Murder at Gulls Nest

by Jess Kidd

Published 11 March 2025

'I was wildly charmed by Murder at Gulls Nest. . . HIGHLY recommended' Marian Keyes

The first in a sparkling new 1950s seaside mystery series, featuring sharp-eyed former nun Nora Breen.


Somewhere in the north, a religious community meets for Vespers. Here on the southeast coast, Nora Breen prepares for braised liver and a dining room full of strangers.

After thirty years in a convent, Nora Breen has thrown off her habit and set her sights on the seaside town of Gore-on-Sea. Why there? Why now? Instinct tells her it's better not to reveal her reasons straight away. She takes a room at Gulls Nest guest house and settles in to watch and listen.

Over disappointing - and sometimes downright inedible - dinners, Nora realises that she was right to keep quiet: her fellow lodgers are hiding something. At long last, she has found an outlet for her powers of observation and, well, nosiness: there is a mystery to solve, and she is the only person for the job.

'Kidd has imagination to die for and a real command of plot and character.' Guardian