Molly the Maid is back and funnier than ever!

The characterisation in these books are what make them absolutely unforgettable. The whole atmosphere of the Grand Regency Hotel is enthralling and captivates the reader. Molly simply brings it to life. You feel as though you have a friend in Molly, someone who you are rooting for and ultimately, a character you want to protect against all costs from whatever saga is playing out!

Effortlessly weaved, the plot of The Mystery Guest continues Molly's story through a new mystery.

The tone of these books remind me of The Thursday Murder Club series - light, enjoyable and cosy.

A must-read.

This is a follow on from The Maid published last year and is a delightful Cosy mystery. I was a fan of The Maid and I think this is even better; the writing seems more assured and the plot is clever. Molly the maid is a great character and we get an insight into her back story growing up with her Gran which is quite touching. The Hotel is beautifully described, as are the recurring characters with new ones added.. It was a twisty course to finding the murderer, as there is a host of suspects and I didn’t guess it until the end. It needed observant Molly to get there!

Thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for an ARc for an unbiased review.

With much fanfare ( and rightly so due to the success of Book 1 ) comes this follow up where we once again meet Molly, now head maid at the Regency Grand Hotel where a VIP writer is to hold a press conference where he says ‘secrets will be told’….this doesn’t quite go to plan and Molly is once more thrust into a Police investigation where everyone could be guilty….

I looked back on my review for the original and see I bucked the trend a bit giving it 3 stars and whilst enjoying it wasn’t fully enamoured…

This time I fell back in easily with Molly, she wasn’t a shock and I found I had grown in my admiration and general ‘liking’ of her and her ways, what maybe irritated me in Book 1 now endeared me to her and I felt I got a bigger picture of why she is as she is

The writing is good, the story I found plot wise really good ( readers, authors and publishers will enjoy the book world theme ) and I didn’t have a clue who was guilty, the characters are all slightly off kilter but intriguing and the setting in the Regency Grand was as before wonderfully described

If you haven’t read Book 1 then I think you should before reading this….Molly has grown on me and I know I will look forward to the next instalment ( and her screen debut! )

https://lynns-books.com/2023/12/19/the-mystery-guest-by-nita-prose/
4.5 of 5 stars
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Nita Prose Did It Again

I loved The Maid by this author, it has such a wonderfully cosy and charming feel to it and yet at the same time it manages to introduce readers to a totally new and unique character in Molly the Maid. So, I was really pleased when I saw her latest instalment The Mystery Guest and to cut to the chase I confess that Prose has won me over again. The Mystery Guest has such a lovely feel to it. It’s easy to read. It has a murder mystery that feels reminiscent of Agatha Christie and Molly is once again an absolute delight to read about.

The story takes place about three or four years since The Maid. Molly has been Head Maid at the Hotel for about 3.5 years, writing her very own manual, or maid’s guide, on how to behave and how to return a room to a state of perfection. She has recently in fact taken on a Maid in Training, Lily, who she has taken under her wing. The opening chapters set the scene for a special event. A world renowned author is using the hotel to make an unprecedented speech in which it’s hoped he’ll be announcing his latest novel. Molly is in charge of supervising the event which is due to take place in the newly opened tea room. The press and fans alike have gathered at the venue but before the author has a chance to make his announcement he quite literally drops dead. Foul play is immediately suspected and in the ensuing chaos clues and indeed personal possessions have been overlooked at the scene of the crime and, of course, the last person to assist the recently deceased was the new maid Lily – on which suspicions now land with a deafening thud. Never fear though, Molly is nothing if not determined and her eye for detail will once again prove invaluable.

So, I won’t delve further into the plot. This is a cosy murder mystery and, if you’ve read The Maid (which I hope you do before reading this one) then you’ll have a good idea what to expect and I suspect you won’t be disappointed with this latest instalment.

What I really enjoyed.

