Not as Original as its Predecessor!

3.5 Stars!

It’s been almost four years years since the events of The Maid, and in that time, Molly Grey has been promoted to the prestigious position of ‘Head Maid’ at the Regency Grand Hotel.

While Molly and her staff are overseeing a special V.I.P event in the hotel’s newly refurbished tea roo, renowned mystery writer, J.D. Grimthorpe drops dead while delivering his speech.

Once again, Molly the Maid unwittingly finds herself embroiled in another puzzling mystery.

As I mentioned I wasn’t as enamoured by The Mystery Guest as I’d hoped. There were some up to par twists, but the ending where the cast of characters were gathered together to reveal all was lacklustre. The mystery element in The Maid was a clever and unique twist on a character who struggled to read social cues and situations, The Mystery Guest in comparison was pretty average. In fact, parts of the present timeline were downright boring and predictable. The flashbacks were the highlight, I relished the gothic, fairytale feel, and enjoyed the insight into Molly’s past, her gran, and the close bond the two shared.

I still loved the characters, and am keen to revisit Molly’s world, and the final twist was all kinds of awesome, but The Mystery Guest wasn’t Nita Prose’s best.

I’d like to thank Netgalley, Harper Collin’s Australia, and Nita Prose for the e-ARC.

3 Stars ~

Molly the Maid stumbles upon another death at the Regency Grand Hotel that reaks of murder and she has to get to the bottom of it.

Acclaimed author J.D Grimthorpe had a very exciting announcement to make at the Regency Grand Hotel, but before he could let it out, he dropped dead.

Who really wants Grimthorpe and who would have such a grievance with the author that they resorted to murder?


I really enjoyed the first book in the Molly the Maid series, but this one fell a little flat and I just wasn’t motivated to keep picking it back up. It was still enjoyable but maybe a little slow and bland for my taste.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC in return for an honest review.

Every now and again, I feel like a cozier mystery read and Nita Prose's Molly The Maid series provided not only that but also a sense of belonging as her main character Molly is on the spectrum and is a neurodivergent character, so some of her traits and personality quirks, I understood on a bit more of a personal level as I come from a family where my mum and two siblings were on the spectrum, my partner is between borderline to strong possibility and myself shows mild tendencies to borderline. In The Mystery Guest, Molly has been promoted to Head Maid and is training Lily who is quiet and reminds Molly of herself. The hotel is getting prepared to host the author JD Grimthorpe as he has a big announcement to make. Just as he gets ready to read his cue cards, he drops dead on the stage. It seems the hotel has another murder and poor Molly and the maids find themselves the prime suspects once again. As Detective Stark arrives, we wonder if didn't she learn anything about her assumptions the first time around. Who killed JD Grimthorpe and what was his big announcement to be? Molly of course knows she could be a suspect, as she met JD Grimthorpe when she was a little girl along with her grandma and Preston the doorman. Was JD Grimthorpe killed to protect his secret or something more sinister? Find out in Book #2 The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose and Nita - I would be fine if in Book#3 you kill off Cheryl or at least make her guilty enough to be finally fired as I am sick of her second and third chances haha :P.

This is the second book about 'Molly the Maid' and the first book should be read before this one to give context. This story sees Molly now as Head Maid at The Regent and nervous as they prepare for an event featuring a famous author. When the author drops dead at the event, it appears that once again Molly is a prime suspect. The story moves between parallel timelines, the present and back when Molly's beloved and now deceased Gran was a housekeeper for the author.
Happy to recommend this series of books, thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins Australia for the opportunity to review this digital ARC.

I enjoyed this book so much, and my favourite part was getting to see Molly's past. I do love how this was such an easy and short read. Molly was such a fun character to follow around and I look forward to seeing what else she gets up to. When I started this book, I hadn't realised this was a sequel but I didn't find anything confusing. I will definitely be going back to read the first book though, as I want to read more about Molly. In my opinion, Molly is such an endearing character that you can't help but like her.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this ARC!

Nita Prose has followed her first book with another easy read cosy mystery, bringing back Molly the Maid.
The storyline follows the main character Molly, a maid working in her much loved hotel. Molly has a murder to solve, searching for clues is her priority in a race against time.
Molly is a likeable character, we explore her life story as the investigation unfolds. This book is more about Molly than a murder mystery, a great Summer read.

