I’m so thrilled that our favourite ex-nun sleuth, Nora Breen, is back. A perfect follow-up and storyline progression after her debut crime solving. It appears that out of season, sleepy, coastal resort town Gore-On-Sea is fast turning into the fish and chips version of St Mary’s Mead with bodies popping up all over the place. Nora is the no-nonsense, level-headed and dependable person the town is fast learning to lean on.
An excellent mystery series by a superb author.
My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own unbiased opinion.

The second in this lovely cosy crime series set in 1950s Kent and featuring former nun, Nora Breen. Teaming up again with Detective Inspector Rideout, Nora finds herself puzzling over a serial killer who seems to be extremely ingenious in the way they operate.
The story starts off slowly but the pace definitely quickens in the second half of the book as the murders mount up. Once again Jess Kidd's easy style of writing makes this an enjoyable read. The highlight of the series is of course the character portrayals. Both Nora and Rideout are wonderful characters and I'm looking forward to reading more about them in the future.
Highly recommended.

I love the Nora Breen series of books by Jess Kidd. This second instalment, Murder at the Spirit Lounge, sees Nora assist Detective Inspector Rideout in solving the murder of the medium, Doreen Chimes, who met her demise at a seance she was holding at her house. The bodycount in Gore-on-Sea begins to rise as all the guests at the seance turn up murdered.

Nora Breen is a great gutsy character. She’s recently left a convent having lived most of her adult life as a cloistered nun. She’s now living in a boarding house on the South Coast in Gore-On-Sea and navigating her place in the world helped by her friends. At the boarding house she’s friends with the housekeeper Irene and wheeler dealer Will, who both look out for her. She has a great rapport with Detective Inspector Rideout and Hosmer the owner of the Photography shop, both of whom perhaps hold a candle for Nora, who is oblivious.

It definitely hovers in the historical cosy crime side of things. The backdrop of the early 1950s is fascinating as the country is still scarred by World War II with servicemen disfigured and psychologically damaged by the war, rationing still in place, but with a sense of a country trying to rebuild.

I can’t wait for the next instalment of Nora Breen investigates.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Faber and Faber Ltd, for making this e-ARC available to me in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I absolutely adored this book and devoured it over a couple of days! It has easily been one of my favourite books of the year and I can’t wait to read more from the author in the future