As with The Maid, the pacing is perfect. The story gathers momentum and it feels like there’s never a dull moment. At the same time though this is balanced with some really winning chapters where we observe Molly as a young child and witness the bullying and prejudice she fell victim to. I really enjoyed reading more about Molly and discovering more of her backstory. It’s really easy to see why her gran was so influential in not only protecting Molly but also giving her a foundation that she could build upon in later life.

On top of this the setting is absolutely grand. I love the splendour and finery of the hotel. Everything polished and gleaming and yet behind the scenes the staff are rushing about like little ants in their endeavours to create this perfect facade. Plus, a hotel is just so spot on for a murder mystery. It’s absolutely cliched – but I love it. You have the capacity to introduce eccentric guests, bossy managers, nuisance co-workers and so much more and it’s all so easy to picture.

Finally of course the characters. Molly is obviously the stand out character. Her quirky personality really shines once again and in fact I would say she’s grown in confidence since The Maid. For this episode her partner was absent (due to family matters) and to be honest I think this was a good decision. It meant Molly had to stand on her own two feet without having someone else to lean on. The surrounding cast all play their roles well and Detective Stark is once again the lead investigator – fortunately, this time around she realises how invaluable Molly is in terms of her attention to detail.

Basically, I’m loving this series (although I’m not sure if there are more books to come – hopefully?) I wouldn’t say it places a lot (or any) emphasis on police procedures, it’s not really that type of book. It’s more about the quirky and unusual, a cosy murder mystery with a winning leading lady.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

I loved this follow up novel to “The Maid “! Molly returns, still working at the hotel and this time there is a murder in the tea room when a famous author is about to make an announcement. Unfortunately he keels over and the police are called. This time Detective Stark does not accuse Molly although one of the other maids, Lily, who is Molly’s “Maid in Training ”, is a suspect.
Molly sets out to find out what has happened and clear Lily’s name but in the process recalls a vital episode of her childhood when her beloved Gran was still alive.
I really enjoyed reading the sections set in the past when Molly was a child, almost as much as the parts set in the present. Molly’s refreshing way of looking at things made the novel all the more enjoyable and it was wonderful to catch up with her other friends including the doorman, Mr Preston who has something important to tell Molly.
This is a cosy murder mystery with a cast of amazing characters. Molly is a brilliant invention- I found the way she quoted her late Gran’s wise sayings very sweet and rather touching. Despite her no longer being around, Flora has left her unusual granddaughter a rule book for life.
I would definitely recommend “The Mystery Guest “ to cosy crime aficionados and if you've read the first book- The Maid- you’ll love this.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

I was a huge fan of the original book so I was extremely excited to be accepted for this sequel. I really enjoyed it and I am glad the author stuck to the vibe of the first book, however I would say that this book felt more predictable than the first. That being said, I really enjoyed it and would certainly read another

'The Mystery Guest' is a sequel to 'The Maid', Nita Prose's hugely successful murder mystery set in a grand hotel. I haven't read 'The Maid', which I don't think matters too much in terms of understanding this one, although there are some spoilers. But having read this, unless the previous novel was an order of magnitude better, I'm not really sure what all the fuss was about.

The protagonist, Molly, is head maid in posh hotel, which I worked out must be somewhere in the USA in modern times. Molly is clearly neurodivergent and doesn't always understand social norms, which can be both funny and touching. When a famous author is murdered in the hotel just as he is about to make a momentous announcement, Molly and her fellow hotel staff are prime suspects. And that's without the police realising that Molly had good reason to dislike or even hate the murdered man.

The story alternates between the murder investigation in the present, and Molly's childhood, where she was raised by a beloved grandmother without ever knowing her parents. Molly's grandmother was a cleaner in a posh house belonging to - surprise surprise - the murder victim. Perhaps Molly's inside knowledge about the victim can help her work out who killed him and why.

It's not a bad concept as 'cosy crime' goes, where the ideas are often far fetched in order to weave the sort of plot that readers of this genre want to see. Molly is a sympathetic, likeable character, and there are some moments of genuine humour and pathos - the scene with the rent money is particularly moving. But the dialogue is really clunky, the story a mass of cliches, and things are often presented in an overly simplistic and not believable way. The characters are two dimensional. It lacked depth, which isn't necessarily bad in itself - lots of enjoyable books are superficial. But this one isn't funny or well plotted enough to compensate for that.

