This second book by Nita Prose did not have the same impact of her first novel, The Maid. The Mystery Guest,
relied a little too heavily on cliche' characters who could be spotted a mile away. The wealthy, but evil and
souless author, who neither writes his own books nor behaves with any decency, gets murdered. Although the story is a who dunnit, the possible suspects are limited to other cliche'd characters, such as his fan base and hotel personnel. It feels like a pre-programmed and well-worn plot. Aside from wanting this book to be as good as her first book, there was not much else to keep me reading. Unforunately, it did not hold up to its predecessor.

A famous mystery writer, J.D. Grimthorpe, is holding a press conference in the hotel where Molly works as head maid. Unfortunately J.D. drops dead before he can reveal his big secret. Molly met him as a child and now helps Detective Stark making sense of all the clues to find the murderer.

While Molly is still a delightful character she doesn't seem to be as quirky and awkward as she did in The Maid. AS the investigation continues it is revealed that Molly knew the victim as a child and because of her ability to observe she was able to connect all the clues and come up with a killer.

It's not a nail biter kind of mystery but has a good plot, a good mystery and some really interesting characters.

I would recommend this to anyone who has read book 1 and I think you could still enjoy this without having read the first.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Ballantine for providing me with a digital copy.

I really enjoyed this book! I think I liked it even better than the first one! It has everything from your quirky character that is unapologetically herself to murder.
Molly the Maid is now head maid. Her dream come true. Four years ago she found Mr, Black dead in his bed. Today she is serving tea for a famous author when he suddenly drops dead. When her maid in training gets the blame she has to start asking questions. The problem is the author is a blast from her past. How is she connected to the author? Will Molly figure out the mystery?

This is the sequel to The Maid. We follow Molly, the maid, at Regency Grand Hotel. When JD Grimthorpe, a mystery author, dies in the hotel’s tearoom right before an important announcement, Molly joins Detective Spark to help investigate the crime.

I had so much fun being back at the RGH with Molly, Mr. Snow, and Mr. Preston. This story is told in dual timelines and we learn more about Molly’s childhood. If you enjoyed The Maid, I highly recommend checking out the sequel!

Thank you to Netgalley and Publishers for giving me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Molly is at it again, bringing readers the perfect combination of suspense and humor through a cozy mystery.
This adventure brings all the characters we grew to love in the first novel, and allows Molly's growth to shine. I enjoyed the alternating timelines of this story, as it provided more insight into Molly's upbringing, which made her even more loveable. Another fantastic story, with a satisfying end!

I am not the biggest cozy mystery fan, so The Maid wasn't at the top of my "best of" list. But I was curious as to where this story would go, as I didn't see it as having much series potential.

Surprise! I liked this book more than the first. I thought getting Molly out of the hotel and introducing some new characters was a great choice. I thought The Mystery Guest was more comic than The Maid and that Molly showed new depth.

I can see that opinion is divided on this, with some readers NOT enjoying the change of venue. But I had a lot of fun reading this!

The Mystery Guest is the follow up book to The Maid. Molly’s adventures as a maid continues. She is an endearing character that finds herself in the midst of trying to solve a mystery. The Mystery Guest is a very enjoyable book.

This was such a good read I loved it and was completely hooked from the first page. Definitely recommend

4.5 stars

This was a cozy mystery that made me realize how much I've missed Molly!

Molly is such a lovely character and I'm so happy that we got to read another lovely mystery starring her! I actually enjoyed this book more than the first one. I love that we got to know more about Molly's childhood and a little bit about what made her who she is today.

The mystery itself was fun and even though I didn't guess who the culprit is, I loved the way Molly helped to solve the case! I can't wait for read more of her adventures in the future!

Pub date: OUT NOW!

This eARC was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed The Maid enough to pick up this sequel. Do I think this book needed to exist or for this to be a series? No. And I will likely not be continuing on with this series as more books come out. But it was a light, cozy mystery with some quirky characters.

Yes yes yes! I loved The Maid and I’m going to be real when I say that sometimes I’m a little worried for the next book in a series when I absolutely LOVE the first one, but I will say that I was completely happy with this book! I absolutely loved it and can’t wait for more! Molly is an absolutely gem of a character and I love the sort of “cozy mystery” vibe that the series is seeming to lean towards! With Molly as head maid now and new mysteries, I know this is a series I am going to love and cherish and I’m so excited for more!

