Yes I know it's fashionable to knock Dame Agatha for her clunky writing, poor dialogue and unconvincing characters. But my goodness can that woman construct a plot. In fact I am not offended by any of the above -- I admire her tremendously and, though I don't exactly seek her books out, I'm always ready to give one a go if it comes my way. This one did, as a freebie in a copy of the Times -- not my usual newspaper, but it was on sale at the Oxford Literary Festival and its other free gift was a very useful book bag. Sad Cypress has been sitting by my bed ever since, and I picked it up in an idle moment a few days ago -- and then found I had to keep reading till I'd finished it.
Written in 1940, Sad Cypress begins in court, where a young woman, Elinor Carlisle, is in the dock accused of murder. Shell-shocked and confused, she does not appear to have any defence, and it is clear that she did have reasons for disliking the girl, who died of morphine poisoning after eating sandwiches made by the accused. Everyone seems to believe that the case against Elinor is more or less watertight, but a young local doctor, her ardent admirer, is determined to prove her innocence and hires Hercule Poirot to investigate.
I am not, in fact, such a huge fan of Poirot -- I prefer the wonderful Miss Marple. But of course his methods are fascinating and his ability to work out what really happened is unsurpassed. Surprisingly for me, I did more or less guess the identity of the murderer before the end -- I actually hate it when this happens, and it almost never does with Dame A. But I still needed Poirot's explanation of the motive and the method, which makes much use of Christie's famous knowledge of the characteristics of poisons. Perfect for a few hours in the garden or on the beach!
