History Literature / SadCypress

The novel has been adapted for radio in 1992 by BBC Radio 4 with John Moffat as Poirot. It has also been [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402444/ adapted for TV]] by London Weekend Television as part of the ninth season of ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' 2003 starring David Suchet as Poirot and Elizabeth Dermot-Walsh as Elinor Carlisle. Tropes for the TV adaptation can be found on [[Series/{{Poirot}} the page for the series]].

The novel has been adapted for radio in 1992 by BBC Radio 4 with John Moffat as Poirot. It has also been [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402444/ adapted for TV]] by London Weekend Television as part of the ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' series in 2003 starring David Suchet as Poirot and Elizabeth Dermot-Walsh as Elinor Carlisle.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: In the original novel, Elinor's innocence is proved at court thanks to the clues gathered by Poirot. However, in the adaptation, Elinor is found ''guilty'' and sentenced to be hanged in five days after her appeal is denied. Poirot does manage to acquit her, but it's much more [[TrueArtIsAngsty angsty]] that way.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Dr Lord is as being "pleasantly ugly", having freckles and remarkably square jaws. In the film, he's TallDarkAndHandsome.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited:
** Dr. Lord is in love with Elinor, who's in love with Roddy. Roddy is fond of Elinor but has fallen head-over-heels for Mary Gerrard. Mary finds Roddy's attentions annoying and keeps telling him to go back to Elinor. Meanwhile, Mary has Ted, her boyfriend in the village. She likes him but has ambitions that are likely to take her away from him. (However, after about two hundred and fifty pages of this, a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion is implied in the end with Elinor and Dr Lord. D'aw.)
** The 2003 adaptation simplifies matters: Lord is still in love with Elinor, who's still in love with Roddy, but Mary apparently reciprocates Roddy's feelings and it's implied that the two are to be married. This gives Elinor increased reasons to not be incredibly fond of Mary and to desire her murder.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: In the 2003 adaptation at least, it's a bit ambiguous whether Mary is as sweet and innocent as she seems or whether she is subtly manipulating everyone to her own advantage. Elinor certainly seems to think so, but seeing as Roddy left her for Mary she's hardly an unbiased source.

* CompositeCharacter: In the 2003 TV adaptation, Ted Bigland's character is combined with Horlick the gardener.

* HappyFlashback: Lampshaded in the movie; in the opening scene, Elinor is in the courtroom and the last of her thought we get to hear is: "The beginning... the beginning... it seemed happy..."

* JerkassHasAPoint: In the 2003 adaptation. While Nurse O'Brian is a poisonous gossip with a seemingly unwarranted grudge against Elinor, when Mary gripes that Elinor didn't seem entirely thrilled to be giving Mary a large sum of money from her aunt's inheritance O'Brian points out that any hostility on Elinor's part might have something to do with the fact that Mary basically stole Elinor's fiancé away from her.
* KarmaHoudini: In the novel, at least. [[spoiler: Nurse Hopkins flees the trial when it looks like her scheme is about to be exposed]]. The 2003 adaptation makes sure that Karma catches up with the killer eventually, however.

** This was taken further in the ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' adaptation, in which Dr. Lord's devotion to Elinor leads him to take actions in her defence that briefly make him seem like ''he's'' the actual murderer.

* MiscarriageOfJustice: Strictly speaking, that's only in the adaptation, since Elinor is found not guilty in the book. However, according to her housekeeper, Mrs Bishop, even her arrest is "disgraceful", probably the result of "these new-fangled methods of the police".

* PlotHole: If [[spoiler:Nurse Hopkins]] wanted to murder Mary and frame Elinor for the murder, then it doesn't make sense to [[spoiler:offer the poisoned tea]] to Elinor as well; Elinor would have died, too, which would have been extremely risky and there would have been no one to frame. The TV adaptation gets around this by having Elinor state that [[spoiler:she doesn't like tea, and hence wouldn't be drinking it anyway]].