I thoroughly enjoyed diving into Molly’s childhood at the Grimthorpe mansion. She's a sleuth even then, full of curiosity. I adore the relationship between the Gran and Molly. And the past timeline really highlights their relationship: Gran’s full of love and wisdom for Molly and Molly’s pure adoration for Gran. Book 2 provides a good character arc for both. This book contains two mysteries; both feel a little predictable. But Prose’s seamless writing style, weaving between timelines and multiple characters, creates easy reading or listening, in case.

The audiobook is as delightful as Molly herself. Lauren Ambrose brings Molly and her world to life! She narrates Book 1, and I hope she continues to narrate the series if there's a Book 3. The audiobook is pretty short, too, offering a perfect listen while commuting, walking the dog, cleaning your house (if you don't have a Maid 😉), or decorating/shopping for the holidays.

Overall this book was a great, quick little mystery novel. I feel like I struggled with Molly as a character more than I did in the first novel. I liked the idea of giving Gran more of a back story and showing how Molly ended up where she is now by helping Gran. I loved the ending with just another layer of backstory. I felt like the book was a little slow in the beginning but I appreciated the twists and turns throughout the novel. Definitely worth the read, especially if you liked the first book!

Molly the Maid is back, with another great mystery to solve!

I absolutely love this series, and I have completely fallen in love with Molly.

Mysteries don't make me emotional, but this book got me. The ending was so perfect and wholesome. I cannot wait to see what Molly is up to next!

Short synopsis: Molly the Maid is back, and this time the world famous author J.D. Grimthorpe drops dead the Regency Grand Hotel tearoom while giving an important announcement.

My thoughts: It was so fun to catch back up with Molly the Maid in this next cozy mystery. This time we get a little bit more background information into Molly and her Gran.

Molly is so quirky, strait laced, honest, a hard worker, and just so tender. I just think she makes such a fun FMC and her little quotes are always the best!

Read if you love:
- The Maid
- Cozy mysteries
- Flashback moments
- Hotel settings
- Respecting the service industry

This was another good book by Nita Prose and a good sequel to The Maid. I felt this book seemed a little more rushed to get to the ending. Maybe that's because we already know Molly and we don't need any extra back story, but I enjoyed The Maid more than this one. I did like the chapters we got from the past. It filled in extra that I wanted to know about Molly and her Grandmother.

“The Maid” was a surprisingly fun and G-rated mystery from the previous year that I liked. Accordingly, I was happy to get an advanced copy of the sequel, “The Mystery Guest.” Again, we get our unique protagonist, Molly the maid, solving yet another mystery with her offbeat personality that can often fail to adhere to common societal norms. This led to some more laughs amongst this whodunnit, while also including a rather serious backstory that added more depth to the story. This was a fun, quick read that I liked almost as much as the first one, which is often hard to do as a sequel. 4 stars ⭐️. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy for review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and Ms. Prose for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

The Mystery Guest is a charming, quirky, cozy murder mystery but I didn't feel it captured quite the same magic as the author's debut. In The Maid, we are introduced to neurodivergent character Molly Gray, who is accused of murder. In The Mystery Guest, Molly is back in her previous role as detective but, because she isn't under suspicion, the mystery lacks the same urgency and desperation. I realize Molly can't be suspected of murder every time, but the emotional punch felt missing here. While I really enjoyed the flashbacks, character-wise, they detracted from the "main" mystery plot line as well. I'm not sure how many readers want this book for the mystery though.

If you're here for Molly, you won't be disappointed. There is plenty of backstory to fill in Molly's past, and a satisfactory reveal in Molly's present. Juan Manuel, Molly's significant other, is MIA for the entirety of the book which is probably beneficial to (what's left of) the plot but too bad for Molly's character development. I would have liked to see Molly try to juggle her personal life, her work life and her detective work. Oh well. A few of the side characters from book #1 return in book #2, including everyone's favorite former Head Maid and a notably antagonistic detective, and there is a new side character we may see again: Lily, Molly's protege.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book quite a bit, I just would have preferred a stronger, more emotionally fraught mystery.

This was a continuation of The Maid, although you could read it as a stand-alone as well. If you liked the original, you’ll definitely want to check this one out. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review - it’s out today!

Another fun book about Molly the maid. I love the main character’s quirkiness- you can tell that she is well loved by those surrounding her. I really enjoyed learning more about her childhood and her family life. The mystery part was cute, predictable and kind of fun. I like that although the story is about the mystery, the majority of the book does not feel that way. You get to know the characters and their relationships and their issues outside of the crime they’re trying to solve.

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.