This novel is a follow-up to “The Maid,” which tells the story of Molly Gray, a young woman somewhere on the behavioral spectrum - most likely with Asperger syndrome (AS) - which has resulted in an inability to pick up social cues and develop social skills. (People with AS have relatively unimpaired language skills and intelligence, which is clearly the case with Molly.) She takes people at their words and has difficulty identifying deception and scorn.

She is now the proud Head Maid at the five-star Regency Grand Hotel, in a happy relationship living with her boyfriend Juan Manuel, and still going by the advice (in her head) of her beloved Gran, who passed away four years earlier but whose precepts still guide Molly’s behavior. She is even training a new maid, Lily, who reminds her a lot of her younger self.

As this story begins, Molly is excited over the upcoming appearance of J.D. Grimthorpe, the International but reclusive best-selling mystery author. He is making a rare public appearance to make a mysterious announcement to fifty-five VIP guests, and booked the Regency’s newly renovated tea room for the event. Molly was even put in charge of the tea. But just as Grimthorpe announced he has been keeping a secret that he would now reveal, he dropped dead.

Molly is determined to find out the identity of the killer in order to help save the hotel’s reputation. As an interesting complication, Molly actually knew the author from her childhood, when she worked with her Gran who was a maid at Grimthorpe’s mansion.

Evaluation: This cozy mystery series distinguishes itself by the primary character having Asperger syndrome, which is nice to see. On the other hand, I though the style of writing, especially Molly’s observations and interactions, was too reminiscent of the first novel; it barely seemed like a new book outside of the specifics of the new crime.

Nevertheless, it is an entertaining story and a welcome diversion from the usual mystery fare.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy!

I was pretty nervous when I started this book, because I loved The Maid so much and sequels are so tough to write. Although I didn't love this one quite as much, I still had so much fun reading it and blew through it in two days because I was so invested in Molly's antics and HER BACK STORY! Yes, we get more info about Molly's childhood and her Gran!

All of the characters I loved from the first book are back, along with some new ones. Molly is perfect as Head Maid, and I loved reading about how she was training Lily. Her little sayings made me smile. I think my favorite parts were the flashback chapters, although reading about how Molly was treated at school broke my heart. Getting to know about her past explained a lot about her character, and went along perfectly with the plot of this book.

How can you not fall in love with Molly the Maid??!!!

Another guest has dropped dead at the Regency Grand Hotel, and our beloved maid, Molly, is once again right in the thick of it all. With some less than gentle pushing from her quick-witted, true crime loving, bartender friend Angela, Molly is thrown right into carrying out her own investigation surrounding the strange death of an acclaimed mystery writer that had been hosting an event in the hotel.

I really enjoyed The Mystery Guest, which is dubbed a standalone novel, but I think will be much more enjoyable if you’ve read The Maid first. It’s got a cast of really fantastic characters, a lot of laugh out loud moments, and a timeline that bounces between a younger Molly and current day, allowing us to get a better understanding of who Molly is.

If you’re like me and love a cozy mystery in the winter, grab a cup of tea, a snuggly blanket and settle in for a fun novel!

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

I thought this was a very good follow up to the first book. The continuation of characters was very nice but the story felt a little rinse and repeat as well as very unbelievable. The writing felt more elementary this time, rather than full of depth and character development. Detective Stark allowing Molly along on the investigation just didn't seem like something that would actually happen. I did like following along with Molly and seeing her growth (although it wasn't that much) and keeping up with her. This was a very classic who dun it.

Molly the maid is back, and so is death at The Regency Grand where Molly has been made head maid. This time around Molly have a more personal connection to the case, getting her right in the crossfire of the surly Detective Stark again.

***

I did enjoy Molly's first adventure and could easily see Prose's opening for a new novel. And Molly is as observant and job oriented as ever.

The scenes where Molly is working as a mid and either reluctantly or purposefully investigating the actual mystery is interesting. And the flashback scenes should have set up a really interesting back story that connected with modern day!

