I was pleasantly surprised when I first heard Jess Kidd was publishing a cozy mystery (one of my absolute favorite genres) I fell head over heels for Kidd’s previous book The Night Ship and eagerly added Murder At Gulls Nest to my TBR.

Former Nun, Nora Breen travels to a small seaside town searching for information on a friend who has vanished. She stays where her friend once stayed at Gulls Nest a peculiar hotel with even more peculiar residents. Hiding her identity she hopes to get to the bottom of the mysterious disappearance of her friend.

This is set up to be a series following the former Nun (Nora) set in the mid 1950s with a dreamy backdrop of the European coast. This tipped the scale and felt more literary cozy mystery (is that a thing?) if so sign me up! I felt like it didn’t follow the formulaic typical cozy and had a little more depth. It does bring an array of colorful characters, and a great amateur sleuth who I’m looking forward to seeing what she gets herself mixed up in next.

Thank you Atria Books

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Nora Breen entered a cloistered life as a nursing sister following a tragic incident as a teen. For decades she has enjoyed her quiet life of service and solitude. However things change when a young novice she had drawn close to leaves the order to settle into a seaside hotel, The Gull's Nest. When her chatty letters suddenly cease Nora is concerned that something has happened to her. Determined to uncover the truth Nora also asks to be released from her vows and departs for the Gull's Nest. Staying anonymous Nora finds the hotel guests to be a diverse and eccentric lot and her suspicions become stronger when a fellow guest is found poisoned and another disappears. I was intrigued with the premise of this series launch and was not disappointed. Nora is a different but strongly drawn protagonist. I found her inner musing regarding the adjustments needed to transition from Sister Agnes into the secular world to be insightful and heart warming. The character development was one of the narrative's strengths and the setting of a small English seaside town in the 1950s seemed realistic. I have read one of Jess Kidd's earlier books and this was definitely a departure from her earlier work showing great versatility as a wordsmith. The plot was tight and the interactions between the characters was engaging and revealing. moving the story along at a good pace. A very enjoyable read for this reader.

sly-humor, Kent, monastery, 1954, poisons, local-law-enforcement, cozy-mystery, ex-nun, boardinghouse, secrets, historical-fiction, historical-research, historical-setting, history-and-culture, missing-persons, murders, amateur-sleuth, middle-aged*****
1954 England. Nora has left the monastery and is searching for a younger woman who recently also left and has ceased their correspondence quite abruptly. She goes to the young woman's last address in Kent where she finds that she has simply vanished. Nora keeps her nurse/nun status quietly as she infiltrates the boarding house and begins to find more anomalies among the inhabitants (the meals are positively dreadful!), a murder or two, and crosses swords with the local police inspector. Fine descriptions of the coast and countryside as well as meaningful character development. I hope this is designed to be first in series because I really enjoyed it!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected eGalley from Atria Books via NetGalley. Avail Apr 08, 2025
#MurderAtGullsNest by jesskiddwriter #NoraBreenInvestigates @atriabooks @simonandschuster #NetGalley @goodreads @bookbub @librarythingofficial @barnesandnoble ***** Review #booksamillion #bookshop_org #bookshop_org_uk #kobo #Waterstones #cozymystery #exnun #kent #murder #poison #historicalfiction

I absolutely love a good cozy mystery and this one was perfect.

Set in the 1950's we find Nora is searching for her friend Frieda, whose regular correspondence has suddenly stopped. When Nora goes to live at the last place she heard from Frieda, Gull's Nest, a hotel near the sea in Kent. She find a curious mix of long term residents. She begins her search but then people start dying and her investigations extend to include murder.

I find that I enjoyed the characters living in the Gull's Nest and all the surprising twists along the way.

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC for an honest review.

3.75 stars

A mystery with a different cast of characters. Set in 1954, ex-nun Nora has gone to a small British village to find out what happened to her friend Frieda. She and Frieda were in the religious order together, but Frieda left due to health reasons and Nora left because she was emotionally done with being a nun and is dealing with being back in the world after decades.

Frieda disappeared from a very odd boarding house. The woman who runs it disappears every day with mysterious headaches and she seems to share ownership with a sour-tempered housekeeper. Her very young daughter is a somewhat feral child who doesn't speak but spies on everyone. Other boarders include a young married couple, a bartender/chef, a photographer and an old puppeteer.