Overall, this is a mediocre murder mystery in the 'cosy crime' style with some redeeming features but nothing special in a genre where new books are published almost daily. I'm sure fans of the first book will be keen to read and, assuming the style is similar, enjoy it. Personally I don't think I'll give up more reading time to check out the original or any further stories in the series. If you are big fan of 'cosy crime' and don't read much else, it would be worth reading. If your reading time is limited and you want to fit in books from other genres, I don't think it's worth the time.

Molly the Maid is back!

Molly's sleuthing skills are pressed into service once again as death pays a second call to the Regency Grand Hotel. There are missteps and muddled thinking along the way, but Molly gets there in the end.

I loved Molly as soon as we met her in Book 1, but 'The Mystery Guest ' fleshes out her backstory and we learn more about her beloved grandmother. Gran's story made me angry and sad in equal measure, but I was delighted by the way young Molly found a way out of the situation they found themselves in. Molly clearly inherited her gift for original thinking from her grnadmother because the way Gran manipulates her employer into allowing Molly to stay was nothing short of genius!

Molly has clearly learnt from the events of the first book, but I love that she is not the only one. The character of Detective Startk also undergoes a change and I really enjoyed watching how her attitude towards Molly changes over the course of the story. It was also good to see a more minor character given such a strong developmental arc.

i thoroughly enjoyed this book - perhaps even more so than I did the first and I look forward to seeing where Molly's adventures take her next.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved The Maid so I couldn't wait to join Molly for another story set in The Regency Hotel.

There has been another unexplained and unexpected death at the Regency Hotel this time too. It is the renowned author J.D Grimthorpe who keels over just before making a big announcement at the hotel. Did someone try to murder him and why? Molly, yet again finds herself at the centre of the investigation.

I loved this cosy crime mystery. Molly is such a brilliant character. with her quirky personality and brilliant observation skills. I loved finding out more about her backstory this time as she grew up in the flat with her Gran and even visited the writer's home during her childhood. I really hope there's going to be another instalment in this brilliant series.

I really enjoyed The Maid so was very pleased to get approved to read this before release.

I love the UK cover. It follows the same design as The Maid which I really like.

This is a really easy to read cosy mystery. I wondered how another murder in the hotel would work as being the same setting but it was fine because it was not all hotel based. It instead used Mollys childhood memories to tell some of the story. I liked getting more of her backstory.

Molly still uses her Grans expressions to understand things but is also more sure of herself and her abilities this time. The detective is back and even she sees Molly and her abilities as they are.

It’s a shame Juan is away as I would have loved to see their relationship during this. My hope that is next time he is present and that the author uses the seeds she planted for where Mollys life is headed but also, would it take away the coziness?

Definitely give this one a read if you enjoyed The Maid and like a cozy mystery.

When I read The Maid by the same author, the ending was so neatly tied up that I never expected to see a sequel. It's been a delight to read about Molly the maid once more.

It seems Molly has matured a lot since the last book, and whilst she still is a little unworldly wise, her reasoning seems spot on. She's even hiring a new maid, but will her character assessment of the new maid be found to be lacking?

I was intrigued to know how Molly knew the famous mystery writer who has since died in her hotel. An unfortunate coincidence based on the death in the last book, and one which the police are keen to pick up on. I fear for Molly but she took it all in her stride and even became a sleuth herself. The book goes to "before" to show us Molly's early life, which is when she met the writer. What a great insight it was, not only into her character but that of her beloved and wise Gran.

It's always a worry that a sequel will not do justice to the original, but this is even better in my opinion.
I just loved reading this book. If you enjoyed the first book, then I think you will also enjoy this one too.

Follow up novels are always filled with trepidation - for writer and readers alike.

Will it be as good? Will it be better? Will it be forever compared and contrasted to its predecessor?

