I’m feeling pretty proud of myself for being able to read two books in a row for the A Year with Christie 2020 challenge! It used to be pretty hard to find the right book in the NLB, but I’m finding it a bit easier nowadays.

Sad Cypress starts with a trial: Elinor is on trial for the murder of Mary, her rival in love. Luckily for her, the village doctor, Peter Lord, has fallen in love with her at first sight and has practically begged Poirot to come and rescue her. While Poirot isn’t so sure as to her innocence, he agrees to investigate and we get thrown back into the past: when Elinor was happy and when the poison pen letter came…

I think that I’ve read this before (since it’s a Poirot mystery and I’ve read many of them) but for the most part, this felt like a new read to me. I really enjoyed the mystery and the way that the hints were sprinkled throughout the book – it’s a bit fairer play for this mystery, in my opinion, because the clues are fairly obvious if you can notice them.

The love story, on the other hand, is as inscrutable as ever. I mean, I actually get Elinor and her intense feelings (they do seem rather modern). But Poirot’s take on love? I think the ending about love vs being happy together was interesting but it is ambiguous is Elinor is falling in love with Lord or if she’s going to end up settling for him. I kind of wish that Christie carried the story a bit ever because then, I might be able to understand Poirot’s last sentence.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one, probably more than Death Comes as the End, since the characters here are meant to be British. The mystery is solid, the characters are interesting, and as always, I enjoy watching Poirot exercise his little grey cells.

Featured Image: Photo from Canva