Nora is brusque, nosy, fearless and opinionated. It isn't long before the first body appears and Nora immediately gets into it with the local constabulary over whether the death is murder or suicide. In the meantime, she is still snooping around trying to find Frieda. She eventually forges a tenuous working relationship with the Inspector.

An interesting read with great characterizations. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I absolutely loved this book. It appears to be the first in a series so I will definitely be on the look out for future installments of the series. The author did a great job making you care about the characters. I had yet to read a cozy about a former nun but I think I found a trope to be on the look out for!

This was not my favourite read and I thought I would like it as I like a cosy murder and I have enjoyed previous books by Jess Kidd. Having said that, I am sure it will be a popular book and I will recommend it to patrons at the library.
It just moved a little slowly and the characters were not catching my attention. I am sure the murder was solved, but I didn’t hang about to find out whodunnit.

I really enjoyed Murder at Gulls Nest! This cozy mystery follows aspiring detective Nora Breen as she arrives in the small seaside town of Gore-on-Sea in Kent. Staying at the dingy and mysterious Gulls Nest, Nora is on a secret mission to uncover the truth behind a mystery close to her heart. However, as she starts poking around, a string of bizarre murders shakes the hotel’s occupants, forcing Nora to dig even deeper.
With danger closing in, she finds an unlikely ally in Inspector Rideout—the only person she feels she can trust. Given that this is the first book in the Nora Breen series, I suspect Rideout is meant to be her slow-burn love interest, but I didn’t feel much chemistry between them. That said, the real draw here is the mystery itself. Red herrings were flying left and right, making it a fun and engaging challenge to piece together the truth.
With so much happening in this book, I assume the next installment will be a bit more grounded, now that the town and its characters have been introduced. But I’m looking forward to more of Breen and Rideout’s shenanigans, and I’ll definitely be keeping up with this series!

A quaint coastal town. A missing person. A silent little girl who sees everything. A former nun who won't let it go. Murder at Gulls Nest is a historical cozy mystery set just after the World Wars with suspects a-plenty, and secrets everywhere.

I wanted to read this book in part because I don't have much experience with what is colloquially referred to as a 'cozy mystery'. I get it now. It's essentially equivalent to an old episode of Murder She Wrote. It doesn't mean that there is not death, or even gruesome things that happen or are described. It's more of a slow methodical approach to solving a mystery by moving through each logical piece of the investigation. The absence of the 'thrill' element that makes a thriller. That's what 'they' mean by low-stakes. The protagonist is not necessarily in direct line of danger. They just have a stake in finding out the answer to the mystery.

Our POV character is a nun who has left the cloister in order to track down her friend, also a former nun, whose letters have mysteriously stopped after implying in one of her letters that the people around her had everything to hide. Nora poses as an innocent guest in a board house with no knowledge of the place or agenda and tries to find out everything she can about the mysteriously missing woman who used to stay in the room there.

If she was trying to be subtle about her investigation, she failed. She wandered around that city asking direct questions that could only have raised red flags to someone trying to hide something. It was a full-fledged amateur investigation, but when a dead body turns up, the real authorities become involved as well.

While I enjoyed the story, I didn't find myself very invested in the drama. There is plenty of mystery to go around, and I found a lot of the historical elements to be intriguing and interesting, but I didn't feel engrossed. I think I would have enjoyed a more emotional experience. It almost reminded me of a Sherlock Holmes style novel, if that's your thing. If you like finding clues and analyzing people, trying to crack the mystery before the characters, you're going to love it.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this early reader's copy from the publisher and netgalley, and I will be interested to read the next installment of this new mystery series by Jess Kidd.

Nora Breen is adjusting to life as a former nun. She left her order when letters from another former novice stop arriving. Nora and Frieda developed a friendship during Frieda's time at the order recovering from an illness. The last place Frieda was living was at Gulls Nest, a boarding house in a seaside town. When Nora arrives it is clear multiple members of the household are hiding secrets. Nora begins to investigate when a murder occurs at Gulls Nest determined to learn if it has anything to do with the disappearance of her former friend. She attempts to team up with Detective Inspector Rideout but he is not interested in being assisted by the former nun.

