A tantalising new series from a great author
Murder at Gulls Nest is the first instalment in a tantalising new cosy(ish) mystery series by author Jess Kidd. It's 1953 and former cloistered nun Nora Breen emerges from decades in a northern-English convent following the disappearance of her friend Frieda from a seaside town in Kent, England. Having chosen to hide her connection to Frieda, she sets about getting to know each of the other residents at Gull's Nest guesthouse, and probing their links to her friend. She's barely scratched the surface of Frieda's disappearance when a shocking event occurs - one of her fellow lodgers is poisoned with a cyanide-laced cup of coffee! Humour is brought into the story via Nora's occasionally abrasive and impetuous behaviour towards those who underestimate her, the antics of Dinah, the landlady's mute but precocious 8-year-old daughter, and Nora's bond with a friendly seagull, whom she names Father Conway. Nora Breen is an engaging protagonist, for whom the reader develops empathy over the course of the story, as details of her past gradually emerge and she adapts to the challenges of life in the secular world. Her evolving relationship with D.I. Rideout is well-developed and charming, raising the expectation that both lonely characters might find some mid-life comfort together in future instalments. The setting in time and place is also very well executed, post-war privations still affecting the population of the shabby beachside town where the story is set. I've previously enjoyed Jess Kidd's writing in the literary fiction genre, and find her new venture into crime writing very exciting! I'd enthusiastically recommend Murder at Gulls Nest to any reader who enjoys high-quality mysteries, historical settings and quirky characters. My thanks to the author Jess Kidd, publisher Faber and Faber Ltd. and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this title in advance of its publication on 13 March 2025.