Spirits Revived

Daisy Gumm Majesty Mystery #6.5

by Alice Duncan

When an actual spirit invades the body of fake spiritualist Daisy Gumm Majesty, Daisy is compelled to find the spirit's murderer, despite the fact that the death was officially ruled a suicide.

Genres: Mystery, Historical, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Paranormal, Historical Mystery

249 pages, Hardcover

First published March 19, 2014

About the author

Also writes as Emma Craig, Rachel Wilson, Anne Robins and wrote two books under the name of Jon Sharpe (Pecos Belle Brigade and California Crusader).

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

While Daisy’s clients pay well to have her ply her spiritualist trade she herself isn’t what you would call a true believer. Except to her surprise and to her family and friends disbelief one night during a seance an honest to goodness ghost appears and takes control of her to send a message about his murder. While she is shaken to the core by the event she still wants to help the grieving mother find out what really happened to her son. So she sets out asking questions and happens upon some unsettling discoveries. After the police open a new investigation thanks to her tips to Sam Daisy is supposed to be out of it and yet... she still finds herself getting into trouble even when she’s trying not to.
A delightful story with fun surprises for everyone including our intrepid Daisy. It’s good to see a more cheerful Daisy again after tragedy in previous stories. I enjoy the developing relationship with Sam. Looking forward to that blooming. They are a riot together and individually. These books are a lighthearted way to while away a couple hours. If you enjoy cozies and or historical mysteries you’ll enjoy Daisy Gumm Majesty and her adventures.
I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily review this book. This is my honest review.

[moxieBK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spirits Revived (A Daisy Gumm Majesty Mystery, Book 7) — Alice Duncan (25 chapters) Dec. 25-26, 2020.

Daisy is called to perform a seance in which a dead person absolutely appears. It not only freaks her out, but her client as well, but for the client, that is not a bad thing, since she fears her son was murdered and not committed suicide like the authorities believe.

Daisy still uses her real talent: observation and awareness to solve the case, with Sam lending a hand. Sam is still his gruff self, but there seems to be some thawing going on between them.

At the end, the mystery is solved, and Daisy is the heroine again.

This story is comfortable, and I didn’t feel like I wasted my reading minutes for it. I would like to see more paranormal stuff happening, but am unsure, as Daisy reacts to it negatively.

Some editing errors, but not too bad.

Four stars.

[Shirley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite in the series, but the plot moves Daisy along as she recovers from the death of her beloved husband a year earlier. Her relationship with Sam seems to be at a standstill. Most of the familiar characters reappear, along with a couple of new ones as Daisy continues to offer solace to her rich, but flighty clients through her seances. Though Daisy purports to be a spiritualist, she readily admits to herself that her 'talent' is a sham, and merely a harmless but profitable way to make a living for her extended family. She is surprised when her seance is interrupted by the voice of a man claiming his death was due to murder, not suicide. Now she must figure out how to tell Sam, or investigate the incident herself.

[Kerry Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having settled back into her normal life and looking more like her old self Daisy is asked to conduct a seance for one of her regulars when something unexpected happens. The son of one of the guests had recently died and she was asked to bring him forth to speak with his mother. Shockingly (for Daisy and Harold anyway) he actually does and says that it was murder, not suicide as written up in the police report, but he didn't see his murderer. Who is the murderer and what, if any, connection is there between this case and Mr Kincaid senior.
I received a free copy of this ebook from ebook discovery. This is my honest and freely given review.

[Cassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first foray into the series (checked it out from the library), but I enjoyed it and didn't have too much difficulty jumping in to the middle of the series. Overall, it was a fun read, and a nice cozy mystery. I quite enjoyed Daisy as a character, and there were some great lines in the book that made me laugh. Not super convinced on the romance, but that wasn't a central focus, so that's alright. Enjoyed the historical fiction aspects of it too. While of course Daisy's approach to diversity may seem antiquated, overall she is accepting and interested in different people, which I appreciate. In sum, a fun afternoon read. I would read other books in the series.

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy holds a seance for one of her wealthy customers and a real ghost comes through, shocking her to her core and leaving her distinctly uneasy. She knows no one will believe her and the police have written it off as suicide although the ghost claims it's murder, but doesn't know who killed him. So, how does she get Sam Rotondo, the detective who was a good friend of her husband's interested in opening the investigation as homicide? She knows no one will believe a ghost really spoke through her - except her clients......

[Fredell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read for a Spring afternoon. Duncan did her usual fine portrayal of the reluctant physic, Daisy Gumm Majesty.
I really enjoyed the new adventures of Daisy, her family and her co-horts. Duncan portrays the post-WWI Pasadena, California, with great accuracy and familiarity.
Daisy, Sam and Harold continue to be a cohesive group of characters.
I hope to continue reading about Daisy and her adventures in physic prediction and solving mysteries.

