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Tea on Sunday
Alberta Mansbridge has invited eight people to have tea: her doctor, her administrator, two protégés of dubious personality, an old friend, a nephew. But that cold afternoon none of the guests manage to get the door open.
When the police force entry they find Alberta sitting on her desk, strangled. The intricate investigation, told with a masterful hand, helps the author to probe, with acute sensitivity, the mysterious channels of human behavior.
When the police force entry they find Alberta sitting on her desk, strangled. The intricate investigation, told with a masterful hand, helps the author to probe, with acute sensitivity, the mysterious channels of human behavior.
251 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1973
6 people are currently reading
269 people want to read
About the author
Lettice Cooper
36 books21 followersLettice Ulpha Cooper began to write stories when she was seven. She studied Classics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford graduating in 1918.
She returned home after Oxford to work for her family's engineering firm and wrote her first novel, 'The Lighted Room' in 1925. She spent a year as associate edtior at 'Time and Tide' and during the Second World War worked for the Ministry of Food's public relations division. Between 1947 and 1957 she was fiction reviewer for the Yorkshire Post. She was one of the founders of the Writers' Action Group along with Brigid Brophy, Maureen Duffy, Francis King and Michael Levy and received an OBE for her work in achieving Public Lending Rights. In 1987 at the age of ninety she was awarded the Freedom of the City of Leeds.
She never married and died in Coltishall, Norfolk at the age of 96.
From Wikipedia
She returned home after Oxford to work for her family's engineering firm and wrote her first novel, 'The Lighted Room' in 1925. She spent a year as associate edtior at 'Time and Tide' and during the Second World War worked for the Ministry of Food's public relations division. Between 1947 and 1957 she was fiction reviewer for the Yorkshire Post. She was one of the founders of the Writers' Action Group along with Brigid Brophy, Maureen Duffy, Francis King and Michael Levy and received an OBE for her work in achieving Public Lending Rights. In 1987 at the age of ninety she was awarded the Freedom of the City of Leeds.
She never married and died in Coltishall, Norfolk at the age of 96.
From Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
October 7, 2025
A very good mystery from the British Library Crime Classics. I enjoyed reading it and it was novel having the setting be the 70s. This also had the benefit of fitting in with my seasonal reads, being set in January and February. The snow does fall. It was a quite good police procedural with much time devoted to tracking down the possible suspects, their alibis and a lot of backstory. The characters were well written and while I had some idea of why it happened, the who exactly was a bit more elusive. This all culminated in a pretty page-turning event near the very end of the book and I loved that.
Definitely recommended.
Definitely recommended.
February 13, 2025
I had no idea that Lettice Cooper had written a mystery until the British Library included this one in their Crime Classics series. I'm very glad they did as I found it thoroughly enjoyable.
January 4, 2025
Tea on Sunday was a present to myself and I chose very well if I may say so.
The title and cover was love at first sight and also the story didn’t disappoint.
What is it about?
Alberta Mansbridge has invited eight guests for tea on a winter’s afternoon in London but when they arrive, nobody opens the door and it turns out that she has been murdered.
Chief Detective Inspector Corby had hoped for a quiet Sunday at home but of course he gets to the scene of the crime immediately and starts to interview the guests and suspects:
A nephew and his wife who was not thrilled by the prospect of going, the family doctor, the account of the formidable lady, the manager of her company in Leeds, her former companion, an ex-jailbird and a mysterious foreigner.
It didn’t take me long at all to get into the story and I happily followed the investigations. My favourite mysteries are the ones where I just get swept up in the story and don’t even stop to ponder too much about #whodunnit but here I did get to venture a guess and changed it a couple of times. ☺️
The story is not a fast paced one but that was totally fine with me as I enjoyed the atmosphere of the novel. There a few lines which most likely will make you raise your eyebrows but it didn’t distract me too much and I happily continued as it’s obvious that they don’t reflect today’s values.
Overall I had a great time reading this new addition to the British Library Crime Classics series and would happily recommend it to anyone who loves a classic mystery which reminded me a bit of Agatha Christie’s stories.
In the introduction it was mentioned that this was Lettice Cooper’s debut into the mystery genre when she was in her mid-70s! She had written other novels before but after reading this, I wish she had started earlier so that I would have more of them to enjoy.
The title and cover was love at first sight and also the story didn’t disappoint.
What is it about?
