Things in Jars is a favorite of mine. I was thrilled to get an e-arc of her newest book. Murder at Gulls Nest is also about an unusual detective in an unusual situation. Nora Breen gave up her vows as a nun to search for her missing friend in a small seaside town. I loved Nora. I can identify with her middle-aged issues like menopause and doubting your life choices. I loved all of the side characters especially Dinah and Inspector Rideout. The mystery was good though I guessed part of it early I did not guess the overall killer. This is listed as #1 so hopefully we get more Nina Breen investigations.

**Thanks to the author and Atria Books for the e-arc I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I also somehow received a physical arc and preordered a hardcover edition.**

3.5 stars. Cozy mystery with great sense of place. I also liked Nora’s character and wished we got a little more of her backstory. I wasn’t super invested in the mystery, but it was a good cozy read.

Murder at Gulls Nest is the first book in the Nora Breen Investigates Series by Jess Kidd. The protagonist is Nora Breen, a nun who asks to be released from her vows so that she can find out what happened to her longtime pen pal, Frieda, who has abruptly stopped sending letters. Nora starts her search at Gulls Nest, a seaside hotel in Kent, where Frieda was living.

I loved Murder at Gulls Nest. Nora is a unique protagonist. She is smart, principled, and witty. Her internal dialogue had me laughing out loud in multiple places.

The mystery is very good and hooks you in from the start. Everyone at Gulls Nest seems to have a secret or something they are trying to hide. Nora is also keeping her background a secret and neglects to tell everyone who she is (a nun) or why she is there.

I also enjoyed the setting. The story is set in 1954. The Gulls Nest is in a pretty spot that conflicts with the moodiness of the inn and its inhabitants.

The writing is spectacular. Jess Kidd writes poetic prose that keeps you spellbound. It's difficult to put the book down once you start.

I was thrilled to learn this book is the first in a series rather than a stand-alone. I will definitely continue on with the series.

I also think this has adaptation potential. I would love to see Murder at Gulls Nest turned into a movie or a TV series.

Thanks to Atria Books and Net Galley for the ARC.

3.5/5!

I love a good cozy mystery series and I was interested in giving this start to a new series a shot when I read the synopsis. The main character being a former nun who has decided to leave that life behind in search of another former nun sounded like such a fun premise and it definitely lived up to that!

Nora Breen is our main character and she’s such a fun person to get to know. She’s dealing with her own emotions of getting back into the real world while also playing a badass detective. I loved how determined she was and her reactions to all of the strange and murdery things that happen in this small town she finds herself living in.

In addition to Nora, readers get a fun cast of secondary characters who all have secrets they’re keeping hidden. And what makes that better? A small town of course!

Kidd did a great job of letting readers form a bond with Nora in order to set the stage for a successful series while not bogging down the book or taking away from the mystery at hand.

I’m definitely interested in checking out the next installment for this series when it’s released!

Another Jess Kidd novel is a always a delight, and Murder at Gulls Nest doesn't disappoint. Nora has left her monastery, the only home she has known as an adult, and moved to Gore-on-Sea to track down her friend Frieda. Nora is unwilling to believe that Frieda would break her promise to stay in touch, and perhaps she is also ready to live in the world again. Finding herself at a grim boarding house with a questionable cast of lodgers and their hosts, Nora finds a reluctant ally in a local police detective.

The story is twisty and puzzling, and Kidd's new amateur detective is refreshing. A little foreshadowing at the end of the book has me hoping that this will be the start of a series.

Both a new series and author for me. This historical mystery is set at a run down boarding house in a tourist village during the summer. Nora is a former nun from a convent who’s given everything up to find out what’s happened to her friend. I enjoyed the atmospheric location immensely. The residents of the boarding house were a ramshackle bunch, misfits who probably wouldn’t associate elsewhere. I found Nora interesting and I wanted to dig deeper into what and why. Perhaps a sequel could explore her past more. I found all the characters and the plot to be compelling. I wanted to know how it would end and found it a very satisfying read. I recommend and would read this author again. Thanks so much to Atria Books (via NetGalley) for the Advance Reader Copy of “Murder at Gulls Nest” by Jess Kidd, publication 04/08/2025. These thoughts and opinions are my honest personal ones, given voluntarily without compensation.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. I loved the storyline and the characters. I always think I have it figured out and I never do! I would definitely recommend this book.

This book was excellent! I loved the main character, the setting, the mystery and the time period. I've never read anything by Jess Kidd, and I will now search out her backlist. I loved her writing. She captured this little Kent seaside village in the early 50s in all its charms and seediness. I loved how real Nora Breene was as a character, and her backstory as a nun was fascinating. I look forward to another Nora Breene mystery! Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for the oppourtunity to read Murder at Gulls Nest.

This was an interesting new mystery. There’s a little bit of this “you’re being watched” creepy vibe in this story that keeps you reading. If this becomes a series you can bet I’ll keep reading.

A cozy British mystery, the first in a new series - sign me up! Nora Breen, a (recent) former nun, visits a coastal town to investigate the disappearance of her friend. Nora is a great protagonist - she is new to the outside world, not young in years but in spirit, smart, energetic, and asks great questions. She stays at Gulls Nest, a boardinghouse, in the very room where her friend had stayed, with a lovely view of the sea. Further mysteries emerge as her fellow boardinghouse guests start to die - is it murder or something else? I really enjoyed this book, the feel of being blanketed by the cozy setting and writing style, and Nora's friendship with Inspector Rideout - I can't wait for more!

