I thoroughly enjoyed reading an ARC of Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity; my review reflects my honest opinion. Nora Breen, formerly Sister Agnes of Christ, spent over thirty years in a Carmelite monastery serving God; she was also the monastery's nurse. She became very close to a young
postulant, Frieda Brogan. Frieda was full of faith and a bit of mischief, much to the Mother Superior's chagrin. Frieda had severe breathing issues worsened from life in the closed up, dusty and dank monastery; she had to leave the order and live in an area more conducive to her health, thus her move to Gore-on -Sea and Gulls Nest boarding house. Frieda promised that she would write to her good friend Sister Agnes weekly. She fulfilled her promise for months, however the letters abruptly stopped coming. Sister Agnes knew something was very wrong so she left the convent with only a small stipend, a raincoat, 2 dresses and a used pair of shoes, and resumed her life as Nora Breen. Upon arriving at Gulls Nest she meets an eclectic group of residents, including the beautiful and ethereal owner Helena Wells and her eight year old daughter Dinah. The housekeeper Irene Rawlings is far from welcoming or friendly. Slowly and without revealing why she has come to Gulls Nest, she begins to become acquainted with the other residents, and learn a bit about Frieda's time as a resident. Shortly after Nora's arrival two residents die under suspicious circumstances. Nora is convinced she can help the local constabulary, specifically Detective Inspector Rideout,who very reluctantly accepts her assistance. As well as Nora seeking to find Frieda or where she had gone, it appeared that all of the the residents had their own secrets and demons. The author created several intriguing sub-plots that just enhanced the storyline. Murder at Gulls Nest is a very engaging, fast-paced and well crafted suspense novel. I am hopeful that we might even meet Nora and Inspector Rideout in the future - perhaps a series? 4 stars.

Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd is a well written cozy mystery story.
I really enjoyed this book, loved the writing style and plot.
The characters were engaging and very entertaining.
An easy read which kept me guessing. I would highly recommend.

Well-crafted murder mystery with an interesting amateur detective. Kept me guessing until the end.
I really hope it is the start of a series, because I would love to see more like this.
Highly Recommend.

I enjoyed this new cozy mystery series following Nora, an ex-nun who travels to a small seaside town to find out what happened to her friend, who had abruptly broken contact with Nora. The other characters were intriguing, and the little town cute, and there was no end to possible suspects. I did feel that it was a bit long - I think 30-50 pages could have been edited out with no problem, and moved the story along a little more quickly. I'll definitely watch what comes next for Nora (and hopefully Rideout will join as well?) Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance digital copy!

First of all, I love a good British mystery! Nora Breen left her convent to find a missing friend who had been staying at Gull’s Nest. Once there, a string of mysterious deaths begin, and Nora begins to unravel the connections that ties everything together. Along the way, she begins to develop a friendship (maybe more?) with Inspector . I’d love to see these 2 work together to solve more crimes!!

What a fun and entertaining book! Well written, cleverly plotted, interesting characters, and so many red herrings that it was hard to figure out who was the killer. The descriptions were well done and the prose so many books in this genre are not well
Written however this one was a delight to read. I look forward to the next in the series!

I really like mystery and historical fiction as a combined genre, but this book was a lot slower paced than I prefer. I couldn't tell if that was deliberate or if it just needed some stronger editing. It created a song sense of place but the exposition dragged on for me. The story had Gothic vibes which I was not expected, and is generally not my preference. But I enjoyed the writing enough to keep going and can see why this would make sense to become a series.

Murder at Gull’s Nest is a bit above a cozy mystery. The guests at the inn all have their secrets and a past that they are reluctant to share. One guest, Frieda, has been writing letters of her time at the inn to Nell, a friend of hers, who just happens to be a nun. When Frieda’s letters abruptly stop, Nell decides to abandon her vows and go in search of Frieda.

Once Nell arrives at Gull’s Nest, her sleuthing skills are immediately put to use. It was almost like a locked room mystery where the guests start disappearing, but Nell made sure to visit other places in the town and get to know a few shopkeepers.

Nell has an abrasive quality, but also comes across as endearing. Her relationship with Inspector Rideout is constantly evolving and one that I believe readers will see more of in future books.

This was quite an entertaining mystery, full of wonderful characters, and I was kept guessing throughout the story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to give my honest review and recommend this to other readers.

This cover just screams add to tbr, and I did not hesitate to comply. 😅 Fortunately for me, the inside was just as good as the outside!

