Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd

Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd

After thirty years of sheltered life in a convent, it’s 1953 and Nora Breen is ready to give up her habit, her order and the title of Sister Agnes and go out into the world beyond the convent walls. Nora arrives at the seaside town of Gore-on-Sea, with very little to her (old) name and seeks lodgings at Gull’s Nest boarding house. But Nora’s not there to start a new life, she’s there to seek someone from her old one. Her friend Frieda left the convent some months before and has gone missing. However, no one will believe Nora, including the police; the story being told by the lodgers was that Frieda got bored and moved on – case closed. But Nora can’t reconcile with this narrative. Frieda vowed to write to Nora and tell her of her new life; they enjoyed frequent correspondence via letters, until the letters stopped abruptly some weeks ago. Nora’s intuition tells her something bad has come of Frieda, and she is there to solve the case. Over a series of strange and often inedible meals prepared by the formidable Mrs. Rawlings and endured with her fellow lodgers, Nora becomes relentless in her search for the truth about her friend. That is, until one of the lodgers is murdered, leaving Nora with two mysteries to solve. Nora resolves to find the murderer in the hopes that this will bring some closure to her own friend’s disappearance.

This is a wonderfully written book. It’s witty and clever and full of fabulous characters and visual scenes. In one scene, Nora takes her shoe off and chucks it at the desk officer in the local Police Station to get his attention, which sounds off the wall, but Nora is such a vibrant character, it’s the most natural thing she would do. Nora is a bright spark, gutsy and cheeky in her pursuit of the truth, but above all else, she is kind and intuitive

The characters are amazingly written, each told through the eyes of Nora, conveying a distinct personality as individuals in their own right. From Mrs Rawlings, the scowlly tyrant that runs the boarding house, to Father Conway, a greedy seagull that Nora feeds from her bedroom window, each character is flawless. Her friendship with Detective Inspector Rideout is hard won and one of the most enjoyable interactions to read. In the beginning, Nora’s nosiness and persistence exasperate the Detective, and he has to constantly tell her to back off and stay out of police business. However, over time, Nora’s power of observation becomes integral to solving many of the mysteries that surround the lodgers of Gulls Nest Boarding House, and their uneasy partnership begins to blossom.

From the perspective of the plot, this cosy crime novel most definitely does not disappoint. There is so much going on for the reader, and it’s so well written and paced, you just want to keep reading to the end. Whilst set in the 1950s, I never felt distracted by the writer setting the scene, which I sometimes feel can happen in books that follow the lines of historical fiction. Jess Kidd nailed it!

Overall, a most enjoyable, compulsive read that kept me hooked from beginning to end. Jess Kidd is the author of four novels, and this is the first in the Nora Breen Investigates Series. I look forward to reading many more in the future.