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The Christmas Tree Murders
  • Published: 5 December 2026
  • ISBN: 9780241826584
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $45.00
Categories:

The Christmas Tree Murders

Formats & editions
Hardback
5 Dec 2026
EBook
5 Nov 2026
Audiobook
5 Nov 2026
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A Christmas party. Two dead bodies. A mystery no one can solve.
A festive Victorian murder mystery for fans of Denzil Meyrick and Nicola Upson

December 1883. Inventor and millionaire Sir Russell Morgan has invited his friends and investors to celebrate Christmas at Clifftop House. But when a footman is found dead – electrocuted – on the very first night of the party, festivities are thrown to the wind. The police dismiss Fred’s death as an accident, but his friend Millie, the kitchenmaid, is not so sure.
Who would have wanted to kill Fred? Did he know a secret about the Morgan family? Or about Sir Russell’s guests?
Christmas Day comes, and with it another dead body.
Can the killer be caught before they strike again?
  • Published: 5 December 2026
  • ISBN: 9780241826584
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $45.00
Categories:

About the author

Katie Lumsden

Katie Lumsden read Jane Eyre at the age of thirteen and never looked back. She spent her teenage years devouring nineteenth century literature, reading every Dickens, Brontë, Gaskell, Austen and Hardy novel she could find. She has a degree in English literature and history from the University of Durham and an MA in creative writing from Bath Spa University. Her short stories have been shortlisted for the London Short Story Prize and the Bridport Prize, and have been published in various literary magazines. Katie's YouTube channel, Books and Things, has more than 28,000 subscribers. She lives in London and works as an editor. Katie's debut novel, The Secrets of Hartwood Hall, was shortlisted for the HWA Debut Crown Award. Her second novel, The Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hurst, is a love letter to Jane Austen and Elizabeth Gaskell.
KL

Also by Katie Lumsden

The Trouble With Mrs Montgomery Hurst
The Secrets of Hartwood Hall
See all

Praise for The Christmas Tree Murders

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PRAISE FOR KATIE LUMSDEN

Vivid, haunting, surprising

STACEY HALLS

A full-blooded gothic mystery with bite, great characterisation and heaps of atmosphere

EMMA STONEX

This book delivers HUGE Jane Eyre vibes, gothic and mysterious Victoriana. I LOVED it

SOPHIE IRWIN

A suspenseful and beautifully crafted novel filled with atmosphere, rich characters and plenty of layers to keep a reader hooked right to the end

SUSAN STOKES-CHAPMAN

An intriguing delight, with scandal, gossip and romance, and a cast of characters Jane Austen would be proud of

ESSIE FOX

A brilliantly creepy and utterly compelling read

CAROLINE LEA

Dark, twisty, gothic and full of surprises ... a deliciously atmospheric page-turner

LIZ HYDER

A fabulous book, I was immersed from the very first page. Katie Lumsden writes with wonderful style, confidence, and absolute control. The Christmas-Tree Murders is superb entertainment, a rich puzzle imbued with all the splendour of the Victorian Gothic

TOM MEAD, author of DEATH AND THE CONJUROR

Full of atmosphere and fantastic characters. This is a proper Victorian murder mystery that kept me turning the pages to find out whodunnit. A perfect Christmas read.

LOUISE HARE

This is the perfect read to curl up with on Christmas Day. I was completely immersed in the windswept, snowy surrounds of Clifftop House, captivated by the charming and wry omniscient narrator from the very first line, and thoroughly entertained by the eclectic cast of characters who have plenty of secrets between them. The chapters are expertly paced, and the attention to historical accuracy is (as fans of Lumsden have come to expect) impeccable. Katie has outdone herself with this clever, witty and warm mystery. I hope it goes flying off the shelves and winds up under Christmas trees up and down the country.

LEXY HUDSON

Uniquely voiced, and murderously charming, this thoroughly beguiling whodunnit should be under everyone’s Christmas tree this year.

LISA TIMONEY

A deliciously entertaining murder mystery with a unique historical setting. I loved the feast of characters, especially the unstoppable Millie, and the very original narrator was a touch of genius

SARAH DUNNAKEY