My thanks to Harper Collins, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Mystery Guest is a sequel to Nita Prose’s wildly popular debut, The Maid, featuring Molly, a hotel maid.

Set around four years after the events of the first novel, Molly is now Head Maid at the Regency Grand Hotel, and has been placed in charge of the service for a special event to be held in the newly restored Grand Tearoom. World-renowned, bestselling, and award-winning author J. D. Grimthorpe has a secret to reveal and his audience is agog, but moments after taking the stage and sipping his tea, Grimthorpe collapses and is pronounced dead.

Once again Molly finds herself caught up in a mystery, as Grimthorpe’s cause of death is pronounced as murder by a poison administered in the honey taken with his tea. Detective Stark seems as eager to blame Molly for this murder as the last, especially as Molly has a connection with the deceased author.

It was a delight to reconnect with the characters from The Maid. Molly, though less naive, is still sweet and optimistic. She and Juan Manuel now live together (though he is absent from this story) and her colleagues, except for Cheryl, have become friends.

While The Mystery Guest is an engaging read, with a decently plotted mystery I felt it was missing the edge that surprised me in The Maid.

A satisfying and highly entertaining follow-up to the 2022 bestseller, The Maid by Nita Prose.

Several years have passed, and Molly Gray has settled into her role as Head Maid at the Regency Grand Hotel. The hotel itself has worked hard at rehabilitating its reputation after the notoriety of the murder that was the subject of the previous book, and to celebrate the opening of the recently restored Grand Tea Room in the hotel, a special event has been planned. The world-renowned, bestselling and award-winning author J. D. Grimthorpe, has chosen the venue to make a very special announcement. But things don't go to plan, and before any such announcement can be made, the hotel has another dead body to deal with.

Enter Detective Stark - Molly's former nemesis. Stark is an excellent detective, but she finds Molly's quirks perplexing to say the least. Soon Molly is forced to admit that although Grimthorpe had not recognised her at the staff book-signing before the event, she does in fact have some history with the famous author, dating back to her childhood when her beloved Gran was the sole maid working at the vast Grimthorpe Mansion. As any reader with an interest in murder mysteries will know, when presented with a cast of characters such as those here, it is most likely that 'the maid did it'. And off we go again!

Alternating between the present day investigation and the past at Grimthorpe Mansion, where we learn a lot more about Molly's backstory, the story unfolds at a good pace with revelations made at regular intervals. Eager to keep herself out of trouble this time, Molly is always a step ahead of Stark and other interested parties trying to solve the case.

While Molly (and others, surprisingly!) still comes out with a lot of her Gran's aphorisms, I didn't really see as much of the quirkiness in her behaviour and thinking this time. Perhaps life with her live-in boyfriend Juan Manuel is helping to knock some of her corners off? Regardless, there is still enough charm and cleverness, so I'll be on board for the next adventure.

Mystery Guest:

Miss Molly is BACKKKKKK! And better than ever. Same hotel, same characters, new mystery to solve.
Author J D Grimthrope has a big announcement during his stay at the Regency Grand Hotel, and just as this happens he drops to the ground and chaos unfolds.

Lily is the a maid in training under Molly and she knows more than she is letting on. Molly has to piece together the clues to solve the case of who done it. During the novel there are flash backs to her past and the relationship she holds with her Gran. Molly remembers going to work with Gran and working for the famous author and his wife, while there Molly relays thoughts of the guard in the watchtower and who it could have been.

I only have high praise for this book. I could not stop reading. The writing is flawless and just makes you want to know what is going to happen next. I am hoping that @ continues on writing about Molly the Maid cause it was left on a bit of a cliffhanger and I NEED to know what happens next. I would recommend you get a copy and let me know what you think.

I was lucky to have the ARC copy sent to me via @ but I would also like to shout out to @ because it was one of the books I could have chosen like month.

QOTD: What series have you read or would you recommend reading?

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose is a sequel to The Maid where we are first introduced to Molly, who a delightful character and who once again is faced with an untimely death at The Regency Grand Hotel where she is now Head Maid.
Another wonderful cosy mystery full of Gran’s sayings and Molly’s musings about her, her life and those around her.