I really enjoyed this book! Nora is bright, caring and very funny. Following her adjustment from life as a former nun was very entertaining. I also enjoyed all of the characters staying at Gulls Nest. The mystery was well plotted and paced. There were a good number of twists and turns. It does appear that this will be a series and was very happy to discover that when I finished. I would love to continue to Nora on other adventures and to possibly see what develops between her and DI Rideout.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Murder at Gull’s Nest by Jess Kidd
Stars: 4.5
52 Book Club Challenger: #3 (Book whose title starts with an M)

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Nora Breen has been a nun at a monastery in northern England for over thirty years, since she left her home in County Mayo as a young woman. When Frieda, a former novice and her friend, seems to go missing, Nora decides it is time for her to rejoin the world and find herself taking lodging at Frieda’s last address: Gull’s Nest in the seaside town of Gore-on-Sea. When Nora arrives, she finds a slightly shabby establishment populated with a unique cast of characters. She decides to keep her connection to Frieda hidden as she searches about for clues to what happened but when one of the lodgers ends up dead (is it murder? Was it suicide), Nora decides she might just need to local constabulary to help her - whether they want to or not.

I love Jess Kidd’s novels and I was thrilled when I received this ARC. Kidd’s writing style immediately pulls you in, the stories have excellent plots but the characters bring the world around them to life. Nora is a character we don’t always see a lot of, but she is one that has so much to tell us. She is just finding herself again after thirty years behind the veil; she is still coming to terms with the events that happened in her late teens. Twice in her life she has had to leave home and establish herself in a new place and this time, at this juncture in her life, she wonders if it was the right call.

There has always been an element of mystery in Kidd’s books, but I am thrilled that it sounds like this might be the first of a few Nora Breen novels. When I finished, I was happy to think that there would be another chance to spend time with Nora and get into the backstories of some of the other characters; Gore-on-Sea definitely has a fair share of unique people and in Kidd’s hands, I know they can tell us some amazing tales.

One thing about Jess Kidd is that she is an extremely talented writer. I don’t know how she does it so consistently, but her prose is beautiful in the way that many modern classics are– it’s dynamic and interesting, even when explaining things that could be boring. Her very skill at narration gets you wrapped into the story immediately, caring deeply about Nora Breen before any murder even occurs.

In an era of “cozy” mysteries published at every corner, Kidd is the savior we all need. I have felt wrapped in warmth and joy whenever reading a Kidd book, and Murder at Gulls Nest is no exception. This is a murder mystery that firmly maintains an atmosphere that is comfortable and fun, just as much as it is engaging and intriguing.

I highly recommend this to fans of historical fiction and cozy mysteries.

Murder at Gulls Nest May sounds like just one more historical cozy mystery. But it’s written by Jess Kidd, who has a real way with words. “The villas set their faces to the weather as best they can, some more senile than others, with pitted stone facades, blank windows, dank gardens, and roof tiles liked bockety old teeth.”
It’s a great plot with an engaging main character. “Jesus, who would want to read about a failed old nun with her stipend and secondhand shoes?” Well, as it turns out, I did. Nora Breen has left the monastery to determine what has happened to her pen pal. She comes to Gore-on-Sea, a down at its heels seaside resort. She rents at the same boarding house where her pen pal resided and it’s not long before dead bodies start piling up.
There are plenty of fascinating characters, a bunch of red herrings and I admit it took me ages to guess the murderer.
Kidd has done a wonderful job putting the reader in time and place. Everyone seems to have secrets and I enjoyed watching Nora suss them out. There’s also the lightest touch of humor, mostly at the expense of the desk sergeant.
This is just fun entertainment. I recommend this even to folks who think they don’t like “cozies”, thinking they’re too insipid. This appears to be the first in a series and I will gladly seek out the next.
My thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this book.

