Each opinioned synopsis is written right after I, Sheridan, read the book. Each synopsis is not overly edited and is not changed or added on to. Each one reflects the feelings and thoughts of the book fresh after reading it; each is written in a style close to that of the book. Some may give away a lot, others not so much.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Sad Cypress by Agatha Cristie

Sad Cypress starts at the end of a case, in a crowded courtroom. It then moves to the time before the case, following the people in it. You get to be there when the crime is committed, but it is no easier to find out who did it.
Elinor Carlisle is a happy girl - She is engaged to the man she loves, and she has no money troubles, at least for the present. She is at a gentle point in life. But she is another person altogether underneath her calm, cool and collected facade. She is a passionate person, deeply in love with her fiance Roddy and devoted to him - but she can't show that side of herself lest she scare him off. She manages to keep it under control. But then Mary Gerrard comes into the story - first within an anonymous letter warning Elinor against someone- someone trying to steal her inheritance from her old, sick aunt through kindness. And Elinor thinks it's Mary.
When Elinor and Roddy go to visit her sick aunt, Roddy falls in love with Mary at first sight and Elinor now has a reason to passionately hate the beautiful, kind young girl. Even enough to kill her...
So when Mary Gerrard is found poisoned, Elinor Carlisle is the likely suspect. And perhaps even Hercule Poirot won't be able to declare her innocent.
Recommended to ages 12 and Up