Book #2 in the Molly the Maid Series

Molly Gray, the Head Maid at the Regency Grand Hotel, takes on another mystery, facing a murder investigation when renowned author J.D. Grimthorpe dies on the premises. As suspects emerge and the hotel's reputation is at stake, Molly, armed with her cleaning skills and memories of the past, races to unravel the mystery before her secrets come to light. Who's the killer? What happened in her past? And why is she the only one that can crack this case? I always enjoy Nina Prose's cozy and fun mysteries!

This was a fun and quirky book! It wasn’t the most life changing book, but I still really enjoyed it! The main plot kept me hooked and on my toes, but it wasn’t a book I will be revisiting.

The mystery aspect wasn’t as interesting or intense as the first book. I found the flashbacks a little boring.

Molly the maid is ready to clean up another murderous mess in the latest offering from Nita Prose.

Molly Gray has come a long way since Prose’s bestselling debut, The Maid, where she was unfairly accused of the murder of a guest at the five-star Regency Grand Hotel. Cleared of all charges, Molly is now the head maid and blissfully in love with her boyfriend, Juan Manuel, another Grand employee. But when celebrated author J.D. Grimthorpe drops dead in the hotel tearoom moments before making a mysterious announcement about his career, Molly’s plunged into chaos once again. Grimthorpe was poisoned, and police, including Molly’s old nemesis Detective Stark, believe a hotel staff member may be the murderer.

The hotel is full of suspects such as Lily, the new maid-in-training who prepared the poisoned tea cart, and Serena, Grimthorpe’s secretary who disappears in the aftermath of his death. Detective Stark still believes Molly is capable of murder, so to protect herself and her friends, Molly puts her eye for meticulous detail to use to help solve the crime. Molly also has a mysterious connection to the reclusive writer—one that may help her crack the case.

The Mystery Guest is a delightful sophomore novel that showcases how Molly has changed since the first entry in the series: She’s as sharp and honest as ever but has grown into her roles of head maid and girlfriend. Molly’s particularly protective of Lily, and it’s a joy to see the lengths to which she’ll go to defend her friends. Molly’s co-workers, including long-serving doorman Mr. Preston and head barmaid Angela are warm and funny, and both contribute to her sleuthing success in unexpected ways. Another bright spot of the novel are the LAMBS: Ladies Auxiliary Mystery Book Society members. A group of Grimthorpe fans who are staying at the hotel, the women are entertaining, helpful and suspicious in equal measure.

Molly’s a singular character—she’s intelligent, unfailingly honest and the epitome of a professional maid—and readers will enjoy checking in to the Regency Grand to follow her and her exploits. Fans of The Maid will miss Juan Manuel, who spends the bulk of the novel visiting family, but hopefully Prose will reunite him with Molly in the next installment of this charming series.

I was worried that this story wouldn't make me as happy as my first adventure with Molly the maid, but I was certainly wrong. This story is just as adorable, heartwarming, charming, and lovely as the first. In fact, I think this one is even better. We follow Molly as she continues to work as the head Maid in charge, training a new maid and getting things done. But of course, someone winds up dead. But this isn't her first time dealing with this sort of mess and she's ready for it. I loved the character growth from the first book to this one. I loved the found family development. I cheered for Molly so many times in this book! I hope there are lots more adventures for her in the future because I can't wait to read about them.

I am so glad for a second book with these characters. We get so much of Gran’s backstory in this one. Just such a great read.

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose is a cozy mystery and the second book in the Molly the Maid series.

I listened to the audiobook version, narrated by Lauren Ambrose, via my Spotify Premium membership. She does a great job; it was really pleasant to listen to.

I continue to be charmed by Molly the Maid!

This book is set a few years after the first. Molly has definitely grown up a little bit more. We get some callbacks to characters from the previous installment, along with some new faces.

We have a bit of a dual timeline here, in the present murder scenario and when Molly was a child while her gran was at work. Some of this storyline gets a little on the darker side, so check CWs if you want to.

CW: murder, death, sexual assault (mentioned), alcoholism

Just not my cup of tea. I did not enjoy the quirkiness of the main character. The story overall was a bit predictable. If you loved Prose’s “The Maid,” you will enjoy this one as well.

I loved hearing more about Molly the maid in her quirky world where she enjoys returning things to a state of perfection and thrives from order and cleanliness. There is once again a murder at the hotel and Molly, now head Maid, finds herself connected to the man who was murdered. She first met him when she was a young girl and her Gran cleaned his home. He is still a curmudgeon, but also a famous mystery author. Molly finds herself working alongside a detective to solve the murder and set the record straight. Great story!

It was so great to be back in Molly’s world! All of the reveals were very clever and it was so I rightful to learn more about a Molly as a child.

While I didn't enjoy the mystery in this one as much as the first book it still kept me guessing. But my favorite part of this one was seeing how much Molly had grown since the first book. And much she's thriving well I mean murder in her hotel aside.

