Murder at Gulls Nest

 Murder at Gulls Nest

By Jess Kidd

This was my first read of the summer; I finished it just before our departure for Costa Rica on July 3, which

is why I am just getting to it now. 

This was a lovely little murder mystery that felt perfect for the days just after school got out. It was set in the scenic, but becoming-run-down seaside town of Gull's Nest in England. The main character, whose name I forget, is a nun who has just given up her vows after three or four decades in cloister. The spark that set this move in motion, though it had been long simmering, was the disappearance of another newly-freed nun who had rented a room in Gull's Nest, faithfully corresponded with our accidental detective -- and then suddenly stopped. Such is the main character's loyalty to this friend, that she is convinced something must have happened. 

It did, of course, which becomes all-too-obvious when another murder happens at the same inn that the main character and her former friend take rooms. And then another. The former nun helps guide the investigation, which leads, improbably, to a wife whose groom, it turns out, was gay. The other murders were simply cover-ups for that one. 

Can't say this book was earth shattering, but it kept me turning the pages.