PRICE GUIDE (as of July 2022): Agatha Christie First Editions

Note: the prices and comments below have been reviewed as of July 2022. A few updates have been made to the article. There will be additional updates are the next significant auction which will be at the end of July 2022 when Heritage Auctions completes its sale of 23 Agatha Christie first editions.

The first step in determining the value of a book is to confirm it is actually a first edition - whether a global first or a national first. For insights on identifying firsts, please see our series of articles on this topic.

The value of an Agatha Christie first edition is heavily influenced by condition. The difference between a near fine dust jacket and a good only jacket is vast. This is exponentially true for books published in the 1930s and earlier. In general the best indication of value is to examine recent auction results. For books from the 1950s and later, eBay is the best resource for prices realised and their database is easily searchable. However, pay particular attention to the visuals, not just the text. eBay is rife with inaccurate descriptions - both in grading and actual book points. For books from the 1920s-1940s, auctions are the best indicators of true market value.

The most expansive collections of Agatha Christie books seen at auction in recent memory occurred on 5-September-2019 at Heritage Auctions in the USA and 4-February-2021 at Sotheby's in the UK. All prices realized (listed below) include the buyer's premium (but do not reflect sales taxes which depend on residency). At the time of the Heritage auction the UK/US exchange rate was 1.22, while for the Sotheby's auction is was 1.37, so adjust accordingly to convert to UK prices at that time.

Condition: Generally, all books and dust wrappers from the Heritage Auction were in 'near fine' condition, though a few had some restoration or chipping. The Sotheby's auction had significant variance in jacket quality. For full details on that auction click here. Books or jackets / wrappers of poorer quality certainly detract heavily and thus significant price reductions should be expected. Books not listed were not at either auction as there were no reserve items, or were sold in multi-book lots (so hard to confirm individual value) or realized values under $500.

Prices: Heritage Auction as HA (as of 9/2019) and Sotheby's as SB (as of 2/2021):

UK FIRSTS in jackets unless noted

1921 The Mysterious Affair At Styles (book only): HA $10,625; SB £4,032

1922 The Secret Adversary (book only): HA $3,250; SB £1,008

1923 The Murder on the Links (book only): SB £7,560

1924 Poirot Investigates (book only): HA $2,500; SB £1,260

1924 (27) Poirot Investigates (first 'cheap edtn' 3/6 jacket): HA $6,250

1924 The Man In The Brown Suit (book only): HA $1,250; SB £1,512

1925 The Secret of Chimneys (book only): HA $1,375; SB £1,512

1926 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (book only): HA $1,031; SB £2,772

1927 The Big Four (book only): HA $600

1928 Mystery of the Blue Train: HA $22,500

1930 The Mysterious Mr. Quin: HA $18,750; SB £20,160

1930 Murder At The Vicarage (book only): $575

1931 The Sittaford Mystery (book only): $1,625

1932 Peril at End House: SB £6,930

1933 Lord Edgware Dies: SB £27,720

1934 Murder on the Orient Express: HA $3,875 (no DJ); SB £13,860

1934 Why Didn't They Ask Evans: HA $22,500; SB £6,048

1935 Three Act Tragedy: SB £3,276 (later issue jacket)

1935 Death in the Clouds: SB £2,016 (good only jacket)

1936 The ABC Murders: SB £47,880 (fine jacket)

1936 Cards on the Table: SB £2,772

1936 Murder in Mesopotamia: SB £4,788

1937 Dumb Witness: HA $15,625

1937 Murder in the Mews: SB £30,240

1937 Death on the Nile: SB £5,670

1938 Appointment With Death: HA $9,375; SB £3,276

1938 Hercule Poirot's Christmas: HA $3,250; SB £2,106

1939 Ten Little Niggers: HA $4,500; SB £3,024

1939 Murder is Easy: SB £1,638

1940 One, Two, Buckle My Shoe: HA $2,375; SB £882

1940 Sad Cypress: HA $3,250; SB £1,386

1941 Evil Under the Sun: SB £1,638

1941 N or M: HA $1,000

1942 The Body In The Library: HA $1,187; SB £1,764

1943 The Moving Finger: HA $1,000

1944 Towards Zero: HA $700

1945 Sparking Cyanide: HA $500

USA First Editions in jackets:

1920 The Mysterious Affair At Styles (book only): HA $10,625

1923 Murder on the Links: HA $17,500

1925 Poirot Investigates: HA $13,125

1926 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: HA $4,125

1927 The Big Four: HA $4,750

1927 Partners in Crime: HA $2,750; SB £1,071

1928 The Mystery of the Blue Train: HA $2,000

1929 The Seven Dials Mystery: HA $2,625; SB £819

1930 The Murder At the Vicarage: HA $3,250

1930 Mysterious Mr. Quin: HA $1,875

1931 Murder At Hazelmoor: HA $1,875; SB £567

1932 Peril At End House: HA $2,000; SB £1,638

1933 Thirteen At Dinner: HA $1,500

1933 The Tuesday Club Murders: HA $5,500

1934 Parker Pyne Detective: HA $3,000

1934 Murder in the Calais Coach: HA $6,250

1934 Murder in Three Acts: HA $2,750; SB £693

1935 The Boomerang Clue: HA $1,187

1935 Death in the Air: HA $2,750

1936 The ABC Murders (both jacket variants included): HA $2,000

1936 Murder in Mesopotamia: HA $1,562; SB £2,268

1937 Dead Man's Mirror: HA $2,000

1937 Poirot Loses A Client: HA $937

1937 Cards on the Table: HA $1,625

1938 Death on the Nile: HA $4,000

1938 Appointment With Death: HA $875

1939 Easy To Kill: HA $1,125

1939 The Regatta Mystery: HA $2,625

1939 Murder for Christmas: HA $1,625

1940 And Then There Were None: HA $3,500; SB £504

1940 Sad Cypress: HA $900

1941 Evil Under The Sun: HA $3,250

1941 The Patriotic Murders: HA $700

1942 Murder in Retrospect: HA $700

1942 The Moving Finger: HA $875

1942 The Body In The Library: HA $1,687

1948 Witness for the Prosecution: HA $1,375; SB £945