TEA ON SUNDAY is an engaging character- driven detective
story that asks the question - who is the most likely
suspect in an elderly womanβs circle of acquaintances
to wish her dead? Part of the British Library Crime Classics
series and written by Lettice Cooper, this mystery set in
London will keep readers guessing as an adept investigator
uncovers the secrets and motivations of this motley group.
Alberta Mansbridge has invited eight people over for
tea on a snowy Sunday afternoon. As the guests arrive, they
are stuck in the cold, knocking at an unopened front door.
Knowing that Alberta would not leave her guests waiting
unwittingly, they summoned the police and found Alberta
strangled at her desk with an open checkbook nearby. The
eight guests are all suspects. Who came early and killed
Alberta? Was it her doctor, business manager, an ex-convict,
a lady charmer, a friend with whom she had a falling out,
the family firmβs managing director, her nephew, or
the nephewβs insufferable wife?
TEA ON SUNDAY
is a mystery in four parts and includes a closed circle of
suspects, each with their own backstory with the victim. The
victim, Alberta Mansbridge, is a complicated woman with a
good heart and a heartbreaking romantic past. She can be
demanding, but she ultimately wants the best for others.
Yet, someone has taken advantage of her good nature and
pushed the envelope too far. Which of the eight suspects
painted themselves into a corner? DCI Corby is the chief
detective investigator. He is empathetic yet observant and
has the skills to uncover the clues along with Sergeant
Newstead. This traditional mystery is a breath of fresh air.
Β It is simple in its execution but hits all the right
notes with its character exploration, financial motivations,
and desperate measures. From the orphanage not being
properly funded to the nephew reevaluating his life and
marriage to the doctor and his missing first wife, the
mystery includes all the right elements for readers to
imagine who had the most motive. TEA ON SUNDAY is delightful
and will entertain and engage readers with the trappings of
another era and the mechanics of a well-plotted, character-
driven, thoughtfully designed mystery.
First published in 1973 but written in the vintage mystery mode by Lettice Cooper, Tea on Sunday draws on a life lived in Leeds and London to deliver an authentic, literary detective story with a well-brewed psychological depth. This edition features includes an introduction by CWA Diamond Dagger and Edgar Award–winning author Martin Edwards.
On a bitter winter's afternoon in London, Alberta Mansbridge sets the table with teacups for nine, mulling over the guests who will be arriving within the hour: her accountant and the ex-jailbird Barry, her nephew and his ghastly new flibberty-jibbet of a wife, the Italian playboy, the family doctor, the manager of her father's company, and dear old Myra, with whom she had so recently fallen out... Alberta returns upstairs to get herself ready.
Yet as tea-time draws nigh and the guests' knocking goes unanswered, they soon discover that their host has been murdered—worse still, that the killer must have been one of their trusted number, let in early by Alberta. Faced with eight suspects whose alibis and motives are steeped in mystery, Inspector Corby joins a case in which the truth is trickling away down cold London streets and through the Yorkshire roots of Alberta's past.
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