First edition, first impression. Crown octavo (190 × 125 mm). 256 pp. Publisher's original red/orange textured cloth, spine lettered in black, in the original pictorial dust jacket (unclipped, priced 12s. 6d. net to front flap).
Condition:
Very Good in a Very Good dust jacket.
The Book: Binding firm, square, and tight. Cloth bright with minor pushing or shelf-rubbing at spine tips and corners. Text block edges lightly toned and faintly foxed, as usual for mid-century Collins paper stock; endpapers and interior pages clean and crisp throughout, free of contemporary names, bookplates, or library stamps.
The Dust Jacket: Unclipped, retaining the original 12s. 6d. price. Vibrant front panel with light surface rubbing; mild uniform sunning/toning to the spine panel; small chips or minor creasing at the spine ends and fold corners, but remaining intact, bright, and unrestored. Now housed in a clear, archival protective sleeve.
Significance & Literary Importance:
Ordeal by Innocence is one of Agatha Christie's most psychologically complex and admired standalone detective novels. Published in November 1958, it is notable for being one of the author's personal favourites: in her 1977 autobiography, Christie listed it alongside Crooked House as one of the two books she felt most satisfied with having written.
The Inverted Premise: Unlike conventional whodunits where the detective arrives to identify a culprit following a recent murder, Ordeal by Innocence begins long after the crime has supposedly been solved. Jacko Argyle was convicted of bludgeoning his adoptive mother, Rachel, and died in prison professing his innocence. Two years later, Dr. Arthur Calgary returns from an Antarctic expedition with Jacko's unshakeable alibi. Jacko is cleared, but his posthumous pardon reopens the trauma for the Argyle family—proving that if Jacko was innocent, one of them must be the real killer.
Psychological Depth: Rather than relying on a classic sleuth like Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, the narrative focuses on character psychology, adoption dynamics, inherited guilt, and the torment of unresolved suspicion that falls on an entire household (the "ordeal of innocence").
Screen Adaptations: The novel has seen multiple high-profile adaptations, including the 1984 feature film starring Donald Sutherland, Faye Dunaway, and Christopher Plummer, and the acclaimed 2018 BBC three-part television adaptation starring Bill Nighy, Anna Chancellor, and Matthew Goode.
Scarcity & Collectibility:
As with other late-1950s Collins Crime Club first editions, unblemished copies are elusive:
Lending Library Attrition: A large percentage of the initial print run was routed directly to circulating subscription libraries (e.g., Boots, Times Book Club), where boards were rebound, pasted with library slips, or stripped of jackets.
Jacket Fragility: The porous paper stock used by Collins is notorious for spine fading, chipping along the fragile folds, and losses at the crown. An unclipped, unrestored dust jacket in Very Good or better condition remains a sought-after prize for Christie collectors.
