Christie Paperback Collecting: Jonathan Press Mystery.

Over the decades that Agatha Christie stories were first printed there were numerous publishers who released her books in a paperback format.  One of these publishers was Lawrence Spivak’s The American Mercury in New York.  This publisher had several imprints that released Christie stories as paperbacks.  These included Bestseller Mystery, originally the Bestseller Library (started in 1938), Mercury Mystery (started in 1940) and Jonathan Press Mystery (started in 1942). All three imprints were digest-sized paperbacks - a sample of each is shown below. I have previously written articles about the Bestseller Library (link) and Mercury Mystery (link), so this new article completes the trio.

As with the other imprints, Jonathan Press Mystery books were also digest-sized paperback novels. Unlike the others, there was an effort made to create cover art though in the early years the design elements were mostly very basic and block coloured. Later covers generally veered to pulpy and often featured a damsel in distress.

The series ran in parallel with the other two imprints referenced, but it is unclear what the benefit was of the three formats. The first title in this imprint was The Chinese Orange Mystery by Ellery Queen and it appeared in 1942. The last title issued was Rites for a Killer by James Fox which was printed in 1956.

Over these fourteen years, a total of 96 titles were published and other authors included Margery Allingham, Dashiell Hammett, Georges Simenon and Rex Stout. Among the titles were four by Agatha Christie of which one was the first global paperback appearance and the other three were all first US paperbacks. However, because of the standard size format of 126 pages required due to wartime paper rationing, the novels were abridged to fit. Thus, for collectors it raises the question as to whether an abridged paperback a first paperback? For completists, generally both are sought – first appearance even if abridged and the first complete printing.

The Four Christies.

J7: Murder for Christmas (1943). UK title: Hercule Poirot's Christmas. First global paperback. Precedes Collins White Circle 149c (1/1945).

J10: Death in the Air [1944]. UK title: Death in the Clouds. First US paperback. Preceded by The Albatross but earlier than Avon Books (US, 1945).

J13: N or M? [1944]. First US paperback. Preceded by Collins White Circle Services edition, but earlier than the US Dell mapback (1947).

J16: Murder in Retrospect [1945]. UK title: Five Little Pigs. Preceded by Phoenix/Scherz.  First US paperback.  

The cover artist was George Salter (1897-1967) who was born in Germany but emigrated to the US in 1934 where he immediately began illustrating book covers.

Summary.

 For all paperback collectors J7 – Murder for Christmas - is the title to seek as this is the true first paperback of this title, despite some minor reduction in word count. The those seeking the unabridged text, then the 1945 Collins White Circle 149c is the first paperback. Values for all the Jonathan Press Mystery books are currently at typical used book prices for vintage paperbacks. However, since this are primarily war-time titles, many are quite scarce and collectors will have to be patient to acquire all four.

Other News: The 2025 International Agatha Christie Festival.

I am pleased share that I will be presenting at the 2025 International Agatha Christie Festival. It is a week long festival in Torquay, Devon that is well worth attending. I will be part of a wonderful evening (Thursday 18th Sept) celebrating the artwork of Tom Adams, creator of numerous iconic Agatha Christie book covers. The event begins with an illustrated talk I'm preparing. My talk is titled 'Tom Adams: The Art of the Artist' and in it I'll share exclusive insights into the creative genius of Tom Adams based on my research in his archives. Following my presentation, attendees are invited to the adjacent Torre Abbey Museum for a drinks reception that celebrates the launch of a new and related exhibit 'Tom Adams and Agatha Christie: Partners in Crime' where you will have exclusive access to view the exhibition before its opening to the public on Friday 19th September. More details and tickets can be found at: https://www.iacf-uk.org/festival-2025/literary/tom-adams-and-agatha-christie-partners-in-crime

For those who may be interested in buying a Tom Adams print, official editions (some residual signed copies exist too) can be found at: https://artreserve.co.uk/collections/tom-adams-art 

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Happy Collecting.