✨ The Mystery Guest ✨⁣
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⁣Genre- Cozy Mystery. ⁣
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⁣Length- 304 pages. ⁣
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⁣My Thoughts- Molly the Maid is back with another cozy mystery set at the Regency Grand Hotel. When author J.D. Grimthorpe drops dead in the middle of tea at the hotel, Molly is once again swept up in a police investigation. This is a delightful book with a lovely setting and cozy characters. I was disappointed that Molly’s boyfriend Juan Pueblo was away visiting relatives for much of this book! His presence would have added some fun to the storyline. Overall, this was an enjoyable but not world changing book! ⁣
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⁣Three and a half stars— rounded up to four! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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⁣Thank you to @netgalley for an ARC of The Mystery Guest in return for my honest review.

Molly is truly a remarkable character. I love being immersed in her world and the way she views it. The catchphrases that she learned from her Gran are one of my favorite part of each book. The Mystery Guest was an excellent read and I just have a few pages left. Having a backstory to learning about Molly from growing up and also her ties to other characters in the novel was intriguing and refreshing. Prose does an amazing job switching back from Before and After while tying all the details in the story together wonderfully. Highly recommend reading this one BUT also the first one and you will likely fall in love with Molly the Maid as well.

Easy, light cozy mystery with a fun main character. At times felt repetitive and none of the twists were really shocking. Overall good but not great.

I enjoyed The Maid, but I absolutely LOVED The Mystery Guest! Molly, Head Maid, really came into her own in this sequel.

Disaster strikes at the Regency Grand Hotel years after Mr. Black's murder in Book 1. A famous author has been poisoned at an event at the hotel, and, once again, the hotel staff seem to be the prime suspects. I was engaged from the first chapter of this cozy mystery and really enjoyed learning more about Molly's life prior to joining the staff at the Regency Grand. The writing is funny, witty, and attention-grabbing. The dual timelines throughout the book were really well done. Sometimes I feel like you can be given too much information in one timeline or the other, but I thought the author did a great job splitting the details between the two to help solve the mystery. Loved it!

Molly the maid is back and better than ever in this novel. Molly has been promoted to Head Maid and is starting to learn how to navigate life without Gran, with a new beau, and of course the mysterious death of a hotel guest. In this book we learn more about Gran and young Molly and how her past impacted her future. We also identify her connection to the recently deceased hotel guest…..

Some parts are a little slow and drawn out but things come together nicely in the end. Overall, this book is a super cute cozy murder mystery with a MC that you can’t help but fall in love with. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for Molly maid!

Molly Gray is as charming as ever in the follow-up to Nina Prose's first outing in the series. When I read The Maid, it seemed like a fully contained story so I was surprised to see another journey with Molly on the way. While I was initially hesitant, it was another sweet trip to the Regency Grand. The characters are all so enjoyable and it's a lot of fun being immersed in Molly's world.

All the stars!

Molly Gray is back and better than ever!

I was thrilled when I learned Nita Prose was writing another tale of our favorite maid. The Maid was a 5 star read for me so I couldn't wait to read her next adventure. Molly is not your typical MC and the way we get to see the world through her eyes is truly beautiful and so so fun!

A mystery is back at the Regency and Molly finds herself in the middle of it again. The gang is back trying to uncover the perpetrator and it was so fun to be back with these characters. The writing in this second book was even better to me than the first. It was such a quick cozy read. The mystery was unique and one that only a certain maid could have uncovered. The dual timeline POV was done really well and was fun to be able to see Molly as a child and spend some time with Gran.

Nita Prose, please write a third tale of Molly the maid!

Read if you like:
- great writing
-cozy mystery that you aren't able to guess
- found family of characters
- a superb mc

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC of The Mystery Guest!!!

Thoughts:
I really enjoy this book.
Molly’s back with some other great characters but Molly is now the head maid and is still living her goal of perfection. But just when everything seems to be going great another guest drops dead in the tearoom.
Molly knows this VIP and that it will impact her career she built so hard to achieve. She knows she has to find out what happened and who dunit.
This is told over two different timeline one when Molly’s and child and now in present as she tries to solve this mystery crime. If you’ve read The Maid this book does have some references that you might pick up on but this is definitely a standalone.
If you enjoyed The Maid like me you will also enjoy The Mystery Guest.
This is another great book from author Nita Prose
Thank you Netgalley

enjoyed this one even more than the first one! Gripping plot, well-crafted characters, and I just loved going back in time and having more of a back story with Gran! A must-read for mystery lovers!

What I liked:
- Dual timeline
- Gran
- Book references
- Library that dreams are made of
- an unpredictable who done it

My only complaint would be not enough time with Juan, here’s to hoping there’s a third!

I just love this Authors writing! I love Molly as a character and now I love Lilly too! I love the cozy mystery feeling of this book!! I will continue to read anything this Author puts outs.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for gifting me a digital ARC of the follow-up book to one of my favorites, The Maid, by Nita Prose - 5 sparkling stars!

Molly is now Head Maid at the Regency Grand Hotel, now training Lily, to be a new maid. When a famous author, JD Grimthorpe, drops dead on the floor of the hotel's tea room right before making a big announcement, Molly is once again being looked at as a suspect by Detective Stark. While there are plenty of other suspects, Molly feels certain that she holds the key to this mystery, because long ago Molly knew the author and her beloved Gran was his maid.

This was one of my most anticipated reads, because I love this character so much. Molly is pure innocence and lives out the life lessons that Gran taught her. This book takes the reader back to Molly's childhood, giving even more depth to her character. I enjoyed those "before" times with Molly and Gran as they worked together at the Grimthorpe mansion. I flew through this book and then was sad it was over. But I'm hoping we will hear more from Molly in the future!

