Book Review: Sad Cypress

Sad Cypress

Agatha Christie's murder mysteries have always been more than what they meet the eye and there can never be a simplistic denouement considering the elaborate plot she spins up. Sad Cypress is no exception. Young couple Elinor Carlisle and Roddy Welman are gearing up for their wedding when they receive an anonymous letter that goes on to explain how a young girl named Mary is ingratiating herself with their bedridden wealthy aunt Laura in order to inherit the family fortune. Given that they themselves had been expecting a sizeable amount as inheritance from her, they decide to pay her a visit, only to find that cards have been stacked against them.

Her aunt passes away intestate and Mary very soon follows her, having died of morphine poisoning, thus leading to Elinor's arrest, and the case brought to court. But Laura's doctor, Peter Lord, smitten by Elinor and determined to prove her innocence, ropes in Hercule Poirot to look for evidence that could exonerate and free her of the charge. The Belgian P. I. doesn't make an appearance until halfway through the novel (if we excuse his presence in the Prologue) and once he is there you know what happens - conversations, conversations and conversations. The banter between Poirot and the various players are a treat to read, and Christie, as is her wont, lays the clues deftly along a path filled with red herrings. Her knowledge of poisons and horticulture is brought out clearly in the climax which adds a neat twist to wind up the proceedings, even if it may not be that hard to make an educated guess of the real culprit.