I adore Molly the Maid! She is such a refreshing character and I was excited to see a sequel!

This was another fun cozy mystery and a quick read. Loved spending time with Molly again, and seeing she is now Head Maid! Some other characters from the first book reappear, and I also loved Lily, a new character.

This one was told in a dual timeline - present day with flashbacks to Molly's childhood with her Gran. I felt this added to the story.

A fun twist at the end! Hoping this isn't the last we see of Molly!

Nita Prose has once again delivered a mystery perfect for Agatha Christie fans! Readers of The Maid will enjoy this continuation of Molly's story, this time centered around the murder of a famous author right in the middle of The Regency's new tea room with hundreds of witnesses. If you haven't read The Maid, I highly recommend you read that first in order to get all of the cozy nooks and crannies out of Prose's latest mystery. We don't get to see much of Juan, Molly's boyfriend who we got to know in The Maid, and one of the character twists will be obvious for those of us paying close attention in the first book. But the glimpse into Molly's childhood and her relationship with Gram added a lot of depth and some twists to the plot that made for a fun mystery read.

**Thank you, NetGalley and publisher, for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.**

Both this and The Maid were well written, just not my favorite. Poor Molly’s times of social awkwardness or people taking advantage of her makes me cringe.

Title: The Mystery Guest
Author: Nita Prose
Pub Date: November 28, 2023
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Molly the maid is back and has once again found herself in the middle of a murder investigation at The Regency Grand Hotel! The hotel staff was happy to be hosting an event for famous author, J.D. Grimthorpe, who was there to make a special announcement. However, he collapses and dies before he is able to make his speech. Molly is determined to figure out what happened and helps detective Stark investigate the murder.

I enjoyed this book. We get a glimpse of Molly’s childhood, which includes a prior connection to the murder victim, and we learn more about Gran as the chapters alternate between Molly’s past as a child and the present investigation. This book is more than just a mystery. It has all the great elements of a cozy mystery as well as a heartwarming storyline about Molly, leading up to an emotional ending.

This is the sequel to The Maid by Nita Prose. I found the ending to be a little predictable but I loved that we found out so much more about Molly in this book and I enjoyed following along as she helped catch the killer. This was a quick fun read with some heartfelt moments. I definitely recommend if you like a story with a cozy mystery vibe or if you loved The Maid.

Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for this advanced readers copy.

Thank you @prhaudio @netgalley for a copy of this book. So glad to see Molly back again. There is a murder at the Regency Hotel where she was recently promoted to head maid. Similar to the last book, Molly is underestimated by the investigators and proves them wrong. I really enjoyed seeing more of Molly's childhood and her relationship with her grandmother. Lauren Ambrose does a great job portraying Molly and bringing the story to life.

“The monster is always real, just not the way you thought. No secret stays buried forever. The maid shalt be redeemed in the end.”

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for a copy.

Molly the maid is back with this next installment in the cozy mystery series. This can be read as a stand alone but I highly recommend reading The Maid first.
Molly has been promoted to Head Maid and her Gran would be so proud. She has a maid in training, Lily and sees a bit of herself in her.
There’s another murder at the Regency Hotel and the maid is always to blame. But with Mollys help she will prove Detective Stark wrong.
I enjoyed the second book even more than the first! I liked that we went back to when Molly was a kid to gain more insight on her and everything she learned with her Gran.
I still absolutely love Mr. Preston and his relationship with Molly. But we learn he could be holding secrets of his own.
The Mystery Guest is a quick, cozy and fun read for cozy mystery lovers.

The Mystery Guest was just as delightful and cozy mystery as its predecessor, The Maid! I found Molly’s character to be a little over the top in The Maid (big “Amelia Bedelia” vibes), but loved that more of her childhood/background was included in the Mystery Guest. It really helped me connect with her and understand her inner workings. Similar to the Maid, a bit of a predictable mystery plot but enjoyable nonetheless.

I honestly hope we get another book in this series as I think there is so much more that can be done with Molly and larger cast of characters!

Many thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Nita Prose has done it again! I was so happy to keep reading about mollys adventures at the hotel- and small glimpses of her backstory was so heart warming and heart breaking at the same time. Loved this so much- great sequel!

My second Nita Prose book and I am eagerly awaiting the next one!! This was a wonderful read - innovative, well-written, creative and all around fun. What a great book. And Molly is the perfect protagonist. Her unique take on life (and murder) makes the book so interesting. I sped through the book and now I am sorry because it done. Well I’ll just have to wait for the next installment. Hurry!!

