Sad Cypress, Agatha Christie

 The Book 

As Elinor stand trial for the murder of her rival Mary Gerrad, only Hercule Poirot believes in her innocence. She knows the world is against her. She has lost her beloved aunt. Laura Welman and her fiancé, Roderick Welman

Despite everybody knowing that Elinor committed the murder of Mary, and most likely her aunt as well the young. local doctor Peter Lord hires Hercule Poirot to prove that she did not do it. 

Poirot spends a good deal of time trying to convince the good Dr. Lord that Elinor may, in fact, be guilty. But Peter does not want to see her go to the gallows. With all of the evidence stacked against Elinor, Poirot sees a chance to hone his little grey cells and takes the case. 

Poirot charms his way through this quaint country town, interviewing all of the servants, a good many of the villagers and both of the nurses before finally arriving at the truth. And being a good detective with a sentimental flare for the dramatic, he makes sure the facts do come out at the trail. But will Elinor realize how much Peter loves her? And will the truth that Poirot finds actually set her free? 

My Thoughts

  This book is a tightly written narrative. And I had, what I believe are flashes, of the David Suchet adapatation as I read the book. I cannot be certain that I have remembered it correctly, but I did notice something at the beginning that either means I did see it, or I'm on to Agatha Christie's games at this point. (Well, of course I saw it. I watched all of them on A &E when they came out, that's besides the point. It's have I remembered it? And some of them I do remember, and some of them I don't and some of them, like this one are very firmly in the maybe column.) I pretty much knew from the first pages of the book, who had committed the murder and kind of why. 

Nevertheless, the 276 pages of this book just flew through my hands. I read them so rapidly, as if I couldn't get enough of them. Some Christie books are like that, with the pages flying by. I find some of them, unreadable. A chore. But not this one. And it was pleasant to know that a light little Hercule Poirot novel could still stand up after the gripping And Then There Were None previous book.

I find I begin to weary of the the lighthearted manner in which accused murderers facing the gallows are treated in Christie's work. And I find that the further into mystery fiction I read, the more bothered I am that those are the death stakes. And it's fair to include these stakes, if for no other reason than those were, at that time, the actual stakes. It keeps the reader in the game and makes them interested in the outcome. But it weighs heavily on my soul. I don't know what I will do about that in my fiction, but I think I probably will do something about it. 

How Much Did My Library Card Save Me? 

This book came to me from the Lake Forest Public District Library. They do not mark the entry date of the book on the physical copy of the book. But this book is in amazing condition. I feel new. There are no markings, spills, or dog ears in the book. It was light to hold in my hand. One interesting feature that we have is the receipt for this book says that I save $18.04, but the cover says $18.99. That is an interesting number, if for no other reason because it means that either, Lake Forest is putting some sort of depreciation on the book or they got it at a $0.85 discount. As a trustee, I don't see the line items as the collection develops, only the aggregate per shipment, so I have no way to ascertain which theory is accurate. (Do not mistake me for advocating for that type of granular detail. I am not.) Given that I know exactly how this particular book was given to me, I will use the $18.04. 

This Book                                             $18.04

Items Reviewed This Year                  $120.97

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