Like many readers, I was enchanted by Molly Gray in Nita Prose's The Maid. She's a different type of narrator and heroine. She's no nonsense, she says it like it is, and it's refreshing. So of course, I was excited to dive into The Mystery Guest.

A lot has changed since The Maid. Molly is now a woman in charge of her own destiny. She's head maid, she has strong relationships and friendships, and sadly, her grandmother has passed away. But she's been doing great on her own - that is, until another guest of the hotel drops dead.

The Mystery Guest isn't just a sequel, it has its own personality and keeping intriguing tale. What I enjoyed most is that the book also functions as a bit of prequel, sharing details into Molly's life as a child with her grandmother. Stories that relate directly to the newest murder that needs to be solved.

The Mystery Guest is a fantastic book that I highly recommend to anyone who loved The Maid. Special thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review. This one is out now!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this Advanced Reader Copy, in exchange for my honest review.

I was excited to see that a sequel to The Maid was coming out. And this does not disappoint. This is a charming mystery that lets us revisit Molly the Maid.

Time has passed since we last saw Molly, who is no longer a Maid-in-Training but now the Head Maid at The Regency Grand Hotel. And she still takes her job very seriously. But once again foul play has happened in the hotel, and once again, Molly has a connection to the deceased.

I loved that there was a lot of back story, to help understand Molly even more. I find Molly's innocence to be refreshing, whether it be that she is neurodivergent or not, she is a very proper wholesome character.

This was a quick, cozy read. I hesitate to say it is a Cozy Mystery, because I am not a fan.
And I certainly hope that we will be seeing more of Molly the Maid in the future.

I definitely recommend this delightful novel. Rated 4 stars but rounded up to 4.5 stars.

I loved this book so much, I rated it 5 stars! I went into this book blindly. I had heard so many great things about the first book, The Maid, although I never read it, The Mystery Guest was so lovely. This was giving Nancy Drew vibes, which I grew up reading. The Mystery Guest was a very quick, page turner, cozy mystery.
Molly the main character is a maid at a hotel, she is training a new maid and they’re supposed to get a guest at the hotel who is a best selling author. She knows him from her past and something happens to him and Mollie uses her skills and the help of a detective to solve the crime.
I really enjoyed the before and after scenarios. The way she talks about her late grandmother and their relationship was beautiful, reminded me of my own grandmother.
There’s a twist at the end that makes the story even more enjoyable. You definitely want to read the epilogue!

4 stars
I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed The Maid! It reads easily while still not feeling like a young adult book. I lovedd Gran & Molly's backstory in this one that gave both this story & The Maid more depth. A mystery with a lot of heartfelt & real life content. Another great one by Nita Prose!
*Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me to give this a read!*

I absolutely loved The Maid so this sequel was highly anticipated. I found some of the magic of the first book to be absent here, but that isn’t to say it still wasn’t enjoyable. The differences were the setting felt a bit tired this time around and the plot of the murder mystery did not have the same oomph as it did in the first. It’s hard to follow up such a well-loved debut, and I think there was a lot of elements for success here that just fell short for me personally. While I did enjoy, it wasn’t a memorable read for me.

molly the maid is back!! and she’s just as quirky, fun, and wholesome as ever! while I still prefer the original story, this was a fun and easy read!

yet another series of unfortunate events has befallen the regency grand hotel where molly works, and it’s up to her to solve the case properly!! I loved seeing how she opened up to her coworkers and friends a bit more, and even to detective stark (believing molly? what a concept!)

while I didn’t feel the mystery was as strong this time around, it was an easy and enjoyable ride! I loved how this story delved a lot into molly’s past and how her grandmother introduced her to the world of housekeeping!

nita prose writes molly’s POV so perfectly, and I’m looking forward to more adventures with molly! thank you to netgalley and ballantine books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

rating: 3.5 stars
wine pairing: willamette pinot noir

After recovering from being wrongfully accused of murder, Molly the maid is back at the Regency Hotel where they have a big event planned to get the negativity away from there name due to a guest being murdered. An the world-renowned mystery author ,J.D. Grimthorpe has decided to hold his event at this hotel where he plans to make a big announcement. However he suddenly drops dead on the hotel’s tea room floor before that announcement can be made. Molly is determined to not have another mess up with wrong accusations like last time and will do all she can to prove her and her staffs innocence, even if it means digging into a past that she would rather forget.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for my ARC!

What joy I felt when realizing I’d meet Molly again. One of the most adorable characters in literature, Molly is at her cleaning prowess and unexpected detective work again.

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose. Molly, the maid is back and she did not disappoint. I really loved The Maid but I loved this book even more! There were several surprises throughout and I never guessed the ending. Thanks NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for the ARC!

More fun and much better than THE MAID. THE MYSTERY GUEST is a great ready for any mystery reader. I liked the foray into the past to weave this hotel mystery. Prose is an author to keep reading.

I loved this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Molly captured my heart in the first book and I was overjoyed to not only be introduced to young Molly, but also my personal heroine, her witty Gran.