A very relaxing and enjoyable read.



This review is based on a complimentary copy from HarperCollins Publishers Australia via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#TheMysteryGuest #NetGalley

I loved The Maid and was very excited to read its sequel, The Mystery Guest. But…

To be honest, I found this book plain boring and struggled to finish it.

There’s no doubt Prose is a good writer. I love her descriptive passages and she definitely makes her characters and settings come to life. But...

The mystery plot itself was extremely weak and was easily worked out after a few chapters. There was no particular twist at the end. (Twists are a love/hate thing for me. Sometimes I think writers are so keen on including a twist that they lose focus on the rest of the storyline. In this case, however, I think it might have elevated the mystery plot and given the reader a bit more bang for their buck, so to speak.)

And, one of my biggest beefs with the book is Molly’s past relationship with the murder victim. I mean, really? Am I the only one who found this all too much of a coincidence?

Look, I understand the lure of writing a sequel to a successful book -- basically you'll have a guaranteed bestseller. There’s nothing wrong with the occasional standalone novel though. If, as hinted in the epilogue, Prose decides on book three, I won’t be rushing out to purchase it.

3 out of 5

“One foot in front of the other. It's the only way to get anywhere in this life.”

Molly the Maid returns in a follow-up cozy mystery, only now she’s head maid, and there’s a new murder to solve.

I was so nervous about reading this one as I have been let down by one too many cozy mystery sequels in the last couple of years. I am delighted to announce that Prose has absolutely redeemed the genre for me and I sincerely hope we get to see more of Molly again one day!

I am absolutely stoked that we were graced with a sequel to The Maid. Nita Prose has a way of writing these cozy mysteries that are easy to devour in one sitting and seem quite light and fluffy… only all of a sudden you’re crying because you’ve become quite attached to the characters without even realising it, and you’re cackling out loud in public at some witty one-liner.

If you’re somehow yet to read The Maid or its sequel, I do warn that the mystery isn’t complicated or grisly or shocking or ground breaking. I think that’s where a lot of people are let down. I also think these books are not trying to be grand mysteries; I think they’re about Molly. About her innocence, her values and her lessons in life, her realisations, her hope and positivity, her impact on the people around her, the friendships she makes, the workplace she motivates, and the family she creates for herself. The mysteries that are solved along the way are just fun ways for us to get to know and appreciate Molly for the quirky and wonderful person she is. I also love all of Gran’s nuggets of wisdom and the appreciation that is felt for workers in the service industry.

Whether you like mysteries or not, I think there is something special about these books and Molly that can spark joy in any reader.

Biggest thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Australia for an eARC of The Mystery Guest. It’s out now, so go grab a copy!

Follow up novels are always filled with trepidation - for writer and readers alike.

Will it be as good? Will it be better? Will it be forever compared and contrasted to its predecessor?

In the case of The Mystery Guest the answers are yes. It is as good. It is better. And when comparing and contrasting it to The Maid, well, it feels more like a natural extension of the story, rather than a sequel.

Milly is still a maid at The Regency Grand. The beautiful boutique hotel that’s embroiled in yet another mysterious death. There are familiar characters and new ones to endear every reader, or make them hiss, you get to decide.

But one thing I absolutely loved about this one compared with the first is more Molly. And I mean, more of Molly’s past. More knowledge and understanding of who she is. What makes her tick. Gaps where her family should be. We get some answers. And raise more questions.

Wonderfully written, beautifully narrated, I hope to read more from this author and of her Molly.

Many thanks to Nita Prose, HarperCollins, and NetGalley for this pristine perfection of an arc.

Molly the maid is back in a delightful new murder mystery. She’s now Head Maid at her believed Regency Grand Hotel with Lily, a Maid-in-training under her wing. When esteemed mystery writer, J.D. Grimthorpe drops dead at an event where he was to make a big announcement, both Molly and Lily become prime suspects. Will Molly be able to solve the murder this time and help the police uncover the killer and their motive?

This is an enjoyable, well paced sequel to The Maid. Molly has grown and is more self-assured and better able to read what people mean, but she still mostly sees the world in black and white. However, it’s her ability to pick up and remember small details that often gives her a special insight into the investigation. It was also good to see Detective Stark back and finding a better appreciation of Molly’s abilities.