Molly the Maid is a fabulous character and I was happy to see her return for a second book. Molly is smart in her own way and thus people—including hotel guests and police detectives—often ignore or underestimate her. He keen powers of observation make her a wonderful maid, and allow her to solve mysteries. In the sequel to “The Maid” another guest at the Regency Grand hotel has died. Molly possesses some insight into the deceased, a famous author, as she met him when she was a little girl. The story unravels through two storylines: Molly as a girl and Molly in the present, trying to figure out how and why the guest was murdered at a public event. Readers of The Maid will be happy to read about Molly’s newest adventure. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

I really enjoyed The Maid and somehow, I enjoyed The Mystery Guest even more. I love that we get to learn more about Molly and her past. This one is less of a whodunnit and more of a "how did we get here?" which I really enjoyed. This book made it that I would be willing to read more books about Molly because she is so much more dynamic than just a maid-detective.

In this book, a world famous author is in the Regency Grand Hotel to hold a conference and give a very special announcement. However, before he is able to give the announcement, he drops dead. Not only is this a murder mystery, but Molly and her Gran worked for this author way back when.... and Mr. Preston seems to have some unfinished business too!

There are MANY mysteries to solve within this book and they are all compelling.

I just adored the first book in this series and this one was just as cute! Cozy mysteries aren’t usually my go-to read but I just really enjoy these!! If you liked the first one, definitely give this one a try!

🧼Book Review🧼
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Summary: 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 tearoom 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 know: 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 high-profile death 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, as 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 posthaste. Because if there’s one thing she knows for sure, it’s that secrets don’t stay
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Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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My thoughts: thank you so much @netgalley and @randomhouse for the advanced copy of the sequel to The Maid. I loved this first one so much and this was just such a fun follow up! I loved following Molly again and will gladly read however many more books they make in this series! I loved getting into Molly and her grandmothers backstory more in the one. Very fun classic mystery with just the most lovable neurodivergent protagonist! Fantastic follow up to the first book!
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QOTD- what are some of your favorite book series?!
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Molly the Maid is back and is just as charming and engaging a character as she was in the first book. The mystery in this one allows for quite a bit of backstory in to Molly's childhood and life with her Gran, and connects some dots and experiences. Heartwarming and absolutely unputdownable.

Molly works as the Head Maid at the 5-star Regency Grand Hotel. She follows the sage advice that her grandmother, also a maid, had given her. All of the employees are proud of their jobs and have made fast friendships.

Today, the hotel is hosting a famous author, J. D. Grimthorpe, to do a reading and sign books. But when he steps up to the podium to reveal a secret to his readers, he topples off and dies.

Years ago, Molly had gone into a guest room to clean it only to find the man dead. Some tried to blame Molly for his murder but she was exonerated. Today, it’s her maid in training, Lily, upon whom the author fell when he died leaving her quite upset. Lily feels very bad because she had just brewed a cup of tea for the man exactly the way he likes it.

As Molly works to solve the mystery, we are introduced to her previous knowledge of Mr. Grimthorpe when she was a child. Blending the past and present gives the reader more insight into what makes Molly tick. There is sharp and sometimes snarky dialogue, plus tongue in cheek comments that makes the reader smile. Quirky characters add to the book. Enjoy!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! I think I may have actually liked it better than the first one, and that's hard to do since I raved about it for awhile after reading it.

I really enjoy reading Molly's POV, and I feel that her unique personality and thought processes are done very well. It's such a great way to read a mystery that changes it up and helps it stand out from all of the other mystery books out there.

It's a cozy mystery with an amazing cast of characters that I would recommend to anyone looking for a starter mystery novel or a more unique take on a murder mystery.

9/10

Nita Prose is a wonderful writer and Molly the Maid is an incredible character. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of Nita’s debut novel, The Maid. It was my favorite book of 2012 and I had no doubts it would be hugely successful.

1 million copies later, I get an advanced copy of her second book, The Mystery Guest.

It definitely doesn’t disappoint. Sure, maybe the plot line isn’t as full of surprises as The Maid, and yes there is a scene or two that felt a bit too contrived, but Nita on a bad day is better than 99% of writers in their best day.

I couldn’t put this book down. Finished it in 24 hours.

It’s another Murder Mystery at the hotel and Molly finds herself smack dab in the middle. Her simplicity and astute observation (think Autistic), is a refreshing angle on a hero and makes Molly such a wonderfully loveable character.

From the way this book is set up, I have no doubts we will see a lot of Molly the Maid in the future.

I can’t wait.

#netgalley #themysteryguest

I enjoyed this book as much as the first.
Molly is a maid and very proud of it. As a person hopeless at cleaning, I am quite fascinated by how Molly and her Gran excel at cleaning.
Molly has been promoted to head maid at the hotel. She and Juan are now a couple, but he is in Mexico with his family through this book.
The plot: a famous mystery author is murdered at the hotel. We find out Molly's backstory, and her Gran was the maid of this writer back in the day.
Molly, while differences were not looked upon well at her school, is taken out of school and accompanies Gran to work.
We see all this in flashbacks.
There are several secrets revealed in the story, some very happily. I presume there will be another book in which Molly can solve another crime with her ability to focus and notice things other miss. She even impresses Detective Stark, who completely underestimated Molly in the previous book.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my EARC. I have written an honest review. I highly and somewhat unexpectedly really enjoyed this series so far. Hope there will be another.