The Mystery Guest
A Maid Novel
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4.1 • 52 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE
WINNER OF THE CRIME WRITERS OF CANADA WHODUNIT AWARD FOR BEST TRADITIONAL MYSTERY
“Prepare to be swept away again into the wonderfully endearing and unforgettable world of Molly. . . . Nita Prose writes like no other—I loved this even more than her utterly delightful debut.” —Ashley Audrain, bestselling author of The Push and The Whispers
“Polished to perfection!” —Shari Lapena, New York Times bestselling author of Everyone Here Is Lying
A new mess. A new mystery. It’s up to Molly the maid to uncover the truth, no matter how dirty, in this standalone novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid, a Good Morning America Book Club pick.
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 tea room 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 case threatens the hotel’s pristine reputation, Molly knows that she alone holds the key to unlocking the killer's identity. But that key is buried deep in her past—because long ago, she knew J.D. Grimthorpe. Molly must comb her memory for clues, and revisit her childhood and the mysterious Grimthorpe mansion where her dearly departed Gran once worked. With Molly and her colleagues under investigation, she knows she must solve the mystery post-haste. And if there's one thing she knows for sure, it's that dirty secrets don't stay buried forever...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The underwhelming follow-up to Prose's 2022 bestseller The Maid once again centers 29-year-old Molly Gray, who has just been promoted to head maid at the five-star Regency Grand Hotel in an unnamed city. Neurodivergent Molly—whose penchant for cleanliness makes her great at her job, even though her difficulty understanding social cues sometimes gets her into trouble—gets caught up in another scandal when renowned mystery author J.D. Grimthorpe comes to the Regency Grand to make a special announcement in the recently restored Grand Tearoom. Journalists, fans, and eager hotel staff gather to hear Grimthorpe speak, only to be shocked into silence when he falls dead at the podium. Police detective Stark, who believed Molly to be a killer in the previous book, again heads up the investigation, and again suspects Molly of murder on account of her stoic demeanor (and, in this case, her proximity to Grimthorpe's tea before he died). To clear her name, Molly launches her own investigation, which involves digging deep into her past; she used to help her late grandmother clean Grimthorpe's mansion. After the novelist's death, the plot lurches along, stuffed with repetition and excessively long dives into Molly's childhood memories. Along the way, Prose packs in precious few surprises. Molly is still a well-drawn heroine, but this falls short of its predecessor.