-> ''"Come away, come away, death, and in sad cypress let me be laid; fly away, fly away, breath; I am slain by a fair cruel maid. My shroud of white, stuck all with yew- oh, prepare it! My part of death- noone so true did share it."''
-->-- ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'', Act II Scene IV (novel's epigraph)

* AdaptationalDyeJob: Dr Lord is described as having straw-coloured hair in the books. In the film, he's TallDarkAndHandsome.

* [[ShoutOut/ToShakespeare Shout-Out: To Shakespeare]]: This title is taken from the Clown's song from ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'' (II, iv), as stated in the above quote.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Dr. Lord is in love with Elinor, who's in love with Roddy. Roddy is fond of Elinor but has fallen head-over-heels for Mary Gerrard. Mary finds Roddy's attentions annoying and keeps telling him to go back to Elinor. Meanwhile, Mary has Ted, her boyfriend in the village. She likes him but has ambitions that are likely to take her away from him. (However, after about two hundred and fifty pages of this, a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion is implied in the end with Elinor and Dr Lord. D'aw.)

:: This was taken further in the ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' adaptation, in which Dr. Lord's devotion to Elinor leads him to take actions in her defence that briefly make him seem like ''he's'' the actual murderer.

* NeverOneMurder: Mary Gerrard died of morphine poisoning after the death of Laura Welman, whose death was first thought to be of natural causes. Further investigation revealed that Mrs. Welman was also poisoned by Morphine shortly after her second stroke attack.

* PlotHole: If [[spoiler:Nurse Hopkins]] wanted to murder Mary and frame Elinor for the murder, then it doesn't make sense to [[spoiler:[[ItMakesSenseInContext offer the poisoned tea]]]] to Elinor as well; Elinor would have died, too, which would have been extremely risky and there would have been no one to frame. The TV adaptation gets around this by having Elinor state that [[spoiler:she doesn't like tea, and hence wouldn't be drinking it anyway]].

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Elinor and Roddy.

* EmotionlessGirl: Roddy thinks (read: deludes himself) that Elinor is this, when in fact her feelings for him are much stronger/more passionate than his for her.

* HookedUpAfterwards: Implied.
* HowWeGotHere: Evolves after the HappyFlashback.
* IDidntMeanToTurnYouOn: Mary towards Roddy.

** It's also heavily implied that Elinor actually ''was'' planning to murder Mary after her heart was broken, only to come to her senses before she could pull it off. Unfortunately for Elinor, someone else was ''also'' gunning for Mary and didn't have such a strong conscience...

* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Peter Lord. Just listen to him.

** Taken further in the ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' adaptation, in which Dr. Lord's devotion to Elinor leads him to take actions in her defence that briefly make him seem like ''he's'' the actual murderer. It's also heavily implied that Elinor actually ''was'' planning to murder Mary after her heart was broken, only to come to her senses before she could pull it off. Unfortunately for Elinor, someone else was ''also'' gunning for Mary and didn't have such a strong conscience...

* MurderTheHypotenuse: Elinor is suspected of this.
* NeverOneMurder

** Not impossible to recover from this mistake if she had enough of the [[spoiler:apomorphine hydrochloride, an emetic. Then she could say "We had some bad food-- it's a good thing I had this vomit-inducing drug!" and try again]]. It wouldn't be her first murder.

* SheIsAllGrownUp: Roddy's reaction to meeting up with Mary Gerrard.

* AssholeVictim: Averted. Both Laura Welman and Mary Gerrard are sympathetic characters, Mary verging on the angelic. The main reason Elinor is accused apart from the evidence, is that nobody else would even seem to have a motive for killing such nice people in the first place.

* TroubledBackstoryFlashback

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Sad_Cypress_1stEd_1930.jpg

* InheritanceMurder: This is the obvious motive for Elinor Carlisle to have committed the murder she's accused of. Naturally, the relationships in play turn out to be more complicated.

