I ate this up! So fun, heartfelt, and interesting. I loved learning more about Gran and Molly’s relationship and learning about her upbringing and why she became a maid.

Molly Gray is not like anyone else. With her flair for cleaning, detail, and proper etiquette, she has risen through the ranks of the esteemed five-star Regency Grand Hotel to become the Head Maid. But just as her life reaches perfection, her world is turned upside down when J. D. Grimthorpe, a world-renowned mystery author, drops dead on the hotel’s tearoom floor. As the high-profile death threatens the hotel’s 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. With the entire hotel under investigation, Molly must solve the mystery. Because if there’s one thing she knows for sure, it’s that secrets don’t stay buried forever.

Thank you @netgalley, @randomhouse, and @nitaprose for the ARC! Fall is the perfect time for cozy mysteries, and Molly the Maid is back again with an other whodunnit. I liked this book better than The Maid. Molly’s character had a lot more confidence in this book, and we got to know more of her backstory, so I feel overall her character was better developed than it was in The Maid. The dual timeline was wonderful and helped give a lot of context to the plot and really propelled the mystery along. I loved how Molly banded together with friends and coworkers, much like she did in the first book, to solve the case. This book didn’t have the shocking twists of the first, at least to me, but I really enjoyed how the story unfolded and piecing together the clues as they came along. The Mystery Guest comes out November 28!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

The Mystery Guest is the follow-up book to The Maid.

I love the Maid but I liked The Mystery Guest even more. I loved Molly and continuing her story.
I finished this one so fast I was disappointed there wasn't any more. I am hoping there is another book after this one.

I highly recommend reading this one.

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC.

I was a big fan of the first book "The Maid."
This however fell a little flat for me this time around.

The plot: I didn't feel as captivating as the first one. It felt like it was a little all over the place reading it. And when the book started picking up, it was ending and I felt like it moved too quickly, but not fast enough? I was left with weird feelings.

The characters: I liked Molly in the first book, and felt she was different in this one - which I know was the point, but felt her likable features were dwindling. Also reading her younger self, it was confusing - did she understand social cues or not? It kept going back that she did, and then didn't. I did appreciate the return of the other characters from the first book though!

The plot twist: Just kinda underwhelming. I don't want to spoil more, but I didn't get the same wow factor as I did in the first book.

HOWEVER - my favorite part of this book that did bring tears to my eyes was the development of Molly and her Grandmothers relationship. It was so heart wrenching to get deeper into their stories and it really hit a soft spot in my heart and was the most redeeming.

Molly the maid is back and is as delightful as she was in her debut! Whether readers solve the mysteries or not, spending time with this engaging character is an adventure not to be missed.

Thank you to NetGalley for this Advanced Readers Copy. It isn't too often that the second book outshines the first, but such is the case with The Mystery Guest. Don't get me wrong, the first was entertaining, but maybe since I didn't go in with too much expectations as I did the first, I liked this one better.

Just as wonderfully gripping as The Maid, The Mystery Guest did not disappoint! Molly the maid is such a delightfully quirky character and the way she reacts to the extraordinary events at the Regency Grand made the book impossible to put down. I can only hope a third book will follow!

This book! Somehow it was even better than The Maid, which was one of my favorites of the last few years! Prose is exceptionally good at writing in the voice of an alternative heroine and rarely have a read a novel where I feel so invested in and loving towards so many characters. I know this one will be as massive a success as her first was and it will be entirely deserved. Bravo!

This was a fantastic follow-up to the first title in the series! It was fun to be back in the world with Molly, who is such a delightful character to read. The book was a quick and easy read that was fun and satisfying.

Molly the Maid is back and after 4 years in literary time (following the unfortunate and memorable incident that quite rattled her then), she’s now Head Maid at the 5 star boutique Regency Grand Hotel. She stills hears constant advice from her deceased grandmother, the best being “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.”