In the case of The Mystery Guest the answers are yes. It is as good. It is better. And when comparing and contrasting it to The Maid, well, it feels more like a natural extension of the story, rather than a sequel.

Milly is still a maid at The Regency Grand. The beautiful boutique hotel that’s embroiled in yet another mysterious death. There are familiar characters and new ones to endear every reader, or make them hiss, you get to decide.

But one thing I absolutely loved about this one compared with the first is more Molly. And I mean, more of Molly’s past. More knowledge and understanding of who she is. What makes her tick. Gaps where her family should be. We get some answers. And raise more questions.

Wonderfully written, beautifully narrated, I hope to read more from this author and of her Molly.

Many thanks to Nita Prose, HarperCollins UK/HarperFiction, and NetGalley for this pristine perfection of an arc.

The Mystery Guest is the latest release from Nita Prose and I was delighted to get the opportunity to spend a few hours in the company of Molly, Head Maid at the Regency Grand Hotel who we first met in Prose's debut The Maid.
Things are going well at the Regency, Molly is excelling in her new role as Head Maid and is now in fact training a new recruit and now a famous author has chosen their hotel to give a press conference where he promises a big reveal, possibly even the much longed for sequel to his most famous book. Of course things do not run quite as smoothly as planned and when the author collapses before he can make his announcement and is swiftly pronounced dead, once again Molly finds herself caught up in a criminal investigation.
This book reads like an old fashioned Agatha Christie style murder mystery in many ways, with plenty of suspects and of course a couple of red herrings, and fans of a traditional mystery will find plenty to enjoy here. While I did enjoy the plot what really drew me to the book was Molly herself, she's such an interesting character and I loved to see how much she had grown and changed while still being the person I loved so much in the original book. The use of dual timelines to give us more of the story of Molly and her beloved Gran was great and quite emotional at times, and the author did a wonderful job of tying this past storyline to the murder plot.
This is the ultimate in comfort reading, and I mean that in the best possible way .
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗬𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗬 𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧
—𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗲 | 𝟰.𝟱🌟

“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬-𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦.”

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
✨Mysterious whodunnits
✨Socially inept but lovable MC
✨Dual timeline
✨Exploration of class

𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆:
Molly The Maid is back in this sequel and once again, somebody dies at the Regency Grand Hotel. Molly’s lack of social ability does not endear her to the detective investigating but her knack for details may be the one element the detective needs to solve this case.

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
I enjoyed The Maid. But I absolutely adored The Mystery Guest. Honestly, in The Maid it took me a long time to warm up to Molly, and I don’t know exactly what’s different in this book, but I feel that now I’m utterly in love with Molly, NP has created such a delightful main character and everything that annoyed me about this character before, completely endears her to me.

Molly was as socially awkward as ever, less oblivious than in the first novel, and 100 times more amusing. I described her as ‘delightful and quirky’ in my review of the first book, and I stand by this sentiment tenfold now.

I enjoyed the exploration of social class, I didn’t think it could be taken any further than it already was in book 1, so I was pleasantly surprised and impressed how the author created this dual timeline of present day and Molly’s past when she first began maid duties with her Gran, how this was used to subtly highlight not only social class discrepancies, but class and career discrimination too.

The plot was also very good. I did find some components that seemed unrealistic but honestly, I was having way too much fun with the character of Molly to care.

𝗞𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵 | 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘆

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose
I read and thoroughly enjoyed The Maid by the same author but did not realize that there would be a sequel as the ending for The Maid was neat and tidy. This novel returns to Molly as she prepares to host a VIP at the newly created tea room. Molly is Head Maid now and is striving to instil her work ethic into Lily the new Maid in Training. Juan has gone to Mexico to visit his family for the first time in years and Molly does not accompany him so that she can oversee this big event for the hotel.
Everything is in place for the day in question when the event is brought to a sudden end by the sudden death of the VIP author during his speech and it appears he has in fact been poisoned. The story then unfolds from Molly’s viewpoint and we also learn more about Molly’s past and the way in which she was treated which resulted in her developing the way she has.
The story does become a little repetitive as we go over Molly’s childhood history and also the characters of the groups of fans are very much caricatures as indeed is Detective Stark. There was quite an interesting build up to the story but I did not believe in the ending of the story and felt that the final twist felt contrived and unnecessary.
However I did find the book light, humorous ,readable and entertaining so a 3.5 rating would be more accurate of my feelings. Many thanks to the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read the book in return for an honest review.