!!SadCypress contains examples of:

Murder mystery novel by Creator/AgathaChristie. Elinor Carlisle seems to be the only possible suspect for the murders of her wealthy aunt, Laura Welman, and her [[MurderTheHypotenuse romantic rival]], Mary Gerrard. However, doctor Peter Lord, who is in love with Elinor, asks HerculePoirot to [[ClearTheirName clear her name]], insisting she can't be guilty, [[LoveMakesYouDumb despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary]]. Literature/HerculePoirot points out that there's an extremely strong case against her, but still he agrees to investigate the case and find out the truth.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Dr. Lord is in love with Elinor, who's in love with Roddy. Roddy is fond of Elinor but has fallen head-over-heels for Mary Gerrard. Mary finds Roddy's attentions annoying and keeps telling him to go back to Elinor. Meanwhile, Mary has Ted, her boyfriend in the village. She likes him, but has ambitions that are likely to take her away from him. (However, after about two hundred and fifty pages of this, a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion is implied in the end with Elinor and Dr Lord. D'aw.)

* KarmaHoudini

** Taken further in the ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' adaptation, in which Dr. Lord's devotion to Elinor leads him to take actions in her defence that briefly make him seem like he's the actual murderer. It's also heavily implied that Elinor actually ''was'' planning to murder Mary after her heart was broken, only to come to her senses before she could pull it off. Unfortunately for Elinor, someone else was ''also'' gunning for Mary and didn't have such a strong conscience...

* ClearTheirName
* CourtroomDrama

* {{Frameup}}

* TroubledBackstoryFlashback

* AssholeVictim: Subverted. Both Laura Welman and Mary Gerrard are sympathetic characters, Mary verging on the angelic. The main reason Elinor is accused apart from the evidence, is that nobody else would even seem to have a motive for killing such nice people in the first place.

-> ''"Mrs Welman, whose money went to Elinor Carlisle, was murdered by morphine; Mary Gerrard, who stood between Elinor Carlisle and her fiance, was murdered by morphine. And nobody in the world had the slightest motive to commit these murders other than the accused; noone had the slightest opportunity other than the accused."''

Murder mystery novel by Creator/AgathaChristie. Elinor Carlisle seems to be the only possible suspect for the murders of her wealthy aunt, Laura Welman, and her [[MurderTheHypotenuse romantic rival]], Mary Gerrard. However, doctor Peter Lord, who is in love with Elinor, asks HerculePoirot to [[ClearTheirName clear her name]], insisting she can't be guilty, [[LoveMakesYouDumb despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary]]. Poirot points out that there's an extremely strong case against her, but still he agrees to investigate the case and find out the truth.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Dr. Lord is in love with Elinor, who's in love with Roddy. Roddy is fond of Elinor but has fallen head-over-heels for Mary Gerrard. Mary finds Roddy's attentions annoying and keeps telling him to go back to Elinor. Meanwhile, Mary has Ted, her boyfriend in the village. She likes him, but has ambitions that are likely to take her away from him. (However, after about two hundred and fifty pages of this, a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] is implied in the end with Elinor and Dr Lord. D'aw.)

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: While still deeply in love with him, Elinor breaks up with Roddy and [[UpToEleven gives him relationship advice about Mary.]]

--> "Does it matter? She might have done it, yes! I don't care if she did. [...] But I don't want her hanged, I tell you! Suppose she was driven desperate? [...] Haven't you got any pity?

** Not impossible to recover from this mistake if she had enough of the [[spoiler:apomorphine hydrochloride, an emetic. Then she could say "We had some bad food-- it's a good thing I had this vomit-inducing drug!" and try again.]] It wouldn't be her first murder.

** Not impossible to recover from this mistake if she had enough of the [[spoiler:apomorphine hydrochloride, an emetic. Then its easy to say "We had some bad food its a good think I had this vomit inducing drug." then she can try again.]] It wouldn't be her first murder.