But for cozy mysteries (as a lot of people label them) shouldn't these novels be a little less...sad? There were some crazy gut punches throughout the novel that were not getting the real tragedy and insanity of some of these plot points due to Molly's complete and utter inability to grasp it? I guess? I just feel if you are going to try and tackle topics like substance abuse and sexual assault, you need to give it more time and understanding.

And the actual end to the mystery and the tying up of all of the different plot points felt rushed and super unsatisfying.

If Molly returns, I'm happy to give it another shot, but this one really missed the mark for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked MAID, which introduced us to Molly the neuro diverse hotel cleaner who solves a murder. I was looking forward to this sequel. Alas I read a few pages and tossed it away.

In MAID I found Molly to be a believable character whose first person voice and reactions seemed genuine. Here, though, I found Molly something of a caricature of previous herself. We could expect that the profound life changes that ended the first book to have boosted Molly's self-esteem and confidence, but the Molly in this book isn't recognizable. The prose is the wrong cadence, the emotions feel pasted on. I couldn't read very far.

If I were to guess what happened, I'd say that Nita Prose worked very hard for a long time to get MAID just right but she was rushed into this book too quickly. A different editor who "heard" Moll'y voice, might have helped.

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

I LOVE The Maid so I was thrilled to receive an advance copy of The Mystery Guest.

Compared to The Maid, I did feel like this sequel didn't have as much of what I loved as the first book. I'm not sure I needed to know the backstory of Molly and Gran and I think that's why I didn't enjoy this one as much. However, it was still enjoyable. For me, most of the charm of the first book was the hotel setting and the cast of characters. This time with flipping back and forth between the past and present took away from a lot of the hotel staff storylines that I really loved. The past storyline was necessary to solve the mystery, but it just wasn't what I love.

I think this is still an enjoyable mystery and and a fun read, but perhaps wasn't something that needed to be written or told. That's just my opinion though since I'm someone who will always choose to have shows, books, and movies end on a high note and tell the stories they have to tell rather than continuing on just because people don't want them to come to an end.

I really enjoyed The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose. It was all the things a cozy mystery should be. I enjoyed reuniting with the characters from The Maid- they were as funny and charming as ever, and there were a few tender moments too.

Overall, I liked The Mystery Guest even more than The Maid. I felt that Prose took more care in writing a neurodivergent character in this book. We were also able to learn more of Molly’s back story, and yes, there is another visit to Olive Garden! I can’t wait to read the next installment in the series and see what happens to Molly and the rest of the hotel next.

Thank you to netgalley and to Random House Ballantine for the electronic arc. Thoughts are entirely my own.

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose. This is the second book about Molly, a maid in an upscale hotel. She is a great maid, but not so great at understanding human interaction (think Eleanor Oliphant). There is a murder at the hotel, and Molly is in the middle of things. This is a really fun story, but also makes you think about how poorly hotel maids and people in jobs like that are treated. #themysteryguest #nitaprose #netgalley #advancedreadercopy #arc #mysterynovel #bookstagram #booklover #reader #bookblog #lovetoread #fictionreader #bookreview #bookrecommendation #readersofinstagram #bookloversofinstagram #takeapagefrommybook #readallthebooks #booksbooksbooks #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #booknerd #whattoread #readingtime #bookaddict #ilovetoread #ilovebooks #needtoread #readallday

Well, that was the least mysterious mystery I've read in a while.

I can truly say there were only two characters I liked by the end: Mr. Preston and Detective Stark. And seeing as neither was the main character, this made for a loooooong book.

Some novels are meant to be standalones.

This was a great sophomore novel in the Molly the Maid series. I thoroughly enjoyed this cozy mystery.

If a mystery novel could be described as cozy, this would be it. I enjoyed the writing and the plot was definitely entertaining.It’s funny at times and has its heartwarming moments as well. The only thing that was kind of off for me was how the characters were portrayed at times.