In this cozy mystery, you will meet Nora Breen, the newest boarder at Gulls Nest. As Nora works to uncover what happened to her dear friend Frieda, you will find yourself warming to the motley crew who call the seaside hotel home.

With each discovery, we learn more about the inhabitants' secrets and what they're willing to do to keep those skeletons hidden. Even our feisty former nun is holding her cards close.

I enjoyed how the details were teased out bit by bit. I loved how the small town of Gore-on-Sea in Kent contributed to moodiness of the story. If you're a fan of moody, small town mysteries, you'll love Murder at Gulls Nest!

Read this if you like:
• Mature FMC
• Cozy mystery
• Amateur sleuth
• Eccentric cast of characters
• Atmospheric seaside town

Many thanks to Atria Books for the complimentary digital and physical copies!

3.49

It’s possible that my impressions were clouded by the many fantastic books coming out now. It could be that it was such an unknown, or it could just be the ADHD that made me really struggle through the first half at least.

It’s a unique premise for sure and I liked the broad range of characters. Nora is an unknown, and we learned that even after 30 years as a cloistered nun, she is full of surprises and baggage too. I can’t even imagine how she did lived that way when she had more than just doubts about God she had “married”. Of course it doesn’t sound like she had much choice as a young woman who is pregnant. She was likely mostly bolstered by Frieda‘s departure and certainly her disappearance.

As odd as it is to say, she is certainly not your typical nun sleuth. It is interesting how she seems like such an old fuddy duddy with highly unfortunate clothing, and how that changes by the end. I guess she can’t be much older than me. Though I perhaps many might call me an old fuddy duddy too, especially given the young age of some of the other characters.

I was disappointed by Dinah because usually small child who are misunderstood befriend the main character and are exceptionally cute with cute dialogue and wit beyond their years. In this case, we could never really like her. True, she’s seen some things and her life is pretty grim with a mother who may be drugged, but at a minimum is absent mentally most of the time. Who knows if she knows who her dad is.

I am not sure if this is going to be a series, but it’s certainly set up for the possibility. There aren’t any new cases in introduced, but it could work. I might enjoy that better since: 1. the first of a series is usually the most poorly rated, 2. The mystery did come together and the last half and definitely the last quarter were much more interesting, and 3. There’s an ending that makes me want to see more. The mystery is somewhat clever, it’s just seems that there is a lot of time spent in this house and there isn’t much joy to be found anywhere. All the characters are kind of washed up and suffering in different ways from the recent war. The food is a minor character but is very depressing. Not that I could blame Irene.

This might surprise you, but give it a try if you like mid-century historic mysteries and maybe haven’t just read several fantastic books and starting out not as excited to read this as you originally planned.

Thank you to Jess Kidd, NetGalley, and Atria Books for providing me with a free advanced copy of this ebook for my unbiased review.
#MurderatGullsNest #NetGalley

When former nun, Nora Breen's friend Frieda's letters stop coming, Nora heads to Gulls Nest to try and find out what happened to her friend. While Nora is searching for answers, boarders at Gore-on-Sea, the hotel where Nora is staying begin to die. Nora must find out who is responsible with the help of the local police, before someone else dies, possibly Nora herself. I really enjoyed this! I love the author's beautiful descriptions of the town and the characters. This was a great cozy, and I will definitely read the next in the series!

Jess Kidd has been on my radar to read for awhile and I was so happy to receive an ARC of this new release to review. I loved Nora so much, but what's not to love about a nun turned sleuth? All of the characters were very well developed with a solid plot that kept the story going. I will definitely be reading more of Jess Kidd's work. I could not put this one down. 5 stars!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy of this book.

A delightful start to a new series. Nora Breen leaves her monastery and travels to the seaside to find her friend Frieda, who had suddenly stopped writing to her, in this nicely complex tale. The Gulls Nest is a nest of secrets, lies, and oddities and suddenly murder! Nora's got spunk, smarts, and an ability to ask questions and get answers- all assets she puts to good use as she tries to find out what happened to Frieda, who killed Steven, and....no spoilers! Inspector Rideout eventually comes around (it does take time) to see Nora's pov and value her input (he's a great character). So many red herrings, so many odd characters (that child!) but so believable. And Nora herself has a dark and sad secret that you won't know for a long time. The post war atmospherics are good as are the feels at the Nest and the seaside. This one fully engaged me and really did keep me guessing. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to another.

