Spirits Revived

January 13, 2014
In Duncan’s amiable seventh Daisy Gumm Majesty cozy (after 2012’s Ancient Spirits), her heroine, a church choir member and medium living in 1923 Pasadena, Calif., is surprised when a séance she’s leading attracts a real ghost. Daisy, whose husband, Billy, killed himself after returning from WWI, uses spiritualism to support her mother, father, and Aunt Viola, despite knowing she has no real psychic abilities. Thus, she’s surprised when deceased attorney Eddie Hastings appears to proclaim that his death was not suicide, and that he was murdered. Daisy searches for a way to share this info with her best friend, police detective and skeptic Sam Rotondo, without revealing its source. In the meantime, while hobnobbing with her upper-crust clients, she investigates Eddie’s claim on her own. With charm, wit, and plenty of smarts, Daisy is a winning protagonist and, backed up by equally delightful supporting characters, should be in for a long and popular run.

December 15, 2013
A fake spiritualist is shocked when she has a real ghostly experience. Daisy Gumm Majesty makes a living catering to the spiritualist beliefs of wealthy women near her Pasadena home. Since the suicide of her husband, who was unable to stand the physical and mental pain of the wounds he sustained in the Great War, she's lived with her parents and Aunt Vi, watched over by her husband's best friend, Pasadena detective Sam Rotondo. Imagine her surprise when the spirit of Eddie Hastings takes over her body at a seance. Declared a suicide, Eddie was actually murdered, and both he and his distressed mother call on Daisy for help. Daisy does not dare tell Sam, who's always annoyed when she becomes involved in murder cases (Ancient Spirits, 2012, etc.). Instead, she sets out to investigate on her own. Fortunately, an old friend is a secretary at the law firm of Eddie's father, a man as widely disliked as Eddie was liked. Daisy also talks to her family doctor, who finds out from the coroner that Eddie died from a heroin overdose, although no needle or drugs were found. Sam is furious when Daisy tells him about the cause of death. Despite the care the powerful elder Hastings took to hush up Eddie's death, however, Sam begins to investigate, thinking that it may be connected to a drug smuggling case he's already working on. Despite Sam's warnings, Daisy continues to poke into the case, only to find that a hornet's nest awaits her. A slight, simple mystery for readers who'd like to learn more about life on both sides of the tracks in California during the Jazz Age.

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February 1, 2014

Widowed Daisy, still working as a medium in Pasadena, CA, finds herself in trouble with a drug ring when a seance goes awry. Duncan's cozy historical series, circa 1923, features laughter and strong family connections. This is number seven for Daisy (after Ancient Spirits).

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