Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 Oct 2026.
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We value a printing from verified sales of that exact printing, and none of the first impression has come to auction in our records so far. The chart and the value by condition appear here as soon as one does.
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Crofts's first novel was published by W. Collins Sons & Co. in London in June 1920. Later Crime Club printings (where it is volume 25) print an impression list showing the first impression in June 1920 and the second only in December 1921, followed by frequent reprints through the 1920s and 1930s, so a copy listing several impressions is a reprint. The first US edition was Seltzer, 1924, and Dodd, Mead issued its own edition in 1936; a specialist dealer calls the 1920 Collins first very uncommon. Remploy issued a reprint in London in 1977 with an ISBN, and Penguin a paperback in 1952. No source we opened describes the 1920 binding or jacket.
Read the full guide to Collins first editions, decade by decade, and check your copy's copyright page against it. Our number line decoder reads the printing from the row of numbers.
We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.
Know the points? Tell us. We publish them, with credit, once a second source agrees.
Collins, London, in 1920, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
For most books published since the 1920s, the original dust jacket carries a large share of the value, often most …
Read the guide →7 min readTo identify a first edition, check that your copy is the first printing of the first edition. Read the copyright …
Read the guide →6 min readBook condition grading uses a six-step trade scale: Fine, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. Collectors grade the …
Read the guide →