Alberta Mansbridge has invited eight guests for tea on a winter’s afternoon in London but when they arrive, nobody opens the door and it turns out that she has been murdered.
Chief Detective Inspector Corby had hoped for a quiet Sunday at home but of course he gets to the scene of the crime immediately and starts to interview the guests and suspects:
A nephew and his wife who was not thrilled by the prospect of going, the family doctor, the account of the formidable lady, the manager of her company in Leeds, her former companion, an ex-jailbird and a mysterious foreigner.
It didn’t take me long at all to get into the story and I happily followed the investigations. My favourite mysteries are the ones where I just get swept up in the story and don’t even stop to ponder too much about #whodunnit but here I did get to venture a guess and changed it a couple of times. ☺️
The story is not a fast paced one but that was totally fine with me as I enjoyed the atmosphere of the novel. There a few lines which most likely will make you raise your eyebrows but it didn’t distract me too much and I happily continued as it’s obvious that they don’t reflect today’s values.
Overall I had a great time reading this new addition to the British Library Crime Classics series and would happily recommend it to anyone who loves a classic mystery which reminded me a bit of Agatha Christie’s stories.
In the introduction it was mentioned that this was Lettice Cooper’s debut into the mystery genre when she was in her mid-70s! She had written other novels before but after reading this, I wish she had started earlier so that I would have more of them to enjoy.
December 22, 2024
Written by Cooper as her debut detective novel at 76 (she’d previously written mainstream and historical fare), Tea on Sunday seems to have departed the public consciousness soon after publication and felt like an oddity that left me a little nonplussed when I received it for my British Crime Classics subscription this Christmas. The publication year and advanced author age for a genre debut threw me, I think, as I typically expect Crime Classics to be firmly Golden Age.
To be honest, I was a little worried that Martin Edwards, who introduces all the books, had come a cropper for interesting goods this Christmas. The “Christmas” aspect of this one is certainly marginal; it takes place in snowy weather, but beyond some snowmen on an orphanage lawn there’s not much thematic going on in that direction.
Still, although it took a short while, I found myself settling into the story and enjoying this well-written novel quite a bit. It’s about a formidable older woman (I won’t say “battleaxe”, though she conforms a little to the type described by that dated term), Alberta Mansbridge - pride of a father who’d wanted a boy and left her in charge of his rural engineering firm - and her murder before a tea party she’d arranged at her London home. The culprit must be one of eight guests for whom she’d set out cups since evidence makes clear that she knew and answered the door to her murderer. Enter Inspector Corby of the CID and his trusty sergeant Newstead to investigate.
The cast is typical, to a point where you wonder if Cooper had been re-reading her Agatha Christies and modelled her characters using them. All of the usual suspects are here: the doctor, lawyer, inadequate nephew, his beautiful but irreverent wife, a foreign conman (referred to as an “adventurer”), the dead woman’s longtime companion, and the young ne’er-do-well.
A large part of what I liked about the novel was its ‘70s feel. Some of its character interactions would raise eyebrows now, like how the nephew’s wife is basically referred to as a stuck-up “bitch” who needs a good slap. But overall it has some of the same charm as Christie’s later books before she lost her touch completely, where she’s describing the swinging ‘60s from a seventy-something’s perspective.
As Edwards points out in his introduction, Tea on Sunday is a highly traditional genre work. Its strength is in its characterisation. Cooper was a skilled and accomplished novelist and she brings real humanity to characters that could have been cardboard elsewhere. The closest she comes to flat stereotype is in the nephew’s wife, but she’s too good a writer to make even her a complete sexist caricature. Inspector Corby, meanwhile, is an empathetic and intelligent sleuth with a whiff of Adam Dalgliesh about him.
The mystery is engaging enough though not exactly surprising in the end. It’s not one of those perfect machines like a Christie plot, and “whodunnit” is very straightforwardly about whom you’d expect to have done it, and why. Nonetheless, Tea on Sunday does compel for its length as you see the various threads of revelation and motivation come together. All in all a good, solid read.
To be honest, I was a little worried that Martin Edwards, who introduces all the books, had come a cropper for interesting goods this Christmas. The “Christmas” aspect of this one is certainly marginal; it takes place in snowy weather, but beyond some snowmen on an orphanage lawn there’s not much thematic going on in that direction.
