Sad Cypress

Sad Cypress
	Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
Author	Agatha Christie
Cover artist	Barlow
Language	English
Series	Hercule Poirot
Genre	Crime novel
Publisher	Collins Crime Club
Publication date	March 1940
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print hardback & paperback
Pages	256 (first edition)
Preceded by	And Then There Were None
Followed by	One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

Sad Cypress is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in March 1940^[1] and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year.^[2]^[3] The UK edition retailed at eight shillings and threepence (8/3)^[1] – the first price rise for a UK Christie edition since her 1921 debut – and the US edition retailed at $2.00.^[3]

The novel was the first novel in the Poirot series set at least partly in the courtroom, with lawyers and witnesses exposing the facts underlying Poirot's solution to the crimes. The title is drawn from a song in Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night.

The novel was well received at publication.^[4]^[5]^[6] One reviewer remarked "it is economically written, the clues are placed before the reader with impeccable fairness, the red herrings are deftly laid and the solution will cause many readers to kick themselves."^[7] Another reviewer found the story to be well told, but did not like that the plot "turns on a legal point" that is misconceived.^[8] A later review described it as "Elegiac, more emotionally involving than is usual in Christie, but the ingenuity and superb clueing put it among the very best of the classic titles."^[9]

^ ^a ^b Peers, Chris; Spurrier, Ralph; Sturgeon, Jamie (March 1999). Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions (Second ed.). Dragonby Press. p. 15.
^ Cooper, John; Pyke, BA (1994). Detective Fiction – the collector's guide (Second ed.). Scholar Press. pp. 82, 86. ISBN 0-85967-991-8.
^ ^a ^b Marcum, JS (May 2007). "American Tribute to Agatha Christie". The Classic Years: 1940 - 1944. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
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[CC-1] Peers, Chris; Spurrier, Ralph; Sturgeon, Jamie (March 1999). Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions (Second ed.). Dragonby Press. p. 15.

[2] Cooper, John; Pyke, BA (1994). Detective Fiction – the collector's guide (Second ed.). Scholar Press. pp. 82, 86. ISBN 0-85967-991-8.

[US-3] Marcum, JS (May 2007). "American Tribute to Agatha Christie". The Classic Years: 1940 - 1944. Retrieved 1 July 2015.

[Irvin1940-4] Cite error: The named reference Irvin1940 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Richardson1940-5] Cite error: The named reference Richardson1940 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Scotsman1940-6] Cite error: The named reference Scotsman1940 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Ashley1940-7] Cite error: The named reference Ashley1940 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Punshon1940-8] Cite error: The named reference Punshon1940 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Barnard1990-9] Cite error: The named reference Barnard1990 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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