
Author: Nita Prose
Series: Molly the Maid #2
Published by: Viking on Nov. 28, 2023
Genres: Mystery/Thriller
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
Source: Penguin Random House Canada
Book Rating: 8.5/10
When an acclaimed author dies at the Regency Grand Hotel, it’s up to a fastidious maid to uncover the truth, no matter how dirty—in a standalone novel featuring Molly Gray, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid, a Good Morning America Book Club Pick.
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 tea room 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 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 case 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—because 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 post-haste. If there’s one thing Molly knows for sure, it’s that dirty secrets don’t stay buried forever…
Review:
Lighthearted, quirky, and mysterious!
In this latest novel in the Molly the Maid series, The Mystery Guest, we head back to the prestigious Regency Hotel and into the life of maid extraordinaire Molly Gray as she once again finds herself unexpectedly tied up in a murder investigation when the famed author J.D. Granthorpe collapses dead in the Grand Tearoom while making a surprising announcement, and it quickly comes to light he had ties to her past.
The writing is smooth and fluid. The characters are playful, unique, and clever. And the plot is a well-paced, suspenseful tale full of misdirection, deduction, clues, secrets, mishaps, friendship, nostalgia, neurodivergence, amateur sleuthing, and red herrings.
Overall, The Mystery Guest is another captivating, amusing, enjoyable treat by Prose that had just the right amount of suspicious personalities, appealing characters, and abundance of drama to not only keep me engaged and entertained from start to finish but excited to read whatever escapades Molly manages to get mixed up in next.
This novel is available now.
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Thank you to Penguin Canada for providing me with a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.