The Mystery Guest - Nita Prose - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Nita Prose

SERIES: Molly the Maid, #2

GENRE: Mystery-Drama

PUBLICATION DATE: November 28, 2023

RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: Molly the Maid is back in this second novel of the series. The mystery isn’t as tricky as in the first book, but the proceedings are still enticing. You will enjoy this more if you read it as a character-oriented drama than as a murder mystery. Though this book can work as a standalone, this series is best read in order.

Plot Preview:

Four years after the events of Book One, Molly is still working at the Regency Grand boutique hotel in New York, now as the Head Maid. She is still focussed on maintaining things to a state of perfection. Her personal life is also going well with her beau Juan Manuel.

Just as the Regency Grand is set to host a high-profile event that will hopefully help it brush away the shadows of the old murder case, there is yet another death in the hotel. J.D. Grimthorpe, the world-renowned mystery author, drops dead on the tearoom floor just before making his big announcement. It soon becomes clear that his death was not from natural causes. Molly’s old nemesis Detective Stark is a part of the investigation, and yet again, her eye of suspicion falls on Molly and her new assistant, a timid maid-in-training named Lily. Is Molly innocent, especially considering what we know of her from the first novel?

The story comes to us in Molly’s first-person perspective.

I had read the first book of this series, ‘The Maid’, and was blown away by this wonderful character named Molly. The second book continues her character arc well. But will this book work well for you? I’d say it's all about having the right expectations, about knowing what you want from this story. I didn't want a murder mystery when I picked this novel up. I just wanted to meet Molly again and know her more intimately. In this sense, this book is an easy winner.

Bookish Yays:

🍽️ Molly. Still as literal as ever. Still as biased towards the ones she loves. Still as clueless about social mores. Still a fascinating and well-sketched character!

🍽️ It is good to see several beloved characters from the first book return in this sequel. There is a strong continuity in their character arcs, though the plot is almost standalone.

🍽️ Though Molly’s Gran is long dead, her epigrams are still a part of Molly’s thoughts. These evergreen instructions and principles offer a good code of conduct to live by, both to Molly and to us readers.

🍽️ One thing I distinctly remember liking about the first book is that the author hadn’t assigned any tag to Molly’s flawed social meter. (I also remember many reviewers taking it upon themselves to label Molly variously as neurodivergent, autistic, having ADHD, “on the spectrum”… as if you can be socially awkward only if you have a malfunctioning brain or a developmental disorder! 🙄) I appreciate the author’s not succumbing to the pressure and forcibly assigning a tag to Molly’s behaviour. Molly is still her charming-old (LOL!) socially-inept self and still without any label, thereby enabling us to see her as a person and not as a medical condition.

🍽️ The writing is quite fast-paced. It is easy to complete this almost-300-page book within a few hours.

🍽️ The title is quite clever, fitting the book in multiple ways.

🍽️ Thanks to Molly’s old-fashioned morals and learning, the book contains fabulous vocabulary. I love reading novels where even the individual words heighten the overall experience.

🍽️ Plenty of dark humour, partly thanks to Molly and partly because of the LAMBs. (Read the book to know more about this caprine reference. I shall not bleat out any spoilers!)

🍽️ The two timelines – Molly’s childhood years and the present murder mystery – are both interesting and hold their own. At the same time, the first has a bearing on the other. It is a rare case when both timelines are needed by the core plot and are equally well-used.

🍽️ Having read the first book, I knew what to expect from this “mystery.” The book isn't about the crime itself but about Molly's view of the crime and the aftermath, so I wasn’t looking for a traditional murder mystery or a police procedural. That said, there IS a mystery in the book, and while it is not unguessable, it is fairly satisfying. Best of all, no infodump ending despite its being akin to a cosy mystery. (Those who pick the book wanting a traditional murder mystery might not enjoy it as much.)

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🛎️ The writing is a bit repetitive, especially in the first half. I am not sure if this is because of Molly's personality trait (she tends to obsess over an issue until she’s sorted it all out in her head) or an editorial issue. Given that the author is an editorial director at S&S Canada, it’s probably the former. But one part where the repetition got to me was in the behaviour of Lily, the new maid-in-training. All her communication barriers got on my nerves after a point.

🛎️ I wanted more of Juan Manuel in the story, and to see the growth of his relationship with his-opposite-in-every-way Molly. As three years have passed since the events of the first book, they are already in a settled place romantically, and we do see glimpses of their strong bond, but it isn’t enough. Perhaps in the next book?

Bookish Nays:

🔪 The surprise reveal at the end was not needed at all. It felt forced.

🔪 Teensy complaint, but this annoyed me a bit as it was mentioned so often! Every maid, including Molly, seems to be pinning their identity tag “above the heart”. The heart is at the centre of the rib cage! Uniform name tags are pinned either to the left or the right, not in between! It’s quite possible that Molly didn’t know the correct location of the heart, but given her prodigious observation skills and her love for reading, the chances of this are low.

All in all, no major issues. I knew what I wanted from the book, and it delivered on almost all those factors. Other than the repetition and the final twist, I had no major problem with the novel. The “mystery” isn’t as twisty as in the first book, but is still engrossing.

The events of the two books are in a linear timeline, and Molly’s personality is established clearly in the first novel. Thus, better to read the books in order so that you know Molly and her nature well.

The ending hints that there might be a change in venue for the next book. I do love the hotel setting, but if Molly’s story “checks out” of the Regency Grand, I look forward to the new location and book.

Definitely recommended, not necessarily as a murder mystery but as a character-oriented drama with cosy-mystery elements.

My thanks to HarperCollins UK and Harper Fiction for providing the DRC of “The Mystery Guest” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.