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Daisy Gumm Majesty Books in Order

Part ofAlice Duncan Books in Order

Browse the Daisy Gumm Majesty books by Alice Duncan in order, with quick summaries, character notes, series background, and where to start.

Last updated: July 1, 2026

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Publication Order

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20 books

1

Fine Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2003

Daisy is called in to deal with a supposedly haunted basement, but ghosts are the least of the problem. What she finds instead is a frightened young woman and a mystery Sam will not ignore.

2

Strong Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2003

In 1920 Pasadena, fake medium Daisy Gumm Majesty is barely supporting her family when a wealthy client's missing husband turns into a murder case. Detective Sam Rotondo wants Daisy's help, whether she likes it or not.

3

High Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2008

A seance, a speakeasy, and gangsters are more than Daisy wanted to juggle at once. But when crime edges into her life again, she and Sam have to work together to outmaneuver dangerous men.

4

Hungry Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2010

Daisy reluctantly agrees to teach a cooking class for poor women at Johnny Buckingham's request. When one of her students vanishes, the lessons turn into a dangerous investigation.

5

Genteel Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2011

Family strain and fresh trouble pull Daisy into a polished Pasadena world where good manners hide fear, secrets, and crime. She will need tact, nerve, and her usual stubborn curiosity.

6

Ancient Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2012

After Billy's death, Daisy is adrift. A trip with Harold and Sam leads her into a fresh mystery and gently pushes her toward life, purpose, and the possibility of healing.

7

Dark Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2014

A darker-than-usual Pasadena case tests Daisy's instincts and Sam's patience. Old grudges, hidden motives, and one suspicious death turn this investigation into a dangerous tangle.

8

Spirits Revived

by Alice Duncan

2014

Just when Daisy begins to think life may steady, a new case stirs up grief, memory, and danger. Solving it means trusting herself again after a season of loss.

9

Spirits Onstage

by Alice Duncan

2015

Daisy never expected her fake spiritual gifts to land her onstage in *The Mikado*. When trouble erupts around the production, she has to solve a mystery while surviving rehearsal, gossip, and nerves.

10

Unsettled Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2015

Daisy longs for a little peace, but chaos has other plans. When an upsetting public incident opens the door to murder, she and Sam find themselves chasing a case that will not stay quiet.

11

Bruised Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2016

A painful brush with danger leaves Daisy shaken but not deterred. The more she asks questions, the clearer it becomes that someone in Pasadena is willing to hurt again.

12

Spirits United

by Alice Duncan

2017

Daisy goes to the library looking for a book and finds a corpse instead. The discovery pulls her into another Pasadena mystery where quiet rooms hide very lively motives.

13

Spirits Unearthed

by Alice Duncan

2018

A visit to Billy's grave leads Daisy straight into trouble when a stray clue points to a body. Soon she and Sam are digging into a murder that refuses to stay buried.

14

Scarlet Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2019

A former madam comes to Pasadena hoping to build a respectable new life. When her past begins to threaten her future, Daisy and Sam step into a case full of reinvention, danger, and old secrets.

15

Shaken Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2019

On New Year's Day, Daisy expects Pasadena pageantry, not crime. A shocking turn during the Rose Parade leaves her chasing answers through crowds, gossip, and a case that rattles everyone involved.

16

Exercised Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2020

Daisy is already annoyed about joining an exercise class when a woman vanishes from an orange grove mansion. The search draws Daisy, Sam, and Lou Prophet into another dangerous Pasadena puzzle.

17

Wedded Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2022

Daisy Gumm Majesty expects wedding nerves, not a corpse. When murder intrudes on the big day, she and Sam have to untangle the case before celebration can turn into disaster.

18

Domesticated Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2023

Newly married Daisy and Sam Rotondo are hoping for a quieter life in Pasadena. Then a cat digs up old bones, and their domestic peace disappears under a fresh mystery with deep roots.

19

Library Spirits

by Alice Duncan

2024

When Daisy's old enemy Stacy Kincaid is murdered in the Pasadena Public Library gazebo, suspicion falls on Lou Prophet. Daisy means to clear him, even if the case stirs up every old grudge in sight.

20

Spirits Adopted

by Alice Duncan

2025

A baby left on Harold Kincaid's doorstep should be a blessing, not the start of a mystery. Daisy soon finds that abandoned infants can bring out secrets as troubling as murder.

Series background & context

The Daisy Gumm Majesty books are historical cozy mysteries set in Pasadena in the years just after World War I. Their heroine is Daisy Gumm Majesty, a young woman who makes a living as a spiritualist, though she knows perfectly well she is not speaking to the dead. She reads cards, stages seances, and takes money from clients with more wealth than good sense, all while trying to keep food on the table for herself and the people who depend on her.

That setup gives the series its spark. Daisy is a fraud in one very specific way, but she is not a bad person. She is trying to survive in a hard time, and she has a sharp conscience even when she would rather not. In the early books, her wounded veteran husband Billy is part of the emotional center of the story, and his struggles remind you that the war is not really over for the people who came home carrying it with them.

Then there is Detective Sam Rotondo.

Sam knows Daisy is putting on an act, and from the beginning he is both suspicious of her and strangely willing to use her talents when a case turns awkward. That push and pull becomes one of the real pleasures of the series. Their relationship starts as irritation, bargaining, and mutual skepticism, then slowly deepens as murders, disappearances, blackmail, and neighborhood scandals keep throwing them together.

Pasadena matters here as much as any character. These books love the details of daily life in the 1920s, the church socials, the Rose Parade, the quiet streets, the wealthy households, the leftovers of wartime grief, and the booming appetite for mediums, fads, and reinvention. Duncan lets Daisy move through all of it, from rich parlors to ordinary kitchens, so the series feels lived in rather than dressed up.

The mysteries themselves stay varied. One book may begin with a missing man, another with a baby on a doorstep, bones in a yard, a body in a library, or trouble backstage at a church production. What links them is not gore or shock, but Daisy's stubborn need to understand what is really going on. She notices people. She worries. She meddles. Usually she is right to.

The tone is cozy, funny, and humane. The books are clean in the old-fashioned sense, but they are not flimsy. Duncan keeps sight of money trouble, injury, class difference, loneliness, and the long shadow cast by the flu pandemic and the war. Even so, the prevailing feeling is warm. Readers come for the cases, but they stay for Daisy, Sam, Daisy's friends and family, and the sense that this whole odd little community keeps rolling forward together.

If you like historical mysteries with a strong setting, a practical heroine, and just enough emotional weight under the humor, this series has a lot to offer. Start with Strong Spirits if you want the clearest introduction, then read on in order to watch Daisy's world grow book by book.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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