ARC Review: The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

Series: Molly the Maid #2

When an acclaimed author dies at the Regency Grand Hotel, it’s up to a fastidious maid to uncover the truth, no matter how dirty—in a standalone novel featuring Molly Gray, from the #1 New York Timesbestselling author of The Maid, a Good Morning America Book Club Pick.

Molly Gray is not like anyone else. With her flair for cleaning and proper etiquette, she has risen through the ranks of the glorious five-star Regency Grand Hotel to become the esteemed Head Maid. But just as her life reaches a pinnacle state of perfection, her world is turned upside down when J.D. Grimthorpe, the world-renowned mystery author, drops dead—very dead—on the hotel’s tea room floor.

When Detective Stark, Molly’s old foe, investigates the author’s unexpected demise, it becomes clear that this death was murder most foul. Suspects abound, and everyone wants to who killed J.D. Grimthorpe? Was it Lily, the new Maid-in-Training? Or was it Serena, the author’s secretary? Could Mr. Preston, the hotel’s beloved doorman, be hiding something? And is Molly really as innocent as she seems?

As the case threatens the hotel’s pristine reputation, Molly knows she alone holds the key to unlocking the killer’s identity. But that key is buried deep in her past—because long ago, she knew J.D. Grimthorpe. Molly begins to comb her memory for clues, revisiting her childhood and the mysterious Grimthorpe mansion where she and her dearly departed Gran once worked side by side. With the entire hotel under investigation, Molly must solve the mystery post-haste. If there’s one thing Molly knows for sure, it’s that dirty secrets don’t stay buried forever…

---

---

Overall Recommendation:

Having thought the sensational novel, The Maid, was a stand-alone, I was delighted to be checking back into the Regency Grand Hotel and following the delightful Molly on another unfortunate incident resulting in a dead man at their fine establishment. This time around, we learn more about Molly’s history alongside her Gran’s, and the cozy mystery factor makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, akin to being wrapped up in the best blanket. This is the perfect fall read and has earned another top spot in my books!

**The Mystery Guest comes out November 28, 2023**

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review

Molly the maid is back at it again as we are warmly re-embraced into the staff and charm of the Regency Grand Hotel. Four years have passed since the events of The Maid so while references are made about what had occurred then, this can be read as a stand-alone.

For a five star hotel, yet another unfortunate murder has occurred on the premises of this fine establishment, right after they were fixing their reputation again from the last gnarly incident. This time, it’s a reclusive mystery novelist who was about to make a big announcement if not for his untimely demise.

I loved being back in Molly’s perspective as she’s hurled back into another murder investigation. While I know people’s frustrations from book 1 sometimes stemmed from the lack of explicit acknowledgment where Molly stood on the spectrum, personally it doesn’t take away from the story if she was officially diagnosed or not. For her character and the additional backstory we see in this book, if she was on the spectrum, i don’t think they had the means to get a proper diagnosis so Molly herself may not have a word to describe how she’s different from others. She knows she is but she works hard to read other people to live and function among them. And perhaps her ability to remember details the rest of us find irrelevant makes her the perfect amateur sleuth out there, albeit begrudgingly.

The cast of characters brings old friends I loved from book 1 (I love you, Mr. Preston!) and new ones alike. There was less Juan Miguel in this books, to the point he wasn’t even a secondary character, but I liked that the romance subplot wasn’t huge at all. There was no second book misunderstanding breakup or anything. This was purely a solid cozy mystery and I was all for that. I’m not normally a cozy mystery reader – I need that intense thrill of suspense to drive me forward – but Nita Prose continues to surprise me with her ability to make me love this world she’s created that’s more hopeful than most mysteries I read.

The story moves along at a fairly fast pace. There are two almost equally split timelines, present day with the mystery and Molly’s past when she was around ten years old. Her history and present surprisingly intermingle and I loved slowly learning what pieces were hidden in Molly’s mind that gave greater context to the present mystery. Seeing more of her Gran and their interactions was heartwarming, but I felt there was more insight into who Molly is as a person as we see more of her thoughts as a child in addition to her grown up self. I absolutely adore her as a protagonist which makes this book and series everything. There are not many characters I feel such a connection to even though we’re nothing alike. Leaving the book felt like losing a friend, because Molly was so well described it felt like I knew her by the end. (There’re also so many sayings she and her Gran have that they can fill a book for cheesy lines to remember.)

If you loved The Maid, this one is a beautiful story that is as good as the first, which is always hard to do when the first was already so well written. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in but I can honestly say I never want to leave the Regency Grand and Molly for long. If that means 30 more books featuring this cast and place, I will happily dive into every single one.