First Lines Fridays 5th December 2025 | Jo Linsdell

First Lines Fridays 5th December 2025

                   

First Lines Fridays


Books: First Lines Fridays 5th December 2025

Every Friday, I like to take a closer look at the lines that start it all — those opening sentences that invite you into another world. Sometimes they’re from books I’ve read, sometimes from titles waiting patiently on my TBR. Can you guess which one I’ve chosen this week?

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Why I Love First Lines Fridays

I'm joining in with First Lines Fridays because it’s a brilliant way to highlight more books from my own collection. Whether it’s a current read or one still on my TBR pile, I love sharing those unforgettable opening lines that instantly grab you.


What is First Lines Fridays?

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? 

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page 
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first 
  • Finally… reveal the book!

My First Lines Pick For This Week


The first lines of the book:


Camille had settled well in her new house in Birdcage Mews. It had been rather a shock to discover that her husband, Lord Henry Divine, known affectionately to his friends as Harry, had promoted his mistress to potential wife. She had been rather like a dark shadow to Camille, a cloud that hovered just above their union, out of reach and untouchable, and one that could not be dissipated, no matter how much vehemence she threw at it. Harry would not be moved, neither backwards nor forwards. He stuck resolutely to his position, no matter how much she flounced, begged, cried, or even when she threw the Dresden figure at him. It had once been his beloved mother’s, a piece coveted by him for that very reason. He had simply bent down retrieved the jagged pieces from the floor. After giving her a look that would curdle the milk in the silver jug on the tray brought in by the maid for their tea, and who had scuttled out again, so frightened was she of being caught up in the storm, left the room quietly and with such dignity it finally dawned on Camille; there was absolutely nothing she could do to evict the recalcitrant woman from the life they had made together.


Do you know which book this is from? Scroll down to find out!


First Lines Fridays



And the book is...


The Christmas Tree Murders (Camille Divine #1) by Andrea Hicks


About the book


Book synopsis for The Christmas Tree Murders (Camille Divine #1) by Andrea Hicks

The Christmas trees in Knightsbridge sparkle with festive joy, and there’s nothing more fun than Christmas cocktail parties to ring in the new year of 1922.

Camille Divine, known as Lady Camille Divine, has decorated her little house in Birdcage Mews with glistening decorations and a beautiful Christmas tree, but she has more on her mind than the festive season. Lady Phoebe Carruthers has begged Camille and her maid, Cecily to investigate the disappearance of her personal maid. Then women begin to disappear off the street, their bodies left under the Christmas trees that stand in front of London's most popular landmarks. Something links the women who have been murdered and Phoebe's maid, and Camille is determined to find out what the connection is before another woman is murdered.

She realises there is safety in numbers, that she can do so much more with a team of resolute women by her side, so she recruits some of our old friends, Carrie, Elsie, Dorothy and Ida to help her discover what happened to Phoebe's maid, and why so many women are being murdered in such a brutal way.


Buy now



Where to find The Christmas Tree Murders (Camille Divine #1) by Andrea Hicks online: 

 



First Lines Fridays


Have you read this book?

Have you read The Christmas Tree Murders by Andrea Hicks? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! If you enjoy guessing books from their opening lines, make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss next week’s First Lines Fridays post.





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