Author Information
Joyce Christmas's Latest Book

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  • Bibliography:
    19 Books (2 Series)
  • First Book:
    March 1982
  • Latest Book:
    July 2002
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Full Series List in Order

A Betty Trenka Mystery

1 - This Business Is Murder (Aug-1993)
2 - Death at Face Value (Apr-1995)
3 - Downsized to Death (Nov-1997)
4 - Mood to Murder (Jun-1999)
5 - A Better Class of Murder (Nov-2000)

A Lady Margaret Priam Mystery

1 - Suddenly in Her Sorbet (Jun-1988)
2 - Simply to Die for (Sep-1989)
3 - A Fete Worse Than Death (Aug-1990)
4 - A Stunning Way to Die (Jan-1991)
5 - Friend or Faux (Nov-1991)
6 - It's Her Funeral (Aug-1992)
7 - A Perfect Day for Dying (Feb-1994)
8 - Mourning Gloria (Sep-1996)
9 - Going Out in Style (Jun-1998)
10 - Dying Well (Jun-2000)
11 - Forged in Blood (Jul-2002)

Book List in Order: 19 titles



  • The novel opens with young Hattie Bell deep in a nightmare, dreaming of the baby and husband she lost a few years before. She's currently pregnant, the anonymous surrogate mother for a childless couple. Her hope is that the birth of the baby will end...





  • Formal dress and a sharp eye were de rigueur Thursday last, when Helene Harpennis, the busiest fundraiser in the social register, hosted a gala charity ball.
    Who could have guessed that the grandest of dames would fall victim to poisoned sorbet? P...



  • Acting as temporary guardian to the niece of her friend, socialite Lynne Jordan, Lady Margaret Priam becomes involved in the mystery surrounding the murder of the young woman's mother four years earlier...



  • A social climber scales her last ladder in this Lady Margaret Priam Mystery, where just before one of her own soirees, Lady Ross is unceremoniously strangled. A guest of the party herself, Lady Margaret Priam quietly figures things out on her own. Th...



  • Antiques dealer Bedros Kasparian calls in his old friend Lady Margaret Priam to investigate when the body of a beautiful blackmailer and soon-to-be-ex-wife of a wealthy Hollywood lawyer, Sylvie Code, is found in his shop...



  • IT'S NOT SO MUCH THE HEAT AS THE ENNUI.... Since Manhattan's summer season is ever so dull, what else can Lady Margaret Priam do but Treed her brother's desperate fax and return to the family castle especially since one of his guests has been murd...



  • While it is safe to say that neighborhood busybody Frances Rassell was not well liked, who despised her enough to kill her? An outspoken opponent of a luxury high rise built by the Texas millions of Lady Margaret Priam's dear friend Carolyn Sue Hoope...



  • FORCED OUT OF A JOB AND INTO A MURDER INVESTIGATION Betty Trenka isn't exactly looking forward to retirement. She knows how to run an office better than men or women half her age. But she has no choice, and she takes her pension and retires to a s...






  • When a posh party in the Caribbean arranged by Lady Margaret's good friend and ne'er-do-well Paul Castrocani, for wealthy Lord Fairfane, provides the setting for two murders, Lady Margaret flies to the scene. An expert in upper-crust mruder, she pose...



  • Retired businesswoman Betty Trenka figures that typing the memoirs of a famous artist could be fun. That is, until she meets the ruthlessly vain Crispin Abbott and the bikini-clad blonde who shares his luxuriously remodeled farmhouse in rural Connect...



  • Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Phyllis A. Whitney, author of more than seventy bestsellers, presides over a salon of today's wittiest writers of mystery in this sparkling new addition to the series. MALICE DOMESTIC 5 once again delivers the ...



  • LOOK WHO'S BACK IN TOWN. . .
    None other than notorious Gloria Gilpin Forsythe Anton--with a fresh face-lift, a new husband, and plans for a major social comeback. But Gloria is riding for a fall--a fatal one--down the back stairs of an old East Si...



  • IT'S A CRIME THE WAY THE OFFICE IS RUN THESE DAYS.

    Between the murder of frail Mr. Takahashi, who owned the greenhouse near Betty Trenka's home, and the stroke that incapacitates her retired boss Sid, Betty's not in the best of spirits.



  • DEATH IN THE FAMILY

    Rich and stylish Dianne Stark has it all: good looks, wealthy husband, cute baby, Fifth Avenue apartment. So why is she suddenly restless and anxious, hinting at secret troubles?

    Lady Margaret Priam suspects her fri...



  • DANCE TILL YOU DROP . . . DEAD! It's spring, the daffodils are blooming, and the kids at East Moulton High are all revving up for their May Day prom. But Betty Trenka, temping in the principal's office, feels uneasy. If only the other kids didn...



  • A CRIME DE LA CREME Everybody who is anybody is bending an elbow at Dr. Dale Reeve's fiftieth-birthday bash. But Lady Margaret Priam is uneasy--the glittering crowd includes not only Dale's wife but also his mistress; not just his spoiled children...



  • For the first time ever, Lady Margaret Priam and Betty Trenka join forces--to solve a high-tech Manhattan murder among the very rich. To her delighted surprise, suburban sleuth Betty Trenka finds herself ensconced in a luxurious New York City hote...



  • When Lady Margaret Priam and Betty Trenka take a Roman holiday, they discover a masterpiece of murder. A European vacation with her new friend, Lady Margaret Priam, is an excellent opportunity for suburban sleuth Betty Trenka to expand her horizon...





Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Joyce Christmas has published 19 books.

Joyce Christmas does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Forged in Blood, was published in July 2002.

The first book by Joyce Christmas, Blood Child, was published in March 1982.

Yes. Joyce Christmas has 2 series.