In the second installment of the Nora Breen Investigates series – ‘perfect for cozy mystery lovers’ (Book Riot) – beloved former nun Nora Breen returns, this time to track down a ghostly killer before it’s too late.

When Dolores Chimes, a famous medium, arrives in Gore-on-Sea, even surly Detective Inspector Rideout is lured in by her promises of messages for the afterlife.

But after a reading goes disastrously wrong, Dolores loses her life—and the six sitters at the séance with her fall victim to supernatural deaths themselves in the days following the nightmare of a reading.

Determined to unveil the truth, Nora finds herself chasing a ghostly serial killer she believes to be responsible, before the sixth victim—Detective Rideout himself—perishes along with the others.

My Review

Murder at Gulls Nest ‘stars’ Nora Breen, ex-nun turned Miss Marple. It’s very different from Jess Kidd’s other novels, but it still has the same ring to it. Murder at the Spirit Lounge is the second in the series and it’s even better.

I literally couldn’t wait for this and I was not disappointed. New narrator but just as good. I listened to it with Audible.

Dolores Chimes, a famous medium, arrives in Gore-on-Sea and organises a séance in the ‘Spirit Lounge’ with six sitters, all personally invited by Dolores. One of them happens to be Detective Inspector Rideout himself.

But before Dolores is cold in her grave – or at least on the autopsy table – two more of the sitters have met a grisly end. Who will be next? And is the detective also in danger?

There are ghostly sightings of an airman, and it just so happens that disgraced pilot Evelyn Leighton drowned himself in the lake at the home for disabled and mentally disturbed survivors of the 2nd World War. But what is his story?

The book is a mix of cosy crime, dark humour and a touch of the supernatural. I loved it and now have to wait for book three.

About the Author

Jess Kidd was brought up in London as part of a large family from county Mayo and has been praised for her unique fictional voice. Her debut, Himself, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards in 2016. She won the Costa Short Story Award the same year. Her second novel, The Hoarder, published as Mr. Flood’s Last Resort in the U.S. and Canada was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year 2019. Both books were BBC Radio 2 Book Club Picks. Her latest book, the Victorian detective tale Things in Jars, has been released to critical acclaim. Jess’s work has been described as ‘Gabriel García Márquez meets The Pogues.’