The novel flips between current events and the period when Molly met Grimthorpe as a child when her Gran was the maid there. This not only gives insights into the type of man Grimthorpe was but also lets us learn more about Molly as a child and her special relationship with her beloved gran. Some nice twists and a satisfying ending along with a hint that Molly may consider a new career all make for an engaging cosy mystery.

‘We all make mistakes. It’s what we do after that matters.’

Molly Gray is now Head Maid at the Regency Grand Hotel. Conscientious and meticulous, Molly enjoys restoring guest’s rooms ‘to a state of perfection’. Molly, who learned her skills from her beloved Gran, is happy with her partner Juan and is also training Lily, a new maid who reminds Molly of herself.

There’s a big event planned at the Regency Grand Hotel. The Grand Tea Room is hosting an exclusive gathering for some very important guests of famous author J.D. Grimthorpe, including his personal secretary, Serena Sharpe, and members of his fan club the LAMBS (Ladies Auxiliary Mystery Book Society). Molly is overseeing the arrangements and Lily is responsible for serving Mr. Grimthorpe his tea. Mr Grimthorpe takes the stage to advise that he is going to make a very important announcement … and then drops dead.

Yes, the death is suspicious and is soon confirmed as murder. Who killed Mr Grimthorpe, and why? Detective Stark is called in, and when she learns that Molly once knew Mr Grimthorpe, Molly becomes a suspect.
The story shifts from past to present. We learn that Molly’s gran was once Mr Grimthorpe’s maid and Molly used to accompany her. Molly is sure that she can solve the mystery, but it requires her to revisit the past.

Another terrific novel from Ms Prose. We learn more about Molly’s past in this novel as we learn about the death of Mr Grimthorpe. There are secrets to uncover, and Molly has some challenges with a co-worker as well. Molly tackles her investigation in much the same way as she tackles her duties as Head Maid: discreetly and thoroughly.

A very satisfying ending follows, and I wonder what the future holds for Molly. Yes, you can read this as a standalone, but I strongly recommend getting to know Molly by reading both novels.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

After loving Nita Prose’s first book in the Molly the Maid series, I have been (impatiently!) waiting for the sequel.

We meet Molly once again as a mystery unfolds within the hotel where she works. Minutes before he was set to make a public announcement, mysterious and reclusive author J.D Grimthorpe drops dead. Determined to uncover the truth of his death, Molly fastidiously searches for clues leaving no stone unturned - even putting her own friends and coworkers under the spotlight.

While I didn’t love this book as much as the first instalment in the series, The Mystery Guest is still a great summertime crime read. Like in the previous book, Molly is a delightful character to read and the book is sprinkled with little bits of humour throughout. The author included more flashbacks to Molly’s childhood in this story too, which I loved as it gave an insight into how Molly came to be who she is.

I’d recommend this book to any fans of crime/mysteries looking for a light summer read (or as a Christmas gift for any fans of The Maid!).

I think a lot of people would enjoy this book; however, I could not get into it. I had to DNF it at chapter five because the writing style just was not for me.

The Maid series is just a good comfy cozy mystery book. The story is nice and captivating. I am hoping for another instalment and a look into if Molly purses the offer of another career and her relationships with Juan, Mr Preston and the others at the hotel.

I hoping Nita can maybe complicate the story line and really give us a jaw dropping mystery in the future.

Thank you the Netgally and HarperCollins for this amazing ARC!

I fell in love with Molly during the first book ‘The Maid’ so was extremely thrilled to receive the ebook ARC of ‘The Mystery Guest’.
I found this book to be an easy and entertaining read but definitely suggest making sure to read ‘The Maid’ prior to going into this one.

Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the book I would have loved to see more of a certain character more present throughout the story.

Thankyou so much NetGalley for the ARC ebook.

I was lucky enough to receive an Advanced Copy of this book. I read The Maid (the first book) and absolutely loved it so I immediately applied for book 2. This book follows Molly the Maid and her life in the hotel, once again someone dies at the hotel while Molly is on shift. this book had me in a chokehold once I got into it, I never knew who to trust. I would never have guessed who was to blame. It's another 4-star thriller for me :)