Head Maid Molly Gray is an employee at the five-star Grand Regency Hotel. During a recent event, world renowned author J.D. Grimthorpe dies in front of a large crowd of fans. It is soon revealed that the writer was murdered. Being no stranger to this sort of scenario, Molly uses her uncanny skills for detail to help uncover the murderer. This delightfully charming who-dun-it is for fans of Prose's first novel THE MAID.

I absolutely loved book one in the Molly the Maid series and was eagerly awaiting book two. It lived up to my expectations and sometimes that is hard to find within a series. I usually read darker, psychological thrillers but Nita Prose’s somewhat cozy psychological mystery was a nice pallet cleanse for me. Molly is a great character and the writing is excellent. I hope that this is a series that continues on!
Thank you NetGalley, Nita Prose and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC edition of this book for my honest review.

We are back in The Regency Grand Hotel with yet another dead guest. Molly the Maid is back in the mix of it all and she’s just as quirky and charming as she was the first time around.
What I liked about this book is the flashbacks to when Molly was a child with her Gran, getting to know her Gran as a younger woman and Molly as a child really deepened their characters and gave a lot more meaning to an already tender relationship.

This is a quick read at only about 250 pages.
Is it my favorite mystery of all time? No. Will it make my top fav books of the year? No.
However, if you like a quick, entertaining mystery full of humor and heart then these two books should be on your list.

I absolutely loved The Maid and was looking forward to another installment with Molly. This book did not disappoint, we learned so much more about Molly's back story and I really enjoyed the twists and new characters we met along the way. I hope there will be a book 3, I'm not ready to let Molly go!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I adored The Maid and Molly is such a memorable character. I was not aware that this was going to be a series but I am thrilled to get another book with Molly. Although I liked The Maid better than The Mystery Guest, this was still a solid and enjoyable book. I appreciated that this book could be read on its own without reading The Maid, but having read The Maid, I appreciated Detective Stark's character more and think that they treated Molly much better in this one. If cozy is how you like your mysteries, I will always recommend this series but if you are one that likes harder mysteries to figure out, this might not be the best option. Although I found this book enjoyable, the mystery was pretty easy to figure out and didn't really challenge me, but I was perfectly fine with this. This is the kind of book I like to read after a challenging literary fiction piece. Something that is highly entertaining but doesn't require too much brain power. I hope the series will continue!

I absolutely love Molly the maid and all her idiosyncracies! I read the first book and this one did not disappoint as well as the first! But this book gives a really good picture of Molly's upbrining.. her mother... her grandmother.. they all connect in ways that WOWED me!

This was my introduction to Molly Gray, Head Maid. What a delightful and charming soul. Not having read the first in the series seems to have left me without some background but there were remembrances by the characters that allowed me to move along with her story.
When I meet Molly she is employed as a maid ( the family tradition) in an upscale hotel, where she is loved and appreciated. That has not always been the case. Her tormented youth cut short her normal education. Not sure how to characterize her, I'd say she was on the spectrum in her black/white literal outlook on what people say, resulting in mockery by her peers and the inability of her teachers to see her problems. So grandma removed her from school and designated her a “maid in training" and a delightful, honest, smart, reliable and hard working human evolved.
Her acute awareness of things happening around her and attention to detail makes her a perfect sidekick to the detective who has arrived to solve the murder of a famous guest who has been murdered at the hotel. She doesn’t acquire this position by choice. the detective has a difficult time with Molly’s straightforward approach to situations but learns to appreciate her skills.
Once shunned and humiliated we watch Molly conquer a new life challenge and develop skills that I hope evolve in future episodes.
A truly enjoyable read.

Another win by Nita Prose! Molly is back and this time she must help her fellow hotel workers as they are all on hand when mystery writer J.D. Grimthorpe dies while at a book signing event at her hotel. There are links to him in Molly's past and she also must deal with her Detective nemesis... If you enjoyed the first book you will also enjoy this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this sequel. I don’t remember enough of the details from The Maid to say which book I liked more. I just wish they spent less time on flashbacks. For me, they always interrupt the narrative flow.

✨ THE MYSTERY GUEST✨
Rating: 3 ⭐️ - It was ok!

After finishing THE MAID this weekend, I immediately dived into it’s sequel, THE MYSTERY GUEST - TY to @randomhouse for my gifted copy! I was so excited to dive back into the world of Molly the Maid but unfortunately this one fell short for me.

❤️ MOLLY and the hotel’s characters - this series is filled with so many like-able characters - Molly is so quirky and fun, Mr. Preston, the Maid gang, etc.

❤️ loved this one on AUDIO! These narrators are great and really bring the story to life!

💔 this one just missed the mark for me a little - the mystery wasn’t as fun as the first one and didn’t connect to the two timelines

I heard that there might be a third book coming in this series and can’t wait!