Sad Cypress: A Hercule Poirot Novel
by Agatha Christie
List Price:
Our Price: $4.75
You Save: $2.24 (32%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Agatha ChristieEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1986-09-15
ISBN: 0425098532
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Berkley
Book Reviews of Sad Cypress: A Hercule Poirot Novel
Book Review: "Do You Think Love is Ever a Happy Thing?"
Summary: 5 Stars
With the obvious exception of Miss Marple, Agatha Christie seldom used female characters as her protagonists, which is a pity since she was perfectly capable of creating a range of vivid and likeable young heroines. In this case, her main female character may also be a murderess...or a victim...it's up to Hercule Poirot to find out.
Elinor Carlisle is perfectly content with her lot in life - reasonably well off, young and attractive, and engaged to the love of her life: Roddy Welman. Her only concern is that she not demonstrate *too* much affection for him, as he dislikes excessive devotion, and so she maintains a cool, controlled exterior to hide just how passionately she adores him. Yet there's trouble on the horizon: after receiving an anonymous letter that warns her someone might be after her great-aunt's money, Elinor and Roddy travel down to Hunterbury to visit their invalid relative, Laura Welman. Though they are fond of her, they are also relying on her inheritance to continue their comfortable life after matrimony.
Everything seems relatively normal there. Laura has recently suffered from a stroke, but is being cared for by two competent nurses and a young girl who was raised on the property: Mary Gerrard. But Roddy takes one look at the beautiful blonde girl and falls head over heels for her. Dignified but heartbroken, Elinor breaks off the engagement. With her aunt's passing, she finds that without the existence of any will the entirely of the estate passes to her as her only blood relative, and invites Mary Gerrard and Nurse Hopkins to the house in order to help her sort out the household possessions.
By the end of the afternoon Mary Gerrard will be dead, and Elinor arrested for her murder. All the evidence points directly at Elinor: she had the opportunity, the motive and the means, and only the desperate pleas of the family doctor brings Hercule Poirot onto the scene to prove her innocence - if indeed she *is* innocent.
With the title taken from a mournful passage in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," the novel is divided into three distinct parts. The first are Elinor's recollections of events up until Mary's death as she stands in the dock, the second is Poirot's investigation, and the third is a courtroom drama as new evidence comes to light, conveyed mostly through dialogue.
This is one of Christie's most underrated mysteries. Much like The Hollow it is quite character-driven, and due to the presence of what she often called "the eternal triangle," it's more emotional than usual. It's hard not to invest yourself in the remote-yet-vulnerable Elinor who is a fascinating blend of passion and coldness, and the mystery that surrounds her: *did* she killed Mary Gerrard?
Christie provides a wrap-up with a difference considering the truth comes out in a court of law (instead of Poirot assembling everyone in the library), and a plethora of intriguing clues that can be as minute as an off-handed comment about roses. It is perhaps a little slow-paced, but the tension builds gradually right to the denouncement, making it one of my favorite Christie mysteries.
Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Womenby Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
The Killing Groundby JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowningby Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancyby Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princessby Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Saharaby Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops:
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towersby J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Marsby Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Five Little Pigs (Also published as Murder In Retrospect)by Agatha Christie
Berkley; Published: 1984-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.87
Price in other shops:
Sleeping Murder (Miss Marple Mysteries)by Agatha Christie
Signet; Published: 2000-05-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.01
Price in other shops:
The Mystery of the Blue Train (Hercule Poirot)by Agatha Christie
Berkley; Published: 1991-12-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.76
Taken at the Flood: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries)by Agatha Christie
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2011-08-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.34
Price in other shops:
Mrs. McGinty's Dead: A Hercule Poirot Novel (Hercule Poirot Mysteries)by Agatha Christie
PBS; Berkley; Published: 2000-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.59
Price in other shops:
Dumb Witness (Hercule Poirot)by Agatha Christie
Berkley; Published: 1986-10-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops:
The Hollow (Hercule Poirot)by Agatha Christie
Berkley; Published: 1984-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.96
Price in other shops:
Hickory Dickory Dock: A Hercule Poirot Novelby Agatha Christie
Berkley; Published: 2000-07-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.51
Price in other shops:
Cards on the Table (Hercule Poirot)by Agatha Christie
Berkley; Published: 2005-07-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops:
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (Hercule Poirot)by Agatha Christie
Berkley; Published: 1987-04-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops: