REVIEW: Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd

JayneB Reviews / Book Reviews1950s / amateur sleuths / England / murder mystery / older woman2 Comments

I believe every one of us at Gulls Nest is concealing some kind of secret.

1954: When her former novice’s dependable letters stop, Nora Breen asks to be released from her vows. Haunted by a line in Frieda’s letter, Nora arrives at Gulls Nest, a charming hotel in Gore-on-Sea in Kent.

A seaside town, a place of fresh air and relaxed constraints, is the perfect place for a new start. Nora hides her identity and pries into the lives of her fellow guests. But when a series of bizarre murders rattles the occupants of Gulls Nest it’s time to ask if a dark past can ever really be left behind.

CW –

Dear Ms. Kidd, 

It was the fact that the main character of this book is a former nun that interested me. And the book is set in the 1950s so I hoped it would kind of be a throwback to the Golden Age of this murder mystery genre. It didn’t take me long at all to be caught up in what was happening and over the course of the book, I began to adore Nora Breen.

The first thing to sort of get out of the way is that Nora did not renounce her vows just because a former novice has “gone dark” and stopped sending Nora letters. I would like to have read just a bit more about Nora’s other reasons than is here but perhaps – seeing as I think this is the start to a new series – this will be covered more in future books.   

When Nora arrives, my first thought on reading the description of this boarding house was “what a dump.” What was once a grand seaside estate is now tattered and thread bare with food that probably dogs wouldn’t eat. Liver and cabbage for dinner? Um, no. The rules to live by are also strange. At least there aren’t too many other boarders for Nora to learn about even as she conceals her true past and reasons for joining them. 

Her personality might have made being a nun challenging, but almost immediately Nora is asking questions and sticking her nose into everything. She quickly learns that she’s perhaps not as nonchalant at this as she thinks she is. Adjusting her intensity, she starts to suss out what is going on in this place and among these people. After thirty years as a Carmelite sister, Nora knows how to be silent and observe. Regardless of what some fellow boarders tell her, Nora knows that there are seething tensions under the “everything’s fine” waters.       

Before too long, there’s a suspicious death followed by another one. Nora doesn’t care what the police coroner says and keeps pushing the DI to investigate more as well as allow her in on questioning. DI Rideout is soon all but pulling his hair out over Nora’s determination to be a part of the investigation. Nora might still have a bit to learn about tailing suspects but Rideout grudgingly admits that her investigative instincts are good. Nora’s means of questioning one man while driving his precious car, are hilarious. She knows how to narrow in on what will get someone talking.

To be honest, I had pretty much narrowed down my suspect list to the killer. One of the weaknesses of the books is that there just aren’t that many possibilities. The main strength is Nora who is just not going to let things go and watching her become a force of nature at the police department. The other strength of the book is how atmospheric it is. Several of the characters served in the forces during the war and have the scars and nightmares to show for it. Nora has to get used to being able to see the wide world again away from the confines of a wimple. There are some queer characters as well as one child character who is quite bizarre and unsettling. If the series continues, I will definitely check out the next book. B 

~Jayne

AmazonBNKoboBook DepositoryGoogle

Related