* PlotHole: If Nurse Hopkins wanted to murder Mary and frame Elinor for the murder, then it doesn't make sense to [[ItMakesSenseInContext offer the poisoned tea]] to Elinor as well; Elinor would have died, too, which would have been extremely risky and there would have been no one to frame. The TV adaptation gets around this by having Elinor state that she doesn't like tea, and hence wouldn't be drinking it anyway.
** Not impossible to recover from this mistake if she had enough of the apomorphine hydrochloride, an emetic. Then its easy to say "We had some bad food its a good think I had this vomit inducing drug." then she can try again. It wouldn't be her first murder.

The novel has been adapted for radio in 1992 by BBC Radio 4 with John Moffat as Poirot. It has also been [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402444/ adapted for TV]] by London Weekend Television as part of the ''Series/Poirot'' series in 2003 starring David Suchet as Poirot and Elizabeth Dermot-Walsh as Elinor Carlisle.

The novel has been adapted for radio in 1992 by BBC Radio 4 with John Moffat as Poirot. It has also been [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402444/ adapted for TV]] by London Weekend Television as part of the ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'' series in 2003 starring David Suchet as Poirot and Elizabeth Dermot-Walsh as Elinor Carlisle.

-> Come away, come away, death, and in sad cypress let me be laid; fly away, fly away, breath; I am slain by a fair cruel maid. My shroud of white, stuck all with yew- oh, prepare it! My part of death- noone so true did share it.

-->- ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'', Act II Scene IV (novel's epigraph)

-> "Mrs Welman, whose money went to Elinor Carlisle, was murdered by morphine; Mary Gerrard, who stood between Elinor Carlisle and her fiance, was murdered by morphine. And nobody in the world had the slightest motive to commit these murders other than the accused; noone had the slightest opportunity other than the accused."

-->- '''Prosecuting attorney''', ''Literature/SadCypress'' TV adaptation

The novel opens with a prologue where we get to see part of Elinor's trial and follow some of her thoughts, and proceeds with a series of flashbacks which tell the story in three parts. It contains CourtroomDrama; it's one of the two times Christie used the lovely-woman-in-the-docks plot (the other being ''FiveLittlePigs'', to a much lesser extent.) Interestingly, instead of having a SummationGathering, the solution is presented at court at the end of the book. The novel has been criticized for its abrupt ending and lack of plausible suspects, but it has received positive reviews as a suspenseful and well-written detective story.

* LoveTriangle: Or something. Granted, Mary's not even interested Roddy in and Elinor has the grace to break up with him once she realizes he's not in love with her. But it's still two women, one man and a major source of drama for the greatest part of the book.

* PlotHole: If Nurse Hopkins wanted to murder Mary and frame Elinor for the murder, then it doesn't make sense to [[ItMakesSenseInContext offer the poisoned tea]] to Elinor as well; Elinor would have died, too, which would have been extremely risky and there would have been noone to frame. The TV adaptation gets around this by having Elinor state that she doesn't like tea, and hence wouldn't be drinking it anyway.

* TroubledBackstoryFlashback
* UnwantedHarem: It's not exactly a harem, strictly speaking, but Mary shows no interest at all in any of the men passionately in love with her.

-->- ''TwelfthNight'', Act II Scene IV (novel's epigraph)

* {{Frameup}}

Murder mystery novel by AgathaChristie. Elinor Carlisle seems to be the only possible suspect for the murders of her wealthy aunt, Laura Welman, and her [[MurderTheHypotenuse romantic rival]], Mary Gerrard. However, doctor Peter Lord, who is in love with Elinor, asks HerculePoirot to [[ClearTheirName clear her name]], insisting she can't be guilty, [[LoveMakesYouDumb despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary]]. Poirot points out that there's an extremely strong case against her, but still he agrees to investigate the case and find out the truth.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: While still deeply in love with him, Elinor breaks up with Roddy and [[BeyondTheImpossible gives him relationship advice about Mary.]]