The Mystery Guest

by Nita Prose

*The sparkling new novel from the million-copy bestselling author of THE MAID*

‘Utterly delightful' DAILY MAIL

‘Captivates from page one’ JANICE HALLETT

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DO NOT DISTURB. WHODUNNIT IN PROGRESS …

Molly Gray wears her Head Maid badge proudly for every shift at the Regency Grand Hotel: plumping pillows, sweeping up secrets, silently restoring rooms to a state of perfection. But the hotel’s reputation is sullied when a guest – a famous mystery writer – drops very dead on the tearoom floor.

As suspicion swirls 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 a dusty old house, and everything else she’s tidied away in her memory.

Because Molly knew the dead guest once upon a time – and she knows his secrets too …

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Over a million readers have been swept away by The Maid:

‘Excellent and totally entertaining … the most interesting (and endearing) main character in a long time’ STEPHEN KING

‘This is phenomenal thriller. Maid or murderer or victim? Find out in the book’ READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Gripping, deftly written, and led by a truly unforgettable protagonist in Molly. I'm recommending it to everyone I know' EMMA STONEX

‘I loved everything about this book’ READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I didn’t think I could love a character any more than I loved Eleanor Oliphant but along comes Molly the Maid. God, I love her’ READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Fresh, fiendish and darkly beguiling. The Maid is so thrillingly original, and clever, and joyous. I just adored every page’ CHRIS WHITAKER

‘Felt like a modern day homage to Agatha Christie’ READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Lots of twists and turns and highly gripping’ READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Maid was a Sunday Times bestseller for w/c 08/05/2023

• ISBN13: 9780008435776
• Publish Date: 18 January 2024 (first published 28 November 2023)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 2 September 2024
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperCollins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Mystery Guest is the second Maid novel by Nita Prose. Released 28th Nov 2023 by Penguin Random House on their Ballantine imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. 

This is a very well written and engagingly intelligent cozy mystery with an appealing and proper protagonist. This book delves more deeply into head maid Molly's past with her grandmother, and sees her helping the local official constabulary on yet another murder (this time with much less friction). 

The descriptions and settings; the hotel, the characters and their interactions are again well rendered and believable. There were some instances of overly intrusive internal dialogue from Molly's back-story with her grandmother, but they were relatively fleeting. 

This book follows heavily on the setup and protagonist from book one, and as such, it doesn't work as well as a standalone; the books should be read in order. 

Four stars. It would be a good choice for public library acquisition, or for fans of other cerebral classic mysteries such as Richard Osman and Anthony Horowitz. With two volumes extant and a third (novella) due out in 4th quarter 2024, it would also make an excellent mini-binge or buddy read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.