Still, although it took a short while, I found myself settling into the story and enjoying this well-written novel quite a bit. It’s about a formidable older woman (I won’t say “battleaxe”, though she conforms a little to the type described by that dated term), Alberta Mansbridge - pride of a father who’d wanted a boy and left her in charge of his rural engineering firm - and her murder before a tea party she’d arranged at her London home. The culprit must be one of eight guests for whom she’d set out cups since evidence makes clear that she knew and answered the door to her murderer. Enter Inspector Corby of the CID and his trusty sergeant Newstead to investigate.
The cast is typical, to a point where you wonder if Cooper had been re-reading her Agatha Christies and modelled her characters using them. All of the usual suspects are here: the doctor, lawyer, inadequate nephew, his beautiful but irreverent wife, a foreign conman (referred to as an “adventurer”), the dead woman’s longtime companion, and the young ne’er-do-well.
A large part of what I liked about the novel was its ‘70s feel. Some of its character interactions would raise eyebrows now, like how the nephew’s wife is basically referred to as a stuck-up “bitch” who needs a good slap. But overall it has some of the same charm as Christie’s later books before she lost her touch completely, where she’s describing the swinging ‘60s from a seventy-something’s perspective.
As Edwards points out in his introduction, Tea on Sunday is a highly traditional genre work. Its strength is in its characterisation. Cooper was a skilled and accomplished novelist and she brings real humanity to characters that could have been cardboard elsewhere. The closest she comes to flat stereotype is in the nephew’s wife, but she’s too good a writer to make even her a complete sexist caricature. Inspector Corby, meanwhile, is an empathetic and intelligent sleuth with a whiff of Adam Dalgliesh about him.
The mystery is engaging enough though not exactly surprising in the end. It’s not one of those perfect machines like a Christie plot, and “whodunnit” is very straightforwardly about whom you’d expect to have done it, and why. Nonetheless, Tea on Sunday does compel for its length as you see the various threads of revelation and motivation come together. All in all a good, solid read.
January 31, 2025
An enjoyable mystery, though a little straightforward at times.
February 19, 2023
De tintes clásicos, empieza con mucha fuerza y no está mal pero la traducción no me ha convencido. Si no fuera por este detalle, hubiera merecido las tres estrellas ;)
February 7, 2025
Tea on Sunday, originally published in 1973, has been reprinted as part of the British Library Crime Classics Series. Despite it being written in the 1970s it does have an earlier feel to it with the occasional reference in either language or culture that dates it, but on the whole it's easy to think you are in 1950's London with a cast of traditional golden age fiction type characters.
Alberta Mansbridge is a wealthy and philanthropic lady who lives in a large house in London but linked to a large engineering firm in the north of England. She frequently befriends people who are in need and is involved in prison visiting and is a Barnardo's Orphanage supporter. One snowy Sunday in February Alberta invites a group of her family relations, friends and proteges to her house for afternoon tea. When the group convene on the doorstep at 4pm they are unable to get any answer to there knocks and when they finally get inside Alberta is discovered murdered at her desk. Inspector Corby and his sidekick, Newstead, begin to investigate the eight suspects who were invited to tea: her accountant, the family doctor, her nephew and his wife, the manger of the family company, an Italian playboy she has befriended, an ex-convict she has taken under her wing, and her old friend Myra Heseltine who until recently lived with Alberta until a falling out occurred and Myra moved out. All of them have a motive for her murder or will benefit in some way by her death and Corby finds himself travelling to Yorkshire to visit the family firm .
Lettuce Cooper spent her working life after graduating from Oxford, working in her family engineering firm in Leeds and she seems to have pulled from this personal life experience to form the basis for this, her first novel. The plot was not a particularly complicated one and the final revelation was not all that surprising, but the real interest in this novel was the depiction of and development of the characters, what we learn of them and their interplay with each other. In particular the relationship between Anthony Seldon, her nephew, and his wife Lisa, was really intriguing.
I enjoyed this novel, perfect for a winter read because the weather throughout is dreadful and brings something of a cosy element to it.
