The Mystery Guest
A Maid Novel
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
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.
“Polished to perfection!”—Shari Lapena, author of Everyone Here Is Lying
“A page-turning delight from start to finish . . . Once I checked into the Regency Grand, I never wanted to leave.”—Jenny Jackson, author of Pineapple Street
A POPSUGAR AND CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
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 buried forever.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A neurodivergent maid helps solve a murder in this tantalizing and fun mystery, the follow-up to 2022’s runaway bestseller The Maid. After rising through the ranks to become head maid of a renowned five-star hotel, Molly is feeling happy with how her life has turned out. But when a famous author drops dead in the hotel’s tearoom, Molly is pulled into a criminal investigation. As she considers the many suspects, Molly must also revisit her childhood—when her beloved grandmother worked as a maid in the author’s mansion—to unveil the killer’s identity. This installment in Nita Prose’s Molly the Maid series is full of wonderfully layered characters and tons of charm. Molly’s eccentricity is infectious, and we loved how she often recites her grandmother’s sayings to help her through difficult situations. If you love cozy mysteries, you’ll adore The Mystery Guest.
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.
Customer Reviews
Highly Entertaining!
This is the second book in the series, but you don’t have to read The Maid in order to enjoy this book!
Molly is back, but now she is the Head Maid for the Regency Grand Hotel. She was raised by her grandmother who helped her navigate life and gave her great advice, which she uses to this day even though she has died.
Molly was put in charge of an important author event for J. D. Grimthorpe, where he was going to make an important announcement at a special tea hosted by the hotel. With less than an hour before the event, a famous VIP guest drops dead in the Regency Grand Tearoom where it was going to take place. During the event, the author collapses and dies after drinking the tea. With Molly being in charge, will she be accused of poisoning them?
I just love Molly’s quirkiness and outlook on life, which annoys the investigators. It also makes the investigators more suspicious of Molly. How will Molly convince the investigators she is innocent? As Molly’s grandmother told her, Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, then it’s not the end! This advice is how Molly gets through the toughest of situations!
This book is a fun and highly entertaining read with unsuspected twists that will keep you turning the pages! Even though life is pretty good for Molly, it’s not the end. I would love to see where life takes her next!