I loved The Mystery Guest. Once again we’re back with our favourite maid Molly as another crime needs to be investigated. I adore Molly’s character and loved how the plot unfolded. It kept me enthralled from start to end. Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins UK Harper Fiction and the author for the chance to review.

In this sequel we follow Molly the Maid as she becomes involved in another death at the hotel, she works in.
Since the last book she has been promoted to Head maid and is overseeing Lilly’s development as a maid in training- its interesting to see her in a mentor role. The story is told through dual timelines. The present one focuses on the death of renowned J.D Grimthorpe at the hotel and through the chapters that feature Molly’s childhood we learn how Molly knew the victim.
I enjoyed the mystery which I would describe as cozy crime. The main draw of the books for me is the character of Molly, she is a really interesting character and I love her quirkiness. For this reason, I also enjoyed the flashbacks to her childhood, and we see her with her gran when she was alive and can understand the reason Molly became a maid in the first place. The only downside of the novels for me personally is the repetition of certain words and phrases. I’m not sure if this particularly stood out to me because I read the sequel straight after the first book, but certain words and phrases stood out and became slightly distracting especially when someone other than Molly used them, and it seemed to be out of character. It didn’t ruin the books overall though and I would definitely be interested to read anymore to find out how Molly develops further.

‘’In my experience’ I say, ‘secrets have a way of punishing those who keep them.’’
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Last year I fell head over heels in love with Molly the Maid. I thought she was one of the most endearing and heart warming characters I’d ever read!! So coming into this sequel I was thrilled to see things hadn’t changed and she’s just as wonderful as ever!
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Nita Prose has brought a sequel that feels just as homely as her debut, and I already can’t wait to see if there’s third instalment! This time round, yet again, Molly finds herself slap bang in the middle of a murder investigation, and try as hard as she may, there’s no getting away from it and as some suspicion starts to land gently on her, she has to do all she can to bring the real killer to justice
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Truly truly truly a series that’s turning on to be what I would say a staple in any mystery lovers home, I hope this isn’t the end of Molly the Maid for us all 🔎 this one comes out Jan 18th 2024!!

This was a highly anticipated read for me after reading The Maid, and it did not disappoint.
Molly was as great as ever. I love the way this book teaches us about people on the spectrum. The only downside for me was that we didn’t see much at all of her beloved.

Molly the Maid first captured our hearts in Nita Prose’s book The Maid, which was a Kindig Gem for me for 2022. She’s socially awkward and obsessed with routine, yet with her idioms and phrases she’s heartwarming and instantly likeable which is what made the first book such a success.

Molly is back in the second book – The Mystery Guest which I’m sure will be a hit for 2024 reading. Although I didn’t quite find it as good as the original, The Mystery Guest was still a solid 5 star read for me. When a famous writer drops dead in the Regency Grand Hotel’s newly renovated tearoom during a guest lecture, it’s up to Molly to discover the truth.

This book also alternates between the present day and flashbacks from Molly’s childhood, when she visited the home of the writer. Both points of view are well-paced, and I was thoroughly engaged with both sides. There are quite a few strands to the plot, and I didn’t actually guess the conclusion until right at the very end! Molly is just as endearing as ever, and I enjoyed the glimpse into her childhood as well. I like how you see everything from her eyes and as a reader sometimes understand situations much better or faster than Molly does as she struggles with social convention.

Overall The Mystery Guest is a solid read and a great start to anyone’s 2024 reading list – if you loved The Maid, it’s highly recommended and I hope there’s a third in the series! Thank you to NetGalley & Harper Collins UK – Harper Fiction for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.