Nita Prose’s first novel, The Maid, introduced the interesting hotel maid Molly. She will make readers appreciate the folks who do this work for their comfort. Molly was around murder in that book and history repeats itself here.

The murder takes place in the hotel’s newly refurbished and elegant tea room. The victim is a wildly popular mystery writer with a fan club. He was at the hotel to share an important announcement. Of course, he died before the speech and all of his cue cards are missing.

It turns out that Molly had a connection to this victim. She brings her unique intelligence and set of skills to figuring out what happened. Along the way, readers are treated to many of her aphorisms and get to enjoy her relationship with her grandmother among others.

I was lucky enough to hear the author speak at a mystery conference last year. She acknowledged the difficulties of writing a second book when the first was well received. In my opinion, Ms. Prose did a find job here.

Those who like a traditional mystery with an untraditional protagonist will enjoy The Mystery Guest. This book can be read on its own but readers who like Molly will probably want to read that first book as well.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for this title. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
I liked that we learned more about Molly and where she came from, her quirks and neurodivergence. I felt that a lot of it was redundant and sometimes far fetched. It took me a little while to get into the story as well, it was a slow burn. I honestly liked "The Maid" better than "The Mystery Guest" due to story line, but again appreciate learning the backstory of Molly.

Molly Gray must be protected at all costs. 💖

I just finished up The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose, the second book featuring the most endearing maid ever, Molly Gray. This is the follow-up to The Maid, our introduction to Molly. I adored The Maid last year and was so excited to reunite with Molly in The Mystery Guest.

In The Mystery Guest, we are back at the Regency Grand Hotel where Molly works as a and there’s been another mysterious death at the hotel - this time of a high-profile author. Molly holds key insights that Detective Starks will need to solve this mystery. It’s the maid-detective duo we didn’t know we needed!

For me, the mystery element took a back seat to getting a look into Molly’s childhood and her life with her beloved Gran. I absolutely loved getting to see their relationship on the page again and getting a better understanding of who Molly is.

Molly is such a lovable character and I don’t think this is the last we’ll see of her!

Have you read The Maid?? If you haven’t, go meet Molly and get ready for The Mystery Guest’s release on November 28th!

(A huge thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for the advance digital copy of this book!)

I loved The Maid, and was pleasantly surprised that Molly returned. I was not disappointed. Fast cozy mystery read. Very enjoyable. I would recommend to read the first book prior to reading this one to enhance the reading pleasure.

Absolutely loved this. What a great sequel! I love the characters and the story telling, the whodunnit aspect. There were twists and turns and unexpected outcomes and it was such an easy and pleasant read in the meantime. Would highly recommend!

I was not disappointed with this sequel to The Maid! Molly Gray leads such an interesting life and I was thrilled to learn even more about her past. The “whodunnit” was hard to figure out but was brought together so perfectly in the end. Nita Prose never misses a single detail in her books!

Nita Prose does it again! Molly shines in The Mystery Guest along with several new characters. I loved getting a peek into Molly’s childhood and life with Nan and while I felt the plot was a little predictable, some twists were still delivered.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this advanced copy!

This was a fun easy read that is a follow-up to The Maid. Molly Gray is thriving in her position as Head Maid and the esteemed Regency Grand Hotel. She loves ensuring that every room is in a state of perfection for the guests. She loves the predictability of her job and thrives on the calm and pride that she feels while cleaning.

When a world-renowned mystery writer, J.D. Grimthorpe arrives at the hotel and drops dead in front of a room full of fans- on the hotel's floor, Molly's life is once again thrown into chaos. Detective Stark is once again investigating the murder and Molly is determined to find the murderer before Detective Stark suspects innocent people again.

This mystery is non-stop fun as we get a glimpse of the past and Molly's history with the murdered writer. We get a much better understanding of Molly in this second book in the Molly the Maid cozy mystery.