Alberta Mansbridge is a wealthy and philanthropic lady who lives in a large house in London but linked to a large engineering firm in the north of England. She frequently befriends people who are in need and is involved in prison visiting and is a Barnardo's Orphanage supporter. One snowy Sunday in February Alberta invites a group of her family relations, friends and proteges to her house for afternoon tea. When the group convene on the doorstep at 4pm they are unable to get any answer to there knocks and when they finally get inside Alberta is discovered murdered at her desk. Inspector Corby and his sidekick, Newstead, begin to investigate the eight suspects who were invited to tea: her accountant, the family doctor, her nephew and his wife, the manger of the family company, an Italian playboy she has befriended, an ex-convict she has taken under her wing, and her old friend Myra Heseltine who until recently lived with Alberta until a falling out occurred and Myra moved out. All of them have a motive for her murder or will benefit in some way by her death and Corby finds himself travelling to Yorkshire to visit the family firm .
Lettuce Cooper spent her working life after graduating from Oxford, working in her family engineering firm in Leeds and she seems to have pulled from this personal life experience to form the basis for this, her first novel. The plot was not a particularly complicated one and the final revelation was not all that surprising, but the real interest in this novel was the depiction of and development of the characters, what we learn of them and their interplay with each other. In particular the relationship between Anthony Seldon, her nephew, and his wife Lisa, was really intriguing.
I enjoyed this novel, perfect for a winter read because the weather throughout is dreadful and brings something of a cosy element to it.
March 4, 2025
Classic mystery. Engaging characters, clever plot and excellent view of the initial whirlwind between the old respectable Britain and the new world.
March 14, 2020
La excelente colección El Séptimo Círculo nos ofrece esta típica novela de misterio, de esas que se pueden leer en una tarde.
En una fría y nivosa tarde de domingo, como solía hacer, una acaudalada mujer, ya mayor, había invitado a sus íntimos a tomar el té. Cuando, a la hora fijada, éstos se agolpan en la puerta, nadie les abre. Preocupados, luego de insistir varias veces, llaman a la policía, y , así, la encuentran asesinada en su sala.
Se inicia así una rutinaria investigación policial, tras la que, finalmente, logran dar con la persona culpable.
Sólidamente construida, bien llevada, con buena ambientación y personajes bien retratados, nos encontramos con una novela que, sin salirse del canon tradicional, y sin mayores sorpresas en su desarrollo, entretiene.
https://sobrevolandolecturas.blogspot...
En una fría y nivosa tarde de domingo, como solía hacer, una acaudalada mujer, ya mayor, había invitado a sus íntimos a tomar el té. Cuando, a la hora fijada, éstos se agolpan en la puerta, nadie les abre. Preocupados, luego de insistir varias veces, llaman a la policía, y , así, la encuentran asesinada en su sala.
Se inicia así una rutinaria investigación policial, tras la que, finalmente, logran dar con la persona culpable.
Sólidamente construida, bien llevada, con buena ambientación y personajes bien retratados, nos encontramos con una novela que, sin salirse del canon tradicional, y sin mayores sorpresas en su desarrollo, entretiene.
https://sobrevolandolecturas.blogspot...
June 2, 2021
Qué se yo, un policial más; flojo al final de la tercera parte. Espero que el undertone machista fuera una marca de época o irónico, porque era bastante molesto.
December 20, 2024
Not one of the my favourite British Library books.
Slow moving.
Slow moving.
February 21, 2025
For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
May 31, 2025
4.5 stars. More a police procedural than a classic style mystery, it gives us a snapshot of a time and place and in that sense it reminded me of the Maigret novels, which is a compliment coming from me. London in the early seventies is still influenced by the Swinging Sixties and its darker flip side. The pace of the investigation is slow, the prose comforting. I really enjoyed this book as a night time relaxing read. I stayed up last night to finish it, because (and this is its only "but") the real action is all crammed into the last 30 pages or so. I had figured out the killer long before, but the ending felt rushed, slapped on. And of course the authoress ascribes the motive to "madness", as if people don't kill for their own ends. Which they do, every day.
I had hoped to write a better review but of course after a silent, slow morning the moment I sat down to the keyboard the interruptions fell like rain.
I had hoped to write a better review but of course after a silent, slow morning the moment I sat down to the keyboard the interruptions fell like rain.
March 5, 2025
I love that The British Library is republishing some forgotten crime novels. This one is just over 50 years old but has the feel of something older, apart from a few isolated details that wouldn’t fit into the Golden Age of Crime.
A wealthy lady invites 8 people to afternoon tea but is murdered before they arrive, or was she? Inspector Corby to the case and what ensues is a delightful homage to the golden age.