The Maid was one of my favorite books of 2022, so I was excited to see that Molly was back with another mystery. In the first book I found her quirky and likeable, if a little bit uptight, and I was looking forward to seeing how her relationship with Juan Miguel had progressed and revisit some old friends like Angela and Mr. Snow.

Unfortunately, this book didn't spend a whole lot of time in the present. There was a lot of backstory- which was great in some ways. I felt like I got an even better idea of Molly's character, as well as Mr. Preston and Gran. The parts of the story that were told in the past- at Grimthorpe's mansion- were by far the strongest bits. The present day mystery felt weak in comparison, almost like it was an afterthought. There was some movement on her relationships in present day- a new partnership with the detective introduced in the first book, a "big" reveal by Mr. Preston (which is a shock to literally no one except maybe Molly, who sometimes seems very sharp and sometimes seems very obtuse- and I have a hard time telling when she'll be which). But, at the end of the day, the past won the day. I almost think this book would have been much stronger if it had been a story of Molly and her Gran during childhood- completely negating the present day hotel story line and setting Grimthorpe's murder in the past. It would have taken away a lot of what felt like fluff and focused on the good stuff.

Overall, I might give Molly another chance. I still find her likeable...just not as likeable as the first go around.

(will post an Instagram review on pub day, 11/28 @thelibrarianslunchbox).

I wish I could say I liked this as much as the first, but I can’t. I can’t put my finger on what it was exactly. It was basically the same story but a different murder. I did like how this time we did get a glimpse into Molly’s childhood and a few secrets were revealed. I hope the next book veers away from the hotel.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for a honest opinion. 3⭐️

Everyone's favorite Maid is back! Molly the Maid is back and she's solving mysteries and sleuthing just as she was in the first book. Dare I say, that this book was better than the first??? IMHO (In my humble opinion; iykyk)

Once I heard that there was a sequel to The Maid I just knew I had to snag it. Diving back into the world of Molly the Maid was so refreshing and I felt as though I appreciated this book more than I did The Maid, simply because we already knew Molly and her personality going into this story instead of trying to figure it out in the first book.

This book has past and present POV's. In the past we are watching Molly as she's going to school and spending time with her Gran; we're seeing her grow and learn as a child and see some of the hardships that make her the way she is today. Molly's Gran will forever be my favorite character because she loved Molly just as she was, and even molded and shaped her to be the Molly we see and love now.

The present POV is another death at the Grand Regency Hotel, and who else is to blame but the maid. The maid is always to blame, as we found from the first book, but Molly is much more confident in her role as Head Maid at the Hotel and she is on a mission to solve this murder before someone else is wrongfully convicted.

Bestselling author J.D. Grimthorpe suddenly drops dead just as he's about to announce something HUGE, and when the police find out that the tea he was given by the newest member of the maid team, Lily, all fingers are pointed in her direction.

Molly goes to work and solves the mystery much ahead of the police as well as maybe was offered a major career change? I would love to see a third book with Molly the Maid as Molly the Detective.

Here's to hoping there's a third book on the way!!

It is officially cozy mystery SZN! And The Mystery Guest, by Nita Prose is the perfect one to kick it off. I adored The Maid, and was extra excited to get an Advanced Copy of this one which is out on TUESDAY!

The Mystery Guest brings back our favorite quirky maid an deeply complicated maid, Molly.

Another death has occurred at the Regency Grand hotel - this time not a guest, but a world-reknown author who was there to make a newsy announcement. Molly, now head maid (!) is immediately drawn in - both as a suspect and as someone who can help solve what really happened.

These mysteries are very smart, move quick and keep me guessing. I am keeping the details light in order to avoid spoilers, but this one connects the mystery to Molly herself in ways I didn't see coming but very much enjoyed.

Be sure to check it out once it hits bookshelves next week!

Will post this on my goodreads, retail sites and bookstagram @scottonreads

This was such a cute second book in the Molly the Maid series. I was so excited when I saw that the first book was getting a sequel, and it did not disappoint. While I was reading this, I could definitely see this becoming one of those series that ends up having 20 books and they all are just little mysteries with a little character development and I would literally read every last one of them.

This book follows Molly a few years after the events of the first book, when another death occurs at the hotel that she works at as a maid. Molly and her friends at the hotel begin to investigate the murder, and Molly has to go all the way back to her first "job" as a maid to connect all the pieces.

