Alice Duncan books

A Faerie Tale Romance Reading Order

Anthologies

Daisy Gumm Majesty Mystery Reading Order

Haunting Hearts Reading Order

Irish Eyes Reading Order

It’s a Dog’s Life Reading Order

Land of Enchantment Reading Order

Meet Me at the Fair Reading Order

Mercy Allcutt Mystery Reading Order

Pecos Valley Reading Order

Standalone Novels

The Dream Maker Reading Order

Alice Duncan is an American author who has been publishing historical romance and mystery fiction since the mid-1990s. Her most sustained achievement is the Daisy Gumm Majesty Mystery series, which began in 2003 with Strong Spirits and has continued past twenty entries. The series is set in 1920s Pasadena, California, and follows Daisy Majesty, a young widow who earns a living as a fake spiritualist – conducting seances, reading cards, and pretending to commune with the dead for wealthy clients. The historical setting is carefully rendered, with Pasadena’s class structure, the period’s racial dynamics, and the daily texture of 1920s life all present in the background.

Before the mystery series, Duncan published extensively in historical romance, beginning with Western romances in the mid-1990s. Her early series – A Faerie Tale Romance, Irish Eyes, It’s a Dog’s Life, and others published through Leisure Books and Dorchester – are light historical romances often with a fairy-tale or regional American flavor. She was a prolific contributor to the Leisure Books romance line throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Duncan has also published the Mercy Allcutt Mystery series, set in 1920s Los Angeles, which follows a young woman from Boston who moves west and becomes involved in investigations. The Mercy Allcutt series has now passed ten books and runs alongside the Daisy Gumm series. Across her career, Duncan has shown a consistent preference for the 1920s American West as a setting and for protagonists who are resourceful women navigating limited circumstances with humor and determination.