It is a happy accident that I have ended up reviewing Cooper’s Tea on Sunday, on a Sunday, but the point amused me nevertheless when I realised it. The title of today’s read is the kind that my mum would like, for the same reason that she remains fond of James Anderson’s mystery The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy (1975), and why she still can’t stand looking at my Rue Morgue Press covers with their tendency to include a full or partial skeleton.
Are there words which attract or repel you in a book title? Is there a motif or image that you just can’t stand on a cover?
Cooper is a new-to-me-author. Information from the back cover states that she ‘served as President of the English Centre of PEN International and received an OBE in 1978 for her work on Public Lending Rights for authors.’ Martin Edwards, who writes the introduction for the British Library reprint, further adds that:
‘Lettice Copper was a well-established mainstream novelist and critic who was in her mid-70s when she wrote this book. Possibly it is for that reason that in some respects the book has the “feel” of a story written rather earlier than its actual publication date, 1973.’
I am not usually the biggest fan of 70s published mysteries, so this facet of Cooper’s style sounded quite appealing to me.
Synopsis
‘On a cold winter’s afternoon, Alberta Mansbridge waits at a table set with teacups for eight, musing over her guests. The ex-jailbird Barry, the nephew and his ghastly new flibbertigibbet of a wife, the Italian playboy, the old friend with whom she had so recently fallen out… Alberta returns upstairs to get herself ready. When the guests arrive, the door is locked and there is no response to their knocking. Alberta has been murdered, and with no sign of robbery or break in, the killer must have been somebody she let into the house herself – somebody who was due for tea on Sunday. Inspector Corby is soon on the case, faced with eight suspects without a concrete alibi between them – and a raft of motives steeped in mystery which will take him from London back to Alberta’s roots in Hithamroyd, Yorkshire in search of the truth.’
Overall Thoughts
The prologue takes place ahead of the tea party, which gives us a brief chance to observe Alberta when she is alive, musing over her past and present. This section hints at the state of her relationships, her thwarted love and the fact she had to become the “son” her father always wanted but never had. In crime fiction it is always foolish to answer the door and say, “Oh, it’s you.” The reader knows that death will follow shortly afterwards and that is the case here. However, this example contains some variation as Alberta uses an intercom to let her killer in and it is soon made clear that they are a guest who has arrived early. The challenge for the reader and the police is figure out which one.
The narrative moves quickly, and the police are brought in swiftly. It is DCI Corby who we probably get to know the best first. However, once his investigation gets under way this begins to chance as we get a period where he interviews each suspect, and each interview occupies one chapter. This does take a bit of page time to complete, around 60 pages, so the first part of investigation is only really concluded by the 100-page mark. I did wonder if this was a little reminiscent of Ngaio Marsh’s mystery story structure.
I liked Cooper’s choice of library/reading image which she used to describe DCI’s Corby perspective on the act of conducting a police investigation. Martin Edwards notes the appearance of this at the end of the novel:
‘Strange how you lived with a group of people for a few days, your mind on the stretch to pick up every crumb of information about them, to understand them, almost to live in their lives. And then it was over like a book you had taken back to the library.’
However, this motif can be trace its roots to back to chapter 3, when Cooper writes: ‘This phase of an investigation, the first encounter with each character separately, getting to know the feel of them, picking up the threads of their lives, was like beginning to read a new book.’
Potential guilt is spread pretty evenly between the eight suspects, with only weak or no alibis between them. You do wonder how the police will be able to advance in the case, but fortunately eyewitness testimony from neighbours sheds some unexpected light on the situation. This new information brings a lot of possibility to the case, so I was a little anxious when the decision was made to move the action of the plot to Yorkshire with DCI Corby going to find out more about the victim’s past and business affairs. I did worry it might derail the plot or drag things out. So, I was pleased when this concern was not fulfilled. Corby’s visit to Yorkshire is worthwhile, helping to shape up two possible theories for the crime. That said as a first-time mystery writer, I think Cooper does fall into the weakness of revealing her solution too early. Moreover, the capturing of the culprit requires the killer losing their nerve and trying to do something stupid. Nevertheless, there are sufficient links in the chain, showing how Corby arrived at his solution.
The concluding scene of the novel is a little odd, in its attempt at humour from an unexpected character. Ending on a note of comedy has cropped up a few times in my mystery reading over the past few months, but I am not sure it always works very well. It can have a jarring effect instead. But I guess this demonstrates the difficulty of knowing how to finish your story. I did think it would be nice to do a list of favourite mystery book endings, but I worry it would contain too many spoilers. However, if I ever did such a list, Christianna Brand’s Suddenly at His Residence(1946) would definitely make the cut.
Do you have any favourite mystery novel endings?
Rating: 4/5
Source: Review Copy (British Library)