The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

Series: Molly the Maid #2
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Length: 416 pages
Audiobook Length: 10 hours
First Published: 2023

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Rachael’s Review

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Ballantine Books. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

In a sequel to the hit bestseller, The Maid, return to the five-star Regency Grand Hotel where Molly Gray is now the Head Maid. When famous author J. D. Grimthorpe drops dead in the hotel’s tea room as he’s about to admit to a long-held secret, the entire staff are suspects in his murder. Yet, Molly has her own secret. As a child, Molly worked with her grandmother cleaning Grimthorpe’s mansion. Can Molly solve the mystery and save the hotel’s reputation?

I adored Nita Prose’s cozy mystery, The Maid, but was disappointed in the unoriginality of its sequel. The Mystery Guest was just plain boring. Constantly switching between the past and the present slowed down the current mystery to a crawl and didn’t add as much development as I’d have liked. This time around, Molly’s aphorisms seemed pithy and overused instead of cute and refreshing. Unless you are dying to know more about Molly, I’d skip this contrived repetitive mystery.

Publisher’s Description

Molly Gray wears her Head Maid badge proudly for every shift at the Regency Grand Hotel, plumping pillows, sweeping up the guests’ secrets, silently restoring rooms to a state of perfection.

But when a renowned guest – a famous mystery writer – drops very dead in the grand tea room, Molly has an unusual clean-up on her hands.

As rumours and suspicion swirl in the hotel corridors, it’s clear there’s grime lurking beneath the gilt. And Molly knows that she alone holds the key to the mystery. But unlocking it means thinking about the past, about Gran, and everything else she’s kept tidied away in her memory for so long.

Because Molly knew the dead guest once upon a time – and he knew her . . .