One thing that must be mentioned is that because of the time of writing some elements of behaviour elicit an attitude not politically correct in the modern day. If this would bother you then maybe avoid, but I recommend this one wholeheartedly otherwise.
A wealthy lady invites 8 people to afternoon tea but is murdered before they arrive, or was she? Inspector Corby to the case and what ensues is a delightful homage to the golden age.
One thing that must be mentioned is that because of the time of writing some elements of behaviour elicit an attitude not politically correct in the modern day. If this would bother you then maybe avoid, but I recommend this one wholeheartedly otherwise.
January 10, 2025
Despite being written in the 1970s, this republished detective novel is very much in the style of Golden Age closed circle mysteries. As the author’s only venture into detective fiction, I didn’t have high expectations - after the disappointment of British Library Crime Classics November offering.
I was pleasantly surprised. This is a well written mystery with solid characterisation. Just enough is revealed at various stages to keep the narrative flowing, and the end solution is satisfying - if a little pedestrian.
I was pleasantly surprised. This is a well written mystery with solid characterisation. Just enough is revealed at various stages to keep the narrative flowing, and the end solution is satisfying - if a little pedestrian.
February 27, 2025
This was really quite good, and I didn't guess who had done it until it became obvious (you'll need to read it to see what I mean). It almost has the feel of a locked room mystery about it, though I suppose it's really a locked house mystery! I didn't really get a feel of the 70's, well except for the obvious lack of mobile phones etc. but then again, the author didn't shove the decade down your throat, as some tend to do. All in all, it really was quite a good read.
May 6, 2025
The book was written well l must say l was surprised who the murderer was l never expected it to be the accountant although having said that l should have suspected it when the orphanage was not getting much money
January 1, 2023
Un libro clásico policiaco que se puede leer en un día perezoso.
December 14, 2024
A lot of fun. Golden age style detective fiction set in the 1970s. Transparent solution I'm afraid but I enjoyed it anyway.
January 27, 2025
Anthony Seldon stole the show!
March 8, 2025
8 March 2025
3.5 rounded up. Too many loose ends.
3.5 rounded up. Too many loose ends.
March 12, 2025
Lettuce Coopers only murder mystery, written in the 70s but it feels Golden Age.
It’s fairly procedural, with no deductive leaps or Christie style twists but it’s well written and enjoyable.
It’s fairly procedural, with no deductive leaps or Christie style twists but it’s well written and enjoyable.
March 23, 2025
A good period mystery
June 3, 2025
A 1970s crime novel written in the classic format. Such a good read. Would highly recommend
June 4, 2025
British library crime classic . Enjoyable.
June 29, 2025
It was ok but I didn’t find any of the characters very interesting or likeable so I wasn’t very interested in finding out who did it or why and I thought the ending was quite weak.
September 17, 2025
I loved this. I listened to it and it was like watching an old time detective show from the 40’s or 50’s. The audio narrator was fantastic too. A classic!
October 24, 2025
no twists and turns, slow paced...not my bag unfortunately.
December 27, 2020
2,5 estrellas.
Inicio prometedor que enseguida pierde interés.
Los personajes sospechosos apenas interactúan entre sí, algunos apenas aparecen, hay un par que se descartan pronto y otros dos o tres que tienen posibilidades, aunque pronto se deduce quién será.
Apenas se puede empatizar con algún personaje, el policía, la difunta, algún secundario no implicado en el crimen y poco más.
Todo interrogatorios y viajes de un policía carente de personalidad o rasgos que llamen la atención. Curiosamente es él, felizmente casado, quien tiene los comentarios o pensamientos más desagradables en cuanto a las mujeres.
Entretenida, demasiado sencilla, algo decepcionante.
Inicio prometedor que enseguida pierde interés.
Los personajes sospechosos apenas interactúan entre sí, algunos apenas aparecen, hay un par que se descartan pronto y otros dos o tres que tienen posibilidades, aunque pronto se deduce quién será.
Apenas se puede empatizar con algún personaje, el policía, la difunta, algún secundario no implicado en el crimen y poco más.
Todo interrogatorios y viajes de un policía carente de personalidad o rasgos que llamen la atención. Curiosamente es él, felizmente casado, quien tiene los comentarios o pensamientos más desagradables en cuanto a las mujeres.
Entretenida, demasiado sencilla, algo decepcionante.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews