When I read Murder at Gulls Nest in January, I knew it was destined for my “favorite books of 2025” list. Between the writing, the setting, and the sleuth, Jess Kidd’s latest release became an instant favorite.
Which might explain just how thrilled I am to have her in today’s Cluesletter. In the interview below, Jess shares insights into nun-turned-detective Nora Breen and her investigation in 1950s England.
Connect with Jess on Instagram and her website. Grab a copy of Murder at Gulls Nest here.
Welcome, Jess! Murder at Gulls Nest follows former nun Nora Breen, who asks to be released from her vows to investigate the sudden disappearance of her former novice at Gulls Nest, a seaside hotel in Kent. I adored Nora, as a character and especially as a sleuth—how did you craft her character? What qualities of hers do you think make her an excellent natural investigator?
I wanted to create a sleuth with an outsider’s eye – so the idea that Nora has been effectively dead to the world in an enclosed Carmelite order appealed to me. Nora is propelled by the mystery surrounding her favourite novice back into society and much has changed. I wanted to create a protagonist with a defamiliarised point of view so that we adapt to this new and different world alongside her.
I also wanted to explore the idea that the traits that she may have had to repress (and which might not have endeared Nora to her mother superior!) may be very useful in her new role as amateur detective – she’s downright nosy, wilful and curious. Nora has also learnt to live in community, so she brings patience and empathy to bear on her investigations. I wanted to create a detective both for then (the 1950s) and now, especially at a time when many of us are starting to see the value in human connection over consumption. Nora has left the monastery with not much more than the clothes she stands up in, but it doesn’t worry her. She very much lives in the moment. I also love the fact that as a middle-aged woman Nora takes up space and confronts expectations about her age and gender. It’s a case of ‘underestimate Nora Breen at your peril!’
What I especially loved about Gulls Nest was its collection of characters, especially those who inhabit Gulls Nest. How did you curate this eclectic group of suspects? What do you think are the most important considerations when creating a pool of suspects in a mystery?
The boarding house setting felt like the perfect way to bring together a group of eclectic characters. I use the term ‘flotsam and jetsum’ for this pool of odd people who have washed up out of season and find themselves living in cheap accommodation. All of them come with a backstory and for some of them it is no accident that they’ve chosen to inhabit a seaside town where the everyday rules are relaxed.
While you’ve dabbled in mystery with your other books, like Things in Jars and Mr. Flood’s Last Resort, Gulls Nest is more in line with a traditional cozy mystery. What challenged or excited you about writing this one? Did you approach writing its mystery in a different way?
I’m usually described as a cross-genre writer; previously I’ve always gravitated to having a mystery element along with a touch of magical realism, Gothic, or folklore – whatever I felt was needed to tell the story the best way I could. Murder at Gulls Nest does follow a more traditional mystery structure.
For example, there’s an amateur sleuth, her sidekick, a central puzzle, and some comfort to be drawn in the idea that mysteries can be solved. But it was important to me that this wasn’t at the expense of creating complex characters in a realistic historical setting that can often feel gritty, given the time and place. It had to resist the temptation to add a ghost or some surreal element. I can write supernatural element in, of course, but according to the rules of the mystery genre, Nora might have to debunk them!
Your books cover several time periods, from the seventeenth century to the 1980s; Gulls Nest is set in Kent in 1954. What has been your favorite time period to write? How do you research and prepare for each book’s setting?
I love them all, especially when I embark on a time period I don’t know much about on the outset. I use various approaches. The Night Ship is based on the true story of the Dutch merchant ship Batavia, the flagship of the VOC, which wrecked in 1629 at Beacon Island off the coast of Western Australia. To conduct this research, I travelled to Australia and the maritime museums at Fremantle and Geraldton. I was also lucky enough to spend time with a diver who photographed the wreck as it was discovered and raised in the 1960s. I also spent time walking about on the replica of the ship in Lelystad, Netherlands. This was a dual time period book with some of the story focussed on the crayfishing community in the 1980s so the recordings of oral accounts were helpful there.
In terms of logistics, the research for Gulls Nest was much easier! For this book photographs were my main source of inspiration as I’m a visual writer. In fact, the Gulls Nest boarding house was inspired in part by one picture in particular. It showed the dining room of a similarly grim seaside accommodation in early 1950s England. A boarder sits at the dining table which has a sticky-looking tablecloth and cruets. Over him stands a formidable-looking landlady in an apron with her arms crossed high on her chest! I was also fortunate enough to interview a religious sister, albeit not from an enclosed order such as the Carmelites, but this still helped me to gain insight into Nora’s background.
Lastly, what are you working on right now? Can we expect more Nora Breen, and/or is there anything else on your horizon you’re excited to share?
I’m delighted to say I’ve just finished the first draft of Nora Breen’s second adventure! It’s called Murder at the Spirit Lounge. I’ll give you a little taster here:
Dolores Chimes, famous medium, arrives in Gore-on-Sea, even surly Detective Inspector Rideout succumbs to promises of messages for the afterlife. Then a reading goes disastrously wrong, striking Dolores dead with terror. In the following days five of the six sitters at the séance meet their deaths in ways apparently supernatural. The race is on for Nora to find a ghostly serial killer before the sixth victim – Rideout himself – dies.
Thanks so much to Jess for the interview. Sleuths, I hope you enjoyed it! If you aren’t already subscribed, please be sure to sign up for the Cluesletter and get author features like this alongside other mystery goodies, delivered to your inbox every other Tuesday.