What I love most is that you fall into the story. The details bring the characters and their surroundings to life. Every now and then you remember you are reading a mystery novel and wonder what is going to happen. But unlike other mysteries, I don’t find myself rushing through the chapter to find the next hint, but instead wrap myself in the story, savoring the world it brings to life.

Molly is such a delightfully quirky character and you can’t help but to enjoy her way of looking at and interacting with the world around her.

When the story is told from the point of view of young Molly, it is delightfully realistic. Many of the feelings and actions that Molly has remind me vividly of my own girlhood and rings true to what I would have done in a similar situation.

About halfway through, I thought I had figured out the mystery, but everything I knew was revealed two short chapters later. And the story continued on with more twists and turns.

As the story closed, my excitement grew. Thrilled to approach the final reveal, but even better: I can see the potential for another novel and Molly is fast becoming a favorite of mine.

I enjoyed this book from start to finish. Thanks to Ballantine Books & #NetGalley for my ARC of #TheMysteryGuest

Molly is at it again in this next cozy-ish mystery. We get to see some insight into Molly’s childhood and some of her Grans past as well. This book briefly touches the unfairness of schools towards special needs children, drug abuse and sexual assault. We didn’t get too much of Juan Manuel in this but it was nice to read that Molly still stood her ground and was able to solve the crime!

I loved Nita Prose's first book The Maid and was so anxious to read The Mystery Guest. The Maid is a really hard act to follow. Many of the same characters from the Maid resurface when there is a second tragedy at the Regency.

I hate to give away any of the plot details, I really think it is best to go into this book blind.

The Mystery Guest was published Nov 28, 2023; my request to read the advance read copy of the Mystery Guest was approved 11/30/23. I'm not sure when i requested to review the advance read copy, but I'm pretty sure it was the first week that it became available on NetGalley. Thank you for approving my request to read The Mystery Guest in exchange for an honest review.

Overview: Molly, head maid at the Regency Grand Hotel, finds herself at the center of another murder mystery. This time, the victim is JD Grimthorpe, a renowned and reclusive writer whom Molly had known as a child.

Thoughts: Molly from The Maid is one of the most memorable characters I have read in recent years, and so when I discovered there was a sequel, I was eager to see what my favorite maid was up to. The book started a bit slow for me, but once Molly’s flashbacks kicked in, I was all in! Overall I was much more invested in Molly’s relationship with Gran than finding out who the murderer was, and loved seeing Molly’s character growth since the last book.

Take home message: This is a fun mystery novel with a neurodivergent main character that feels like a more serious version of Knives Out and Monk.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine for this ARC!

If you read Amelia Bedelia as a child, you will love Molly the Maid!

I really liked The Maid last year, so I was so excited for the second book about Molly. Molly notices things that no one else does making her the perfect person to help solve the mystery.
I also loved the glimpses back to Molly as a child and how she was connected to the victim.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC.

This book was an absolute delight to read. I enjoyed this one even more than the first book in the series. If you’re in the market for a cozy mystery filled with lots of heart look no further.
Thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC in return for my honest review.

What a delight it was to be back with Molly the maid. This is the second book where we get to join Molly as she solves a mystery, but could be read as a standalone as well. I will definitely pick up the next as well!

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Mystery Guest (Molly the Maid, Book 2) by Nita Prose
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 277 / Genre: Cozy Mystery

Molly the maid is back with another murder at the Regency Grand Hotel. This time it’s the famous mystery writer J.D. Grimthorpe, who just so happens to be a former employer of Molly’s late gram. This story ping pongs between Molly and Gram’s past experiences with the writer and the current events surrounding his murder.

The somewhat innocent nature of Molly and her quirky and fastidious habits make this more of a cozy murder mystery. I enjoyed it as much as I did the first book in the series, The Maid. It’s a little slower pace than some of my usual thrillers, but I liked it.

Thank you @NetGalley, @PenguinRandomHouse, and @NitaProse for the advanced copy of this book. I’m looking forward to the next book in this series!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. Molly is back and better than ever. I enjoyed The Maid, but I loved The Mystery Guest. Molly is now the head maid at the same hotel. But this time a famous author drops dead.

Sometimes a story or a set of characters just work(s) better as a standalone. I adored The Maid and everyone in it - it was one of my best reads of 2022. I had no idea that it was intended to become a series. It was perfect on it's own, and none of the characters was really intense enough to carry a series if that makes sense. When I saw The Mystery Guest on NetGalley I jumped and requested it thinking it was another mystery by an author I had enjoyed and not realizing it was with the same characters as The Maid. Even after reading the synopsis I was curious how Prose was going to make Molly into a series. Turns out, she still really isn't. This sequel was more than weak, it was entirely forgettable. All the charm of The Maid was gone here - instead it's one absurd coincidence after another to the point that I felt like I was reading a script for a daytime soap. We also lose the joy of figuring out who Molly is and how she fits in her world. In a sequel, we know her well and nothing is surprising anymore. I'll still keep my eye out for more from Prose, but not if they are more mysteries from Molly.

**Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the eARC**