It is, however, the end for eccentric mystery author and noted recluse, J.D. Grimthorpe, who chose the newly refurbished Grand Tearoom for an “important announcement” but keeled over dead (and on top of Maid-in-Training, Lily), before extolling whatever revelation he was about to share. But there’s some encounter with Mr. Grimthorpe in Molly’s past — enough for her to become a suspect again? Since we know our Molly could not possibly be the murderer, her previous interaction with a man she considered a troll gives her insight into the author’s past.

There are beloved (and not so beloved) returning characters like Mr. Preston, the doorman; Juan Manuel, now Molly’s official boyfriend (mostly absent since he’s visiting his mother in Mexico); Mr. Snow, the hotel manager; the promoted and still imposing Detective Stark; and Cheryl, the tip-stealing former head maid. We also now have Angela, the bartender, who’s gotten Molly hooked on true-crime podcasts. Angela wants to help Molly figure out if J.D. Grimthorpe was truly poisoned and why.

Molly is as sweet, naive, concerned, persistent, and clever as ever — it’s great that she has a sequel and I truly hope we get to share more of her adventures. 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Steely, icy, and enigmatic blues ones, but no green eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Grimthorpe’s estate is decorated with blood red roses, befitting a mystery writer.

Thank you to Random House/Ballantine and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

I didn't realize this was the second in a series, so that's on me. Even though I haven't yet read The Maid, I still found Molly and her cast of coworkers delightful and I didn't feel behind the 8 ball!

The Regency Grand seems so cozy, and I feel like I already knew all of the characters as I met them. This was a fun, fast-paced romp and I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience with Nita Prose. I look forward to reading The Maid now!

What a joy it was to be back in Molly’s world! The Maid was my number one book of the year in 2022 and The Mystery Guest is certainly vying for the top spot of this year!
I loved learning more about Molly by visiting her childhood and past; I wanted to reach out and give little Molly a giant hug! In the present timeline, the reader is once again endeared by Molly’s recalling of her Gran, the pride she takes in her work, and her rhyming catchphrases about work and morals. I could have used a tad more of Juan Manual, though their romance was as sweet as ever. His use of obscure acronyms was the only piece of the book that felt a bit out of touch, but it didn’t take away much.
I loved watching Molly grow in confidence and though this wasn’t necessarily the tightest mystery and some of the reveals were predictable (though still satisfying enough), this book did not disappoint as a sequel in the slightest!

Molly Gray is one of the most unique characters I’ve read. She has so much character development from “The Maid” to “The Mystery Guest”. This book was just as engaging and suspenseful as the first.

Hoping for a third book!

Thank you Nita Prose and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc of this. I loved Nita Prose's book The Maid. I was hoping this would be an audiobook too as I loved the narration on the first book. But non the less the main character's quirkiness was in full swing and likeable even reading on page. I finished this in two days. Was really good.

Thank you for a new Molly Maid book! I love the writing in this series. It is spare yet conveys all of the important details. Molly is such an interesting character. With this book, we learn much more about her past and the relationships that have shaped her. Her life with her beloved Gran make up a lot of the story.

Another murder at the Grand Regency Hotel when the famous author JD Grimthorpe comes to speak. The conference is attended by many of his fans. We also get to see what the staff of the hotel is doing and meet the new maid in training, Lily. Who poisoned the famous author? This story is told from two different points in time which allow us an insight into Molly’s past.

Well, all I can say is keep them coming! I can’t wait to see what happens in Molly’s future. Will she remain a maid? There are lots of revelations in this book. Thank you so much to Netgalley, Nita Prose and her publisher for an ARC for my thoughts. A winner!

I’ve read both of these this far and honestly, the plot and details in this one were more entertaining. I enjoyed hearing more of Molly’s back story and that her character was more developed. With the way this one ended, I’m hoping Simone has another adventure awaiting!

Molly is back, and sharper than ever!

It is rare that I like a second book better than the first, but it very much happened with this story. I absolutely adore Molly and her quirkiness. There should be more characters with such traits as Molly.

The story flips back and forth from past to present. I loved getting to read about Molly as a child with her Gran and how she came to be who and where she is in the future.