I like historical fiction combined with a cozy mystery. This one is sweet and the main character is well written and the characterization is strong. Although I did guess the ending very early on, there is a clue that jumped out at me, I did find all of the characters to be interesting and endearing. A small town and a tight knit community. Nora is a former nun who used to be known as Sister Agnes, she left the convent when her pen pail Freida goes missing. Nora goes to the place she sent all the letters in order to see what happens.

This is a first in a new series, and I recommend reading it first so you can get the full backstory of Nora. I enjoyed the reading and the pacing of laying out the clues. Soon there is a murder at Gull's Nest and Nora fancies herself an amateur detective and has some great chemistry with the real investigator. She uncovers many secrets and we learn secrets about Nora herself.

I enjoyed the pacing and the minor characters had good personalities. Some of the British references are heartwarming and quaint. Although I didn't love this, I did like it quite a bit.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC. Book published April 8, 2025.

When her friend's letters stop arriving, Sister Agnes leaves her convent and her vocation, becoming once again Nora Breen, to find out where her friend has gone. It's implied the sudden disappearance of her correspondent, Frieda was a bit of a final straw, though Nora's other reasons for leaving aren't fully explored in this volume. Once Nora arrives in Frieda's last known location, mysterious deaths immediately begin, and Nora is on the case. Every bit of the mystery's resolution was highly telegraphed and a bit too obvious, but the characterization was excellent—every single character was interesting and I wanted to know more about them.

There were a lot of characters in this that could have served as side characters and had very little mention. I didn't care for trying to keep track of all of them to get to the end.

It's 1954 and Nora, a former nun, goes looking for her missing friend Frieda (also an ex nun).  Noara stays in Frieda's old room at the Gulls Nest.  While there, people keep ending up dead - with an odd cast of characters Nora begins to dig into these mysteries, hoping to solve her own friend's disappearance looking for connections.

The premise seemed cute and interesting but this one never really got my attention.  I'm not sure this author is for me because I didn't love the last one I read by her either.  For a murder mystery it just didn't ever really engross me, even with interesting characters.  i did listen to much of this and I'm wondering if I would have enjoyed more reading it, but when I switched I found the read to be a bit slow.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC to review

I love love a cozy mystery, so I couldn’t wait to dive in and get to know Nora, the former nun, while she investigated the disappearance of her friend in a charming seaside town full of secrets. And while the setting of Gull’s Nest - a boarder house with quite the cast of characters - was perfect for a cozy, I felt there were a few too many subplots for me to really zip through this one. I kept thinking that maybe this would be a standalone and that’s why all the details needed to be laid out immediately, but I see its the start of a series and I feel like some of the extra background info could have simply been eluded to and explored more in depth in later books.
Over all, though, I did like the myster(ies) and I did find Nora’s sleuthing entertaining (if not unorthodox and somewhat violent at times). I’m curious if she’ll stay in Gull’s Nest or move on with her post-nun-life explorations. Post-WWII England is an excellent time period to explore as well. 3.5 rounded up, because I will definitely continue.

This is a first-rate cozy mystery, the introduction of a series starring a bold and inquisitive former nun. The writing quality is well above the average cozy, a genre whose typical wholesomeness and simplicity don't often call for sophisticated turns of phrase or deeper themes.

I perhaps should say this is cozy-ish, for the same reason as my decision to rate 4 stars instead of 5. Depiction of a rape, while not graphic, was a bit jarring, since I didn't expect such a plot point to appear in a cozy mystery (i.e. a lighthearted mystery not containing sex, gory violence, or profanity).

This is but a speed bump in a well-plotted and splendidly cast little mystery, though. The investigation unfolds at a gentle pace and ties a perfect bow around a sensible conclusion that is nicely foreshadowed without being predictable. Throughout it all, there is such excellent character development that I will gladly read future mysteries featuring Nora Breen.

CW: rape, death of a pet, homophobia, brief mention of miscarriage

I enjoyed this first in a new cozy mystery series featuring British ex-nun Nora Breen as she leaves her habit behind in order to find out what happened to her pen pal only to get caught up in a murder mystery at the same time. Set in a small 1950s coastal town of Gulls Nest, this had a quirky cast of side characters and some tragic back story into Nora's past. It was also good on audio and I would recommend it to fans of the Flavia De Luce series except with a heroine on the other end of the age spectrum. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy. The cover is fantastic and I look forward to more of Nora's adventures.

Amazing! Such a fun cozy mystery with a delightful new lead sleuth. Can’t wait for more! The author captures a specific vibe that makes the reader feel like they’re in the story and not just reading.

Thank you so much to Atria for the gifted book!

I was so excited to read this as I am a HUGE cozy mystery fan!

While I wanted to love this so badly, I just had the hardest time following the storyline, especially in the beginning. I was waiting for it to grab me and draw me in and it never did.

I hope this one is still a success and that it's a hit with many others!

It is out now!

Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd is a fun and enjoyable cozy mystery. After Nora Breen's friend suddenly stops writing her letters and mysteriously disappears, Nora takes matters into her own hands leaving the convent in order to check into Gulls Nest as a lay person and solve her friends' disappearance. Before long Nora realizes that all of the residents of Gulls Nest have their own secrets and are a curious bunch.

Overall I enjoyed this novel. Kidd's writing was a bit slow for my taste but the motley group of characters certainly made up for the lack of action in the plot. The last few chapters absolutely ramped up the action, and the conclusion is very satisfying for the reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Publishing for the chance to read this novel.