Pretty good, I have never read any book from this author and this one kept me engaged, I will the cosy mysterious that has some old and nostalgic vibe and it delivered. Also a nun as a main character was quite interesting too! I will continue this series.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for providing me with this eARC, I will continue this series and

I was a big fan of Jess Kidd before I read 'Murder at Gull's Nest,' and I'm still a big fan of hers after reading 'Murder at Gull's Nest,' with a new urgency: more Nora Breen, more please, more now, yes Nora, more more more.

Nora Breen leaves her life as a nun to get to the bottom of a mystery at Gull's Nest boardinghouse in a sleepy, seedy, salty, cozy seaside community in post-WWII England. She's trying to find out what happened to a young friend of hers who abruptly disappeared. In the course of events she stumbles into several more mysteries and steamrolls over several more obstacles. Nora Breen is a collection of surprises who remains delightfully recognizable at every turn as she discovers the mystery of who she is, now, navigating a world she hasn't moved freely through in decades. There is a fine balance here between the gruesome, the ghastly, the bitter, and the sweet. A distinct supporting cast and a delicious investigative partnership had me frantically flipping pages and mourning the loss of the book before it was over.

Many thanks to Atria and NetGalley for the eARC.

It’s 1954, and England is still recovering from World War II. The country is bleak at times, and the food isn’t what it once was. Nora Breen isn’t what she once was either.

After thirty years as a nun, Nora leaves the monastery and heads to a seaside town in Kent. She stays at a shabby boardinghouse, Gulls Nest, where there’s an unusual group of residents, as well as an odd group running the boardinghouse. Professor Poppy, one of the residents, referred to the house as a “flotsam and jetsam sort of place,” and pointed out “the strays and waifs that wash up here with their dark mysteries.”

Nora is there is uncover a dark mystery. A former novice, Frieda Brogan, left the monastery, and wrote faithfully to Nora, and then abruptly stopped. Nora is convinced something happened to Frieda, and she takes Frieda’s room at the boardinghouse, doesn’t tell the others who she is, and asks questions. Then, one of the boarders dies, and the police rule it either accidental death or suicide. Nora doesn’t believe that, and she has one more reason to dig for the truth.

The boarders are an odd group of leftovers from the war, a woman and her daughter who doesn’t speak, the angry housekeeper, a new widow, the professor, who is a puppeteer, and a traveling photographer. And, everyone does seem to have secrets, including Nora.

Jess Kidd’s Murder at Gulls Nest is a slow-paced mystery filled with unhappy people. And, Nora is the one who has the most to discover, not only about the mystery, but about herself. Who is she after thirty years shut away from the world?

There is humor, especially when it comes to Nora’s dealings with the police, but she does form a partnership of sorts with Inspector Rideout.

I might pick up the next in the series because Kidd did an excellent job developing Nora’s character. But, the slow-pace, along with Nora’s rediscovery of the world did bog me down at times.

Nora Breen was a nun who kept in touch with her former novice through letters. When the letters stop arriving, Nora is worried and heads to the Gulls Nest Hotel in Kent. Soon, there are murders left and right, and Nora has to confront her past while trying to solve the mystery of where her friend went.

Why Kirsten likes it
The 1954 setting added a lot to the story. While set in a seaside town, the beach didn’t have much to do with the plot; instead, the converted mansion was at the heart of the mystery. If you are a fan of Maggie Hope or Maisie Dobbs, you’ll enjoy the first in this new mystery series.

This is a nice, relaxing cozy mystery set in a seaside English town in the 1950s. Overall, a nice story and mystery, though a little slow at times.

Murder at Gulls Nest is an enjoyable cozy mystery. Set on the coast of England after the war, our FMC, Nora Breen, leaves the convent where she has spent most of her life because she stops receiving letters from her friend, Frieda. Frieda is also a former nun. Nora does not tell the other residents of the Gulls Nest that she was a nun, just that she was a nurse, and she does not tell them she is looking for Frieda. They just think she is nosy because she asks a lot of questions.This is going to be the first in a series of mysteries and I am going to be reading this series. I really liked Nora and I liked the Inspector as he worked with Nora, even though he tried to deter her from investigating. I thought the friendship came across well, and they worked well together.

I need to thank Atria Books and Net Galley for my advance reader copy. This book comes out on April 8th.

This book was a fun, creative cozy mystery. It took me a little bit to get used to the writing style but once I was used to it the book hooked me. I’m excited to continue with the series.