The Christmas Tree Murders: ‘Imagine Janice Hallett writing a Victorian murder mystery’ – A gripping, festive read from the HWA shortlisted author

Katie Lumsden

Nov 2026 · Penguin · Narrated by Katie Lumsden, Rufus Wright, Joanna David, David Nellist, Montserrat Lombard, Liam Garrigan, Esh Alladi, Nikki Patel, Cicely Whitehead, Sam Swann, and Roy McMillan

Audiobook

11 hr 19 min

Unabridged

Eligible

This book will become available on November 5, 2026. You will not be charged until it is released.

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About this audiobook

THE DELICIOUSLY DARK VICTORIAN MURDER MYSTERY

It is December 1884, and we have a murder to solve.

Come, my friend – follow me, for we have much to see this festive season.

First, a house: a brand-new country estate, with all the latest technological innovations – electric light-bulbs, running water, dumb-waiters, hydraulic lifts.

Second, a family: celebrated inventor Sir Russell Morgan, his grown-up children, his elegant new wife.

Next, their guests: the great and the good (well, the rich), dressed in all their finery, eager to celebrate Christmas at Clifftop House.

And finally: a body – for what festive mystery would be complete without one? Here lies one of the servants, laid out beneath the Christmas-tree, his hands covered in burns.

The police dismiss his death as an accident, but our heroine, Millie – kitchenmaid and keen reader of sensation novels – is not so sure.

Christmas Day is fast approaching. Can we solve the mystery of Clifftop House before another guest meets an untimely end?

'Clever, intriguing and beautifully atmospheric...an immaculate slice of festive fiction. The characters are vivid and electric, the plot unfolds like a perfect Victorian puzzle-box and the writing is just sumptuous' ALEX HAY

'Superb...a rich puzzle imbued with all the splendour of the Victorian Gothic’ TOM MEAD

'Delightfully festive and irresistibly addictive. An essential addition to your Christmas list' JESSICA BULL

Perfect for fans of:
- Female sleuths
- The Victorian period
- Upstairs/downstairs dynamics
- Witty narrators
- Cosy crime

THE DELICIOUSLY DARK VICTORIAN MURDER MYSTERY It is December 1884, and we have a murder to solve. Come, my friend – follow me, for we have much to see this festive season. First, a house: a brand-new country estate, with all the latest technological innovations – electric light-bulbs, running wa...

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About the author

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 37,000 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.

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