“Murder at Gulls Nest” by Jess Kidd

Title: Murder at Gulls Nest
Author: Jess Kidd
Publisher: Atria Books
Year: 2025
Genre(s): mystery, historical fiction
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 1.

Why I read it: Once Upon a Book Club pick

Summary: When letters from her friend Freya suddenly stop, Nora Breen leaves her convent to go search for her. She travels to the small English seaside town where Freya last was known to be and settles at Gulls Nest. When two residents of Gulls Nest die under mysterious circumstances, Nora realizes Freya’s disappearance is just the tip of iceberg.

Rating: 

Review: I liked this book. Not generally a big fan of mysteries but it seems that the book club I belong to right now has a preference for them.

Or at least it feels like it.

I liked Nora as a character. She reminded me a lot of J.B. Fletcher from Murder, She Wrote. Tenacious, confident in her abilities and not afraid to challenge the police. I especially liked the image of her throwing her shoes at the officer at the desk.

And I liked Inspector Rideout as well. He was competent and likeable, not really dismissing Nora right away. They grew to have a great working relationship and I hope maybe it could develop into more as the series progresses.

The supporting characters were interesting in their own ways as well, which I find is a plus for a mystery. The more eccentric the character, the better in my book.

I did feel like it too a little too long to get into the main mystery though I do get that Kidd felt she had to really set her scene and introduce us to all the players. Once things really started to move, it got very interesting and it was fun trying to put all the pieces together. I may need to do a re-read to see if I catch clues I may have missed before because I came to a different conclusion on whodunnit but I think that’s more on me than Kidd’s writing.

I will give a warning and this is the only spoiler I will give – the book does involve the death of a dog. If you are sensitive to such topics, I would advise not reading.

Bottom line: A good mystery if you give it a chance.

Sex: Discussed, including a sexual assault – but not shown.

Moonlight Musing

Do you think you would give up everything to go find someone?