazelmoor, 14 August 1931) precedes the UK Collins edition (7 September 1931) by roughly three weeks, so Dodd, Mead is the true first edition, under the variant US title.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US Dodd, Mead published on 14 August 1931 as The Murder at Hazelmoor, in orange cloth with black lettering and a circular landscape silhouette stamped to the front board, black lettering to the spine, and illustrated (red badge) endpapers; the jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap
- UK Collins Crime Club followed on 7 September 1931 as The Sittaford Mystery
- This is the first Christie novel issued under a different title for the US market; the two editions carry different titles for the same text
- Publisher imprint reads Dodd, Mead and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | Dodd, Mead and Company |
| Year | 1931 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US Dodd, Mead published on 14 August 1931 as The Murder at Hazelmoor, in orange cloth with black lettering and a circular landscape… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
US Dodd, Mead published on 14 August 1931 as The Murder at Hazelmoor, in orange cloth with black lettering and a circular landscape silhouette stamped to the front board, black lettering to the spine, and illustrated (red badge) endpapers; the jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap. UK Collins Crime Club followed on 7 September 1931 as The Sittaford Mystery. This is the first Christie novel issued under a different title for the US market; the two editions carry different titles for the same text.

## Is this the true first?
The US Dodd, Mead edition (The Murder at Hazelmoor, 14 August 1931) precedes the UK Collins edition (7 September 1931) by roughly three weeks, so Dodd, Mead is the true first edition, under the variant US title. The original record's claim that UK Collins is the true first is incorrect.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings and book-club editions follow. There was no second Dodd, Mead printing, so a genuine US first shows no reference to a subsequent printing on the copyright page.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Sittaford Mystery (US: The Murder at Hazelmoor)* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-sittaford-mystery-us-the-murder-at-hazelmoor
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.