The Case Of Alan Copeland
The Case of Alan Copeland – Moray Dalton
I number Moray Dalton as one of my detective fiction finds, a now sadly neglected writer, whose fortunes the excellent Dean Street Press are trying to revive by reissuing her works. Quite why writers fall so dramatically out of fashion has puzzled greater minds than mine. In Dalton’s case, was it her failure to crack the lucrative American market or her subject matter? She has a penchant for diving into the murkier side of life. I have read stories involving drug taking and transvestism and this, her seventeenth, published in 1937, deals with sex out of wedlock and illegitimacy. Not subjects you would want your wife or servants to read about.
The book falls into two parts, the set up and then the court case. Alan Copeland has moved into the quiet English village of Teene, where he is trapped into marriage with an older, richer woman, who resents and frustrates his attempts to earn his own living as a poultry farmer. He falls hopelessly in love with the vicar’s niece, Lydia, who has come to Teene for a few days and she falls pregnant, unbeknown to Alan. She returns to London, the pair correspond and then Alan’s wife dies suddenly. Now freed of the encumbrance that was his wife, Alan goes to London, discovers Lydia’s condition, marries her and they go off travelling.
After a few months, somewhat surprisingly, the couple decide to settle back in Teene. This is when the trouble starts. Anonymous letters are sent to the police, claiming that Alan’s former wife had been poisoned. The body is exhumed and found to be full of arsenic. Alan is arrested and the second half of the book deals with his trial. The evidence against him looks to be conclusive but slowly and surely his defence team unearth some evidence that may just prove his innocence.
It all makes for a gripping and entertaining read. What, I think, helps make a good Dalton book is her characterisation. Most of the villagers we meet have an underlying nasty streak and are willing to stick the knife in and let their feelings be known. There are seething jealousies and a propensity for gossip and malice. The famous English sangfroid you associate with country folk is nowhere to be seen in Teene. Even Lydia’s uncle, the vicar, seems more interested in his books than the fate of his niece. The resolution of the case has some twists and turns along the way as not everything is as it seems. Only quick work avoids a second tragedy at the end of the tale.
Moray Dalton is an author well worth exploring, if you like your crime novels well-written and well-paced. I know I certainly do.
