This is a house that keeps her secrets well hidden. Her yew trees whisper together in their dour huddles and her windows reflect nothing more than the darkening sky.
Gulls Nest may be quiet but Nora does not feel at peace here. Who knows what dark thoughts are brewing, what chaos is being hatched? In her old life Nora was a ship anchored firmly to the bedrock. Tumultuous waves might come and go but she knew she had a lifeline. At Gulls Nest she feels like a frantically bobbing cork in an unfriendly ocean.
Nora Breen is late of a monastery, having spent the last thirty years as Sister Agnes. A young nun had left the sisterhood, but promised to write back regularly. The sudden absence of these letters is the prompt for Nora’s sudden travels. Frieda had been staying at a seaside hotel, Gulls Nest, in Gore-on-Sea, so that is where Nora begins her search. But what starts out as a missing person inquiry takes a turn when one of the guests catches a bad case of dead. And the game is afoot.
There were several sources of inspiration. The idea of writing a former religious sister came from my childhood. I was taught by a former nun as a child. I was intrigued by her story, in terms of why she joined a religious order and then why she left, but I was never brave enough to ask her about it. The main setting of the first book, Gulls Nest boarding house, was inspired by a disastrous romantic weekend. We booked into an unnamed hotel in Kent, and it was marvellous but not perhaps in the way you’d hope for. There was a formidable landlady, haunted plumbing and eccentric guests. The house would have been beautiful in its day but was shabbily strange when we came to it. But I loved it for its character. – from The Nerd Daily interview
Kidd has planned out a series of eight Nora Breen novels. In the first we are introduced not only to Nora, but to several characters who will be returning. In the Dabble interview, Kidd talks about having a detective who is seeing the world with fresh eyes, after having been shut away for thirty years. Her age, and complete absence of ego also make her seem unthreatening. They do not, however, make her ineffective. While she had to stifle her curiosity and willfulness in the community, she is patient and very deliberate. That said, she remains very much a stranger in a strange world.
Jess Kidd – Image from Faber & Faber
1953 England is indeed a strange, gritty place. Still recovering from the war, impacted by the massive loss of men, and the damage done to many of the returning soldiers, and their families. Survival is all. Making things pretty takes a back seat. Gulls Nest is down at the heels, well past its prime. There is a non-zero concern about the safety of the less-than-palatable meals being served at the hotel (very reminiscent of a memorable personal hospital stay). But it is not short on quirky characters. The supporting cast in this one is quite robust. “But Gulls Nest is that sort of a place, isn’t it? Where the dreamers and schemers wash up.”
The hotel residents include Professor Poppy, a Punch and Judy showman, looking the worse for wear, with his own studio and a collection of puppets, Teddy, a well-liked caretaker at the local amusement park, his wife Stella, who clerks at the town hall, Bill Carter, a retired navy chief who works as a bartender at another hotel, Mr. Karel Ježek, a small photographer with a difficult-to-place accent, Irene Rawlings, a resentful housekeeper, the hotel owner, Helena Wells, who sports a posh accent, suggesting a reduction in her circumstances, and then there is Dinah, her daughter, a seemingly feral child who has the run of the hotel and grounds, appears in surprising places, and does not speak. A few locals, including a non-human one, flesh out the roster. Everyone in Gore-on-Sea has secrets, including Nora. Part of the fun of this novel is getting to each one.
Every cozy amateur detective requires a police contact, and DI Rideout serves that role here. We can assume that they will form an alliance. He has the added benefit of rugged good looks, and sundry characteristics that Nora cannot help but observe. But, as in most cozies, there is not much actual flesh on display, of either the steamy or cold variety. Per the genre, bodies are discovered, not actively deprived of their life forces on the page. That said, there are some scary bits.
Nora goes about her detecting business, follows clues, talks to people in the hotel and in town. She keeps her eyes peeled, pokes her nose in places beyond her remit, makes a few friends and develops a very useful local informant. Nora growing parallels Nora finding things out.
While this is a pretty-straight-ahead crime story, Kidd drops in at least one dollop of magical realism, a major feature of her prior work. Personally, I would have liked more of this, fan as I am of Kidd’s magical realism writing, but that’s just me. The 1950s setting is rich with possibility, beautifully achieved here. Kidd is a wonderful writer, and offers not only well-realized characters, but an intriguing mystery or two, and evocative atmospherics.
While it may not hold the same appeal as more exotic vacation spots, if you appreciate a little time away, with quiet days in which to read, walk the beach, enjoy a cuppa, and maybe stumble across the odd body, Gore-on-Sea might be just the place. Jess Kidd will save you a room. You will find yourself eager to return.
Nora tells herself that the world may seem confusing but it is just the sum of its parts. Take it piece by piece until you can work out the whole.
Review posted – 5/9/25
Publication date – 4/8/25
I received an ARE of Murder at Gull’s Nest from Atria in return for a fair review. Thanks, folks, and thanks to NetGalley for facilitating.
This review is cross-posted on Goodreads. Stop by and say Hi!
=======================================EXTRA STUFF
Links to Kidd’s personal, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram and FB pages
Profile – from Calgary Women’s Literary Club
Kidd holds a Ph.D. in Creative Writing, she has earned numerous literary awards from England and Ireland, and—in addition to her novels, short stories, and children’s books—she is currently developing her own original television project.
Kidd has already written #2 in the series, Murder at the Spirit Lounge. It centers on a famous medium who arrives in Gore-on-Sea and starts taking seances. When one séance goes terribly and mysteriously wrong it seems that Nora might have a supernatural serial killer on her hands.
Interviews
—–The Nerd Daily – Q&A: Jess Kidd, Author of ‘Murder At Gulls Nest’ by Elise Dumpleton
—–Dabble – Writing Historical Cozy Mysteries With Jess Kidd by Hank Garner – video – 56:26
Items of interest – author
—–Writing.ie – Changing Genre by Jess Kidd
—–The Guardian – Jess Kidd: ‘My older sister taught me to read with Mills & Boon’
Item of Interest
—– Death in Paris – this review offers a walk-through on elements in the cozy mystery genre
My reviews of other books by Jess Kidd
—–2020 – Things in Jars
—–2022 – The Night Ship
Coot's Reviews 