I feel like we’ve sub categorized all books to death. Described as a cozy mystery, Jess Kidd’s Murder at Gulls Nest is the epitome of straight up mystery, and well done at that. Her previous books have trended more odd, creepy or macabre, which isn’t my favorite. This was definitely something I enjoyed more, with a more Agatha Christie style and none of the overly convoluted storylines that official Christie “heir” Sophie Hannah has. Here, Nora Breen decides to leave her life as a nun behind when a fellow nun and good friend stops writing to her. This leads her to Gulls Nest at Gore-in-the-Sea, a run down boarding house filled with tenants that have plenty of secrets to hide. When those tenants start dying off Nora is more convinced than ever that her friend Freida disappearing wasn’t an accident. More determined than ever, Nora begins her own investigation into the happenings of Gulls Nest, despite local Inspector Ridehouse’s pleas to let law enforcement handle it. Well plotted, it had a reveal that didn’t really surprise me but fit perfectly with everything that led up to it, instead of a twist to shock the reader that makes no sense. I wouldn’t call it a page turner but it’s fantastic for readers that like a good traditional mystery without language, gore or a thriller or horror element to it. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd was just ok for me. I just thought there was just too much going on and it drug along.

The first in a new cozy mystery series, Murder at Gulls Nest follows Nora Breen, entering the world afresh after many years as a nun, on the search for a missing friend. Nora takes up the room where her friend Frieda Brogan was staying when she suddenly stopped writing letters and disappeared. At Gulls Nest, Nora finds a motley crew of residents all with their own secrets and soon after her arrival, the death of another resident makes everyone a suspect.

I love Jess Kidd’s writing style and whizzed through this book in just two (snowed in) days. Nora is a breath of fresh air as a brave middle-aged woman full of determination. The cast of characters made for a fun read and the mystery was just the right amount of complicated for this reader. As with any good cozy, it wraps up nicely in the end and there are no loose ends.

I look forward to the next book in the series. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

This is a new series and I didn't know what to expect as the protagonist is a former nun (she leaves the convent to go investigate her friend's disappearance). I feel I learned a lot reading this book and the mystery was unexpectedly both simpler and more complex than it appeared at first. Nora (the main character) is very enterprising and likable and the whole cast of characters is fun and quirky. The book did not feel predictable at all (as so many cozy mysteries can be) and I hope it becomes a series!

Nora is a former nun turned amateur sleuth, and I couldn’t get enough of her in this cozy mystery. She’s sharp, funny, and just a little chaotic in the best way. Watching her navigate the secrets of a small seaside town while unraveling a layered mystery was such a treat. The boarding house setting felt alive, almost like a character in itself, full of charm and a bit of eerie history.

The mystery had me hooked with its twists and red herrings, but what really stood out was Nora—her warmth, wit, and determination made every page a joy. The pacing struck a nice balance, keeping me guessing without rushing the reveals.

If you’re into clever, character-driven mysteries with a touch of quirk and atmosphere, this one’s for you. I’m already counting down to the next book in the series.

This was a surprise from Jess Kidd but I loved it! You can’t reliably judge a book by its cover, but THIS cover strikes the right tone for Kidd’s latest: here you’ll find a British murder mystery experience set in an English village by the sea, with an unlikely amateur sleuth, and an eccentric cast of characters. The whole thing feels straight out of the golden age of crime fiction, but with a twist.

Murder at Gulls Nest is about Nora Breen as she is released from hew vows as a nun in the mid-century, in England, to locate her friend, Frieda. Frieda was a novice at the same convent who was released from her vows due to chronic health issues that required rest and recuperation in a seaside town. Gulls Nest is the boarding house within the city Gore-On-Trent where Frieda was staying prior to her disappearance, and where Nora goes to investigate what happened to her friend. There is a cast of various characters who are staying within the house, but our main protagonist and narrator is Nora.
Shortly after she arrives in the house, one of the residents is found dead, after drinking poison laved coffee. The local investigator is not convinced that it is murder and quickly rules the death a suicide, but Nora is not deterred from looking into the death, while simultaneously looking for Frieda and what might have happened to her. For some reason, this book seemed quite slow to ramp up into the mystery, and it was slow going to pique my interest as well. That said, I enjoyed seeing how Nora methodically worked her way through the mystery. I also found the character development of Nora, as she comes to understand herself outside the confines of her convent, very enjoyable as well. The conclusion of the mystery and resolution was also neatly done, but fairly predictable for me. Overall, I am rounding up from 3.5 stars to 4.
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.