The author did so well tying the past in with the present and still keeping the same wonderful, quirky Molly from the first book “The Maid.”

The details Molly was able to notice that most would miss is just astonishing.

I was so glad to see some familiar characters from the first book make appearances as well.

The last couple chapters and that Epilogue are like a warm hug.

Excellent read!

Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing-Ballantine, and Nita Prose for the e arc.

PUB DATE: 11/28/24

Absolutely delightful to be reunited with Molly the Maid again! This was so charming, and it was fun to see Molly, who is clearly neurodivergent once again working to solve the mystery of the murder of mystery author J.D. Grimthorpe (how meta!). The novel alternates between the present day and scenes from Molly's childhood; while some of the flashback scenes overstayed their welcome, the two parts of the book came together delightfully at the end. This is among the coziest of cozy mysteries.

Oh goodness, how I love spending time with Molly the maid and her unapologetically unique personality! I was delighted to have the chance to read an ARC of this second installment in this series after thoroughly enjoying The Maid last year, and I think I enjoyed this one even more!

It’s been a few years since Molly was last entangled in a murder that happened at the Regency Grand hotel, where she has since been promoted to Head Maid. Many of the other employees of the hotel that we came to know and love in the first book are still holding down their posts as well, keeping the hotel running like a well-oiled machine. The story takes off when best-selling mystery author J.D. Grimthorpe arrives at the hotel to make a very important announcement in front of a grand audience, and ends up dropping dead before their eyes, leaving his important message undelivered. Molly is quickly on the case, recruiting some of her co-workers both new and old, tangling with Detective Stark, and ultimately using her wit and attention to detail to get to the bottom of the guilty party.

While watching Molly and the rest of the crew unravel the mystery at the story’s core, we also get to learn so much more about Molly herself along the way. Through flashbacks to Molly’s childhood, we uncover more of her backstory and understand more about how she got to where she is today.

I enjoyed every second of solving another mystery with such a delightfully quirky main character with a nature all her own in a swanky hotel and with an entertaining cast of side-characters. In comparison to the first book in this series, I felt like Molly came into her own in this one, with the author really identifying and solidifying her voice as the protagonist from the start. I also thought the pacing was much more even and effective in this book compared to the first, and I found myself laughing out loud the whole way through. I was completely invested in both Molly and the other characters, from the very beginning to the heartwarming end. And while the ending was definitely satisfying and completed the story, it just feels like there has to be more in store for Molly at the Regency Grand, and I'm hopeful for the series to continue!

All in all, this whimsically delightful continuation of Molly the maid’s story was every bit as cozy and entertaining as I hoped it would be! I think any fan of The Maid will not be disappointed by this sequel. Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

✨New arc Review!✨

The Mystery Guest
By Nita Prose
Publishes: 11/28/23
Genre: Cozy mystery-thriller

Lovable and quirky Molly the maid is back in this popcorn-cozy murder mystery. I very much enjoyed this story. If you liked The Maid, you’ll find this book to be a comforting and entrancing continuation of the life of Molly the maid as she finds herself immersed in a new murder mystery at the Regency Grand. I especially liked the endearing and haunting flashbacks from Molly’s childhood interlaced throughout the novel. The author seamlessly balanced the dual timeline and brought the story to a satisfying ending. I have high hopes that this won’t be the last story of Molly the maid from the talented @nitaprose . ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🛎️ hotel setting
🤫 secrets & revelations
🗝️mysterious mansion
🍿popcorn/cozy murder mystery
🔍classic who done it
✌🏻sequel story (The Maid)
🥰 lovable/quirky main character
✍️ author/writing
⌛️ dual timeline (now & then)
🩳 short chapters
🏃‍♀️ quick read

Thank you to @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse and for the opportunity to read this digital arc!

#themysteryguest #mollythemaid #themaidsequel #nitaprose #novemberbook #arcreview #bookrecommendation #fivestarbook #murdermystery #cozymystery #popcornmystery