[Deborah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ebook has quite a few errors. Ladies line their eyes with kohl not coal. More than a few truly clunky sentences. A phrase that’s in the book twice in succession in the same sentence rending it unreadable. Characters seemed flat. Unfortunately, it was my first time reading this series, and my last

[Dorothy Sell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't disappointed with Daisy and her family and friends. This was an excellent follow up to her previous mischiefs! Reading #8 now and it's fun to see how things are going in her "work" life as well as per personal life. You really must read this series.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spirits Revived is the 7th in the Daisy Gumm Majesty series by Alice Duncan. Set in 1924 Pasadena, it is one of the better ones of the series with a pretty good mystery driving the plot and several events that could announce significant changes to the background story.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entry in a good cozy mystery series is like visiting old friends. This is a good series.

[Rej · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short read. I like the series because of the story of how Daisy’s life and love story with Sam unfolds. On to book 7

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spirits Revived
By Alice Duncan
Five Star
March 2014

Daisy Gumm Majesty is back in Pasadena, California after her exciting and harrowing trip to Egypt with her good pal Harold Kincaid, and they were later joined by Detective Sam Rotondo just in the nick of time. It has been one year since Billy Majesty’s death and Daisy has come out of her profound grief and depression. She is back to work in her spiritualist persona and is holding a séance for Mrs. Hastings, whose son Eddie committed suicide. Mrs. Hastings does not believe for one second that Eddie took his own life, and lo and behold Eddie actually takes over Daisy’s subconscious and demands that his killer be found! In all of her years as a fake medium this has never happened to Daisy and it certainly shakes her up.

Since Daisy cannot ask the police to reopen Eddie’s case because the deceased told her he was murdered, she starts her own investigation, and immediately makes waves. Sam Rotondo, Billy’s best friend and a friend to all the Gumm family, tries to talk some sense into Daisy, or at least tell him why this case should be reopened as a homicide. Sam has never been a fan of Daisy’s livelihood, so there is no way he will believe the truth.

SPIRITS REVIVED, like all the books in this series, is a joy to read due to the awesome talent and smooth narrative of Alice Duncan. The people in the Daisy Gumm stories are quite real, interesting, and likeable, and the plots are plausible and thoroughly enjoyable. Daisy and Sam have developed a truce, and he is always there to help her out of the messes she manages to get herself into. SPIRITS REVIVED is a wonderful way to kick back and be mightily entertained for a few hours.


Betty Cox, Staff Reader
ReaderToReader.com

[Jacqueline Seewald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spirits Revived continues the Daisy Gumm Majesty mystery series in style. For those unfamiliar with this enjoyable historical cozy series, let me just say you are missing out on a fun read. Set in 1920’s Pasadena, California, the novel recreates the language, customs, history, and general sense of the era to perfection. The clothes are right as are the culinary descriptions. The novel is told from Daisy’s viewpoint and she has a distinctive voice. Daisy is an original. She is a young woman who lost her war injured husband to suicide the previous year. Daisy has felt depressed and guilty about Billy’s death, but she valiantly manages to carry on. She describes herself as a fake spiritualist who wealthy people turn to for help. However, during a séance, the spirit of a dead man enters her body. He tells the eight people present that he was murdered. Mrs. Hastings, Eddie’s mother, asks Daisy to look into the matter. Police detective, Sam Rotondo, who loves Daisy, tries to warn Daisy off investigating on her own. The police had previously declared the young lawyer’s death a suicide. But the more others tell her about Eddie Hastings, the more Daisy realizes he really was murdered. Daisy’s life is soon placed in jeopardy but she perseveres. An exciting, fast-paced mystery with lots of personality and humor. I strongly recommend it.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love the daisy books set in old time pasadena! im so glad to get this new one so soon after it came out! its been a long time since the last one.

this one opens after billy died. daisy is visiting his grave at the cemetery in altadena with her dog and meets sam the cop who was not too far away visiting his wifes grave at the same time.


daisy has a seance and for the first time a voice came thru her body, it was the ladies dead son saying to find the person who murdered him-turned out they injected him with heron, which daisy didnt know about and they had to keep explaining to everyone that it was not a female hero!

daisy helped to find the person, at great risk to herself
the law office people were involved
and the x husband of the lady broke out of prison

she went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant with sam and the rest of her family. her aunt vi said sam loves her and he had told her he did in the last book , but things arent moving very fast between them.

her aunt vi did cooking from the turkish cook book she brought back from her trip in the last book

sam doesnt like her getting involved in dangerous things.


i really enjoyed this book. i love hearing what streets places are on and picturing it in my mind

[Krystyna · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the fake turns real!