I had so much fun reading this and while the plot twist was not THAT surprising, it was slightly unexpected and was still interesting to get there. It was such a cozy book and such a fun addition to the series.

Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the advanced copy!

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

Molly the maid is back at it with another dead body in her hotel. I’m not sure I needed another version of The Maid. The first book was fine. Molly was a bit Amelia Bedilia and all, and the story was cute, but I grabbed my Kindle as I headed back to the vet ER for the third time this week and ended up reading the whole thing in two visits. I guess I didn’t realize it would be a continuation of the same characters a few years later with a very similar plot line that felt repetitive throughout the whole book and super predictable. Nor was I in a good mood, so there’s that. Overall thoughts: Been there. Read that. Didn’t need this arc.

Oh, how wonderful it was to be reunited with Molly! She’s even more charming in The Mystery Guest than she was in The Maid. I also thought this whodunnit mystery played out even better and there were so many heartwarming moments where Molly learns more about love, family, trust, and who is a good egg ;)

Give me more Molly!

How wonderful to again be under the spell of the endearing Molly the Maid, one of my favorite characters ever! Now 29 and head maid at her beloved Regency Grand Hotel, Molly Gray is much surer of herself, but not one iota less quirky since we were with her the last time in The Maid. Along with her new responsibilities at work, she has also gained a romantic home life with her live-in boyfriend Juan Manuel.

The hotel is honored to have been chosen to be the site of a press conference for the reclusive and famous international bestselling mystery author J. D. Grimthorpe during which he has declared he will make a big announcement. Fifty-five guests have been awarded VIP entry passes, among them many LAMBS (Ladies Auxiliary Mystery Book Society members) who have been roaming the hotel for days in anticipation of the conference and in hopes of seeing their favorite author.

Things take an unexpected turn when the author drops dead on the hotel's tearoom floor as the press conference is about to begin. Detective Stark, Molly's foe in The Maid, declares it a murder soon after she arrives on the scene to investigate. With no shortage of suspects on hand, Molly puts her keen observation skills to work in an effort to eliminate herself as a suspect and attempt to figure out who killed Grimthorpe.

A well-written, well-paced murder mystery that is sure to capture and hold your attention, I give this book 5 stars.

My thanks to Ballantine Books for permitting me to access a DRC via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

I fell in love with Molly the Maid in the first book from Nita Prose so I was so happy to receive this ARC from NetGalley for The Mystery Guest.

You are immediately taken back to the Regency Grand where Molly is now the Head Maid and needs to help solve a new murder. Also as a duel timeline book, I quite enjoyed learning more about Molly and Grans relationship when she was a child.

Lots of twists and turns in this one. Two mysteries to solve, one very predictable and the other not so easy.

There is a lot of ability to make more books for this series based on the ending and I’m here for it!

What a joy it was to be reunited with Molly! I still thoroughly enjoyed her outlook on life and all her “isms”. The story was entertaining and getting a look at her life the as a young girl was the icing on the cake!

The mystery itself was fun to uncover but my most loved part was at the end with Mr. Preston! The way it concluded made me hopeful that we’ll be seeing more of Molly in the future and I can’t wait!

Thank you Random House Ballantine for the arc via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Welcome to Nita Prose’s sophomore novel, THE MYSTERY GUEST! I loved THE MAID where we were introduced to Molly, and I was thrilled to give this one a go! Special thanks to Ballentine Books (a division of Penguin Random House) and NetGalley for an advance copy to read and review. This book will publish this coming Tuesday, November 28, 2023.

Molly Gray is back, but this time she is the Head Maid at the Grand Regency Hotel where a reclusive writer is hosting a gathering to make a dynamic announcement. Except, he never gets to make it and once again it seems the maids know everything! Are Molly and her crew somehow wrapped up in murder?

I really enjoyed my visit at the Grand Recency Hotel, and really appreciated the return of several favorite characters. Molly has grown considerably since her debut in THE MAID, and I liked the direction Nita Prose took. There were a couple instances I found some of Molly’s choices rather annoying, but I also think they were still within the bounds of her character and personality. THE MYSTERY GUEST focused more on giving us Molly’s backstory, and it opened my eyes to who she is. While I do wish there was a bit more mystery element, I did enjoy this novel and will be keeping my eyes peeled for another installment!

I’d recommend this one if you really enjoyed Nita’s first book, THE MAID! If you haven’t read that one yet, I’d definitely start there if you’re in the mood for a good cosy mystery!