“Jesus, who would want to read about a failed old nun, with her stipend, and second-hand shoes.”

What a kooky mystery book. My mom was visiting for the last few days and she and I love to get our blankets and read (which we indulged in doing) so she was perfectly placed to ask me what was going on within the fun orange cover of this book. The quick logline doesn’t really capture the vibe of the book, though, and I don’t know whether I sold her on it or not. Murder at Gulls Nest features Nora, a former Carmelite nun who has left her order after three decades and is on the hunt for a missing novice whom she befriended while they were at the same monastery. Nora didn’t leave just because Frieda is missing, but she also did leave partly because she is. Jess Kidd weaves in Nora’s motivations, history, and ways in which she re-enters the world in 1954 following thirty years away while also spooling out the mysteries of what is happening at Gulls Nest in a way that kept the pace moving forward without feeling rushed.

Because a few mysterious deaths and disappearances have occurred around the Gulls Nest guest house, and all its occupants have curious backstories to be poked at. Nora is determined to use her innate curiosity which caused her so much trouble in her life as a nun, as well as her medical training as a nurse, to help determine what happened to her friend and the other residents of Gulls Nest. It puts her squarely in the path of the local inspector Rideout, a delightful foil for the self-possessed Nora Breen to run up against. As deaths pile up Nora runs up against a town that is used to people passing through and paying deference to the local Big Man running the amusement park and must persevere to get to the bottom of what is happening.

I’m glad that this is first in a series, because I felt Kidd really landed on who Nora is in the back half of the book and I’m decidedly interested in seeing how her informal partnership with Rideout continues now that she’s decided not to leave town right away. Because who doesn’t love a middle-aged woman throwing shoes at young police officers who won’t listen to valid worries and concerns?

Bingo Square: Rec’d. Murder at Gulls Nest first came to my attention via narfna’s recommendation on her YouTube channel. She talked about it a couple times, including in her Midyear Freakout Tag video as one of her Biggest Surprises of the year so far.

Bingo #3: Rec’d, Culture, O, Green, White