Awesome. A bit like P G Wodehouse meets Nancy Drew. A few laughs and a whole lot of emotion are carefully crafted into a read that has slight F. Scott Fitzgerald overtones but is a much better read (I'm really not a fan of his work). Take a seance that has a real ghost come through stating that he was murdered, a nosy nelly spiritualist, a prison break, a drugs ring and a whole lot of characters who want to believe that their part of the world is wholesome and kind. But is it? Sam the detective has learned otherwise in his long life in the police force. Whilst Daisy is driven by the fact that a real ghost has said that he won't be able to rest until his murderer is found even though the death was written off as suicide. Can she find out what actually happened without getting into trouble? Plus there is the added problem of her attraction to Sam and the daily breakdowns of Mrs P.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this 20s flapper turned fake spiritualist, but kept getting put off by her tone. She's supposed to be kind of a guilt-ridden, but look on the bright side, fairly dithery but smart girl, I think, but I kept going back over sentences that didn't seem to ring true when she was thinking to herself. She has one real experience at her fake seance in which the ghost of the murdered man inexplicably speaks through her, then never again. I think I lost patience with her dithering about her possible boyfriend and whether or not she was a good person. Still, the plot was an interesting one, involving heroin ("why is a female heroine evil?" the characters say) and much danger for Daisy.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much as I love the mysteries featuring phony spiritualist Daisy Gumm Majesty, I was a bit disappointed by this one. A real spirit comes to Daisy at a seance, saying that he has been murdered and asking for his mother, one of the wealthy Pasadena matrons in attendance, to find out who killed him. Naturally, she asks Daisy to help. Daisy can scarcely go to her late husband's best friend, policeman Sam, and say that a spirit told her he'd been murdered. So she's forced to find out herself. A lot of the book seems to be about the various kinds of foreign food available in Pasadena in the 1920's, when the story is set.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the acknowledgements, Duncan alludes to having written this book during a difficult stretch in her life. Unfortunately that shows. I have read the other books in this series and found them to be diverting enough escapes, but the writing seems clunky in this one, with a fairly flimsy plot and stagnant relationships among the core characters. Daisy seems to spend most of her time reading, cleaning house, walking the dog and having meals, when she isn't dealing with a difficult (and very annoying) client. While those things are necessary parts of life, I suppose, they aren't gripping storytelling. I hope that Duncan will get both her life and this series back on track soon.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am happy to see the new Daisy Gumm book. I was disappoint in it. Much of the is a repeat of what had gone before. You can read this book without reading the previous ones. Daisy is beginning to live again. She is still holding seance and at one a stranger Eddie Hasting speaks through Daisy and tells every that he was murdered. Daisy promises his Mother she will looked into the smarter. Sam tells Daisy stay out of it as the police are looking into a related case. Of course Daisy keeps looking into the matter. What happens who will find answers?

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This entertaining mystery is set in 1920s Pasadena. The amateur sleuth is a young girl who makes a living as a spiritualist. In this book, she is recovering from the death of her husband. He had been a disabled war veteran. She has been asked to help solve the murder of a young lawyer by his mother. Since the death was caused by a drug overdose it might also involve a local drug smuggling ring.

[Tressa M. Barrows · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hoot of a read

Consider yourself a spiritualist but know you are a fake, only wishing to give comfort and solace to those who have lost a loved one. Now consider that a real spirit speaks through you and one of your séances. Boy are you in for trouble now, because this spirit claims to have been murdered. As per Mrs. Majesty's history, a rollicking good game is a foot.

[Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy encountered an actual spirit in a seance! All I can say is wow. This book had the usual twists and turns and I loved every second of it! And I’m enjoying this blossoming romance between Daisy and Sam (even though I do miss Billy). Overall, great book!

I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily review this book. This is my honest review.

[Gina H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love these books

I love these books! I’m constantly looking up information from that time, I can see what the building, clothes, and areas look like . Alice Duncan does a wonderful job rounding out her characters, and I love that they are clean. Can’t get enough of them!

[Carolyn Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daisy the fake psychic has a delightful matter-of-face voice. This is a "gentle" mystery with a host of amusing characters and a terrific feel for the time (early 1920s) and place (Pasadena).

[Nikki]

I decided to wait and read the intervening books in the series first (I've read the first in the series.)

[Beth Yeary]

Thanks to Barnes and Noble, I've beenable to keep up with this series. Daisy Majesty and her family and friends seem like old friend to me now. I enjoy the quick reads, and the mild comedy.