SAD CYPRESS
UK publication: 1940 (Collins)
US publication: 1940 (Dodd, Mead)
Detective: Hercule Poirot
Genre: Novel
Plot summary and comments: The prologue introduces young Elinor Carlisle, accused of murdering her wealthy Aunt Laura and currently standing trial. The aunt had been helpless after a stroke, and was known to wish herself dead; her doctor, Peter Lord, brings in Poirot to prove Elinor innocent. The beginning is melodramatic and clumsy, but the characterisations are some of Christie's most realistic and the evocation of old age, illness and suffering, and its effects on Aunt Laura's family, are well drawn.
Courtesey of: http://stout.physics.ucla.edu/%7eyoder/mystery/christie.html
::READERS REVIEWS::
Dr.
Lord loves Elinor, who loves Roderick, who loves Mary. Aunt Laura Wellman
loves them all. They all appear to love Aunt Laura's money. When Aunt
Laura dies intestate, the question of who inherits seems simple indeed.
The characters occasionally appear shallow, but they can also display
depth of character. Elinor (who got Aunt Laura's estate) could be very
likeable if she didn't hate Mary so. Despite her hatred, Elinor honors
Aunt Laura's dying wish and settles a tidy sum on Mary. Mary behaves nobly
throughout. Roderick acts like a dunce throughout, but is capable of occasional
sparks of nobility. Dr. Lord stands on the sidelines and makes moon eyes
at Elinor. Is this a murder mystery or a soap opera? Where is Hercule
Poirot? Doesn't the cover say this is a Poirot mystery? That's the only
reason I bought the radio play. I'm at the end of tape one, and no Poirot
in sight.
Mary dies and an autopsy reveals poisoning by morphine. Aunt Laura is exhumed and found to have died from morphine poisoning also. Elinor, who has motive and opportunity in spades for both deaths also appears to have the means. Finally Dr. Lord shakes off his inactivity and calls in Hercule Poirot to save the woman he loves.
Poirot engages in the usual snooping and deduction, catches everyone lying, reveals all the dark secrets, and guides Elinor's barrister in the defense of the case. He also figures out whodunnit. At least he amasses enough evidence to . . . but I don't want to give away the story. I'd hate to destroy your enjoyment when you figure it out for yourself.
When the time comes for Mary to die, you will have grown to like her so much that you will truly regret her killing. You will also share Dr. Lord's forlorn faith in Elinor's innocence. This novel has a much smaller cast of suspects than most Poirot novels, but the murderer's identity should remain opaque at least until the commencement of Elinor's trial.
"Sad
Cypress" deals with the eternal triangle which always ends with sadness
for someone. In this case, Elinor Carlisle is the odd girl out as her
fiance and distant cousin Roderick Welman falls madly in love with his
and Elinor's childhood friend, Mary Gerrard, after Mary returns from years
abroad. The three of them had been great friends at Hunterbury, the lavish
estate of Mary's aunt Mrs. Laura Welman. Mrs. Welman had hoped Elinor
and Roderick would marry one day and live at Hunterbury. Mrs. Welman dies
suddenly without leaving a will. As her next of kin, Elinor inherits all.
Although Mrs. Welman had spoken frequently of providing for Roderick and
Mary, the lack of a will leaves them without recourse. In the midst of
all this upheaval, Elinor prepares lunch for Mary one day, and Mary dies
of morphine poisoning. With suspicion falling heavily on Elinor, the body
of Mrs. Welman is exhumed and found to also contain morphine poisoning.
All fingers point to Elinor for having killed Mary out of jealousy and
her aunt in order to get the full estate. Only one person, Dr. Peter Lord,
believes in Elinor's innocence and he calls in the inimitable Hercule
Poirot to investigate.
Something
Christie did with this book makes it different from any of her others.
It has been said (and rightly said) that she cared little about imagery
and in-depth description of people and places, unless it was pertinent
to the murders. The characters in Sad Cypress, however, are amazingly
3-D. In the right mood, one could actually cry over the injustice of Mary's
death. Elinor's jealousy is another aspect that Christie captured perfectly.
I was almost jealous FOR her! Besides stimulating the emotions, however,
this book also works on the brain. That's probably what most Christie
readers look for in her novels, so don't worry: 'it's' there. There's
also something else, there, though, that isn't usually abundant in Christie's
other stories. This time,prepare to feel AND think.
::YOUR OPINION::
