Review of The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

Molly the maid is back for the second time in The Mystery Guest.  Molly Gray is now head maid at the Regency Grand Hotel.  Cheryl, Molly’s former boss, has been demoted but is still causing trouble.  Lily, the new maid-in-training is quiet but hardworking.  The doorman, Mr. Preston, has something important to tell Molly, but before he gets the chance, another guest drops dead.

Famous mystery novelist J.D. Grimthorpe has booked the Regency’s tearoom to make an announcement for his fans.  However, just as he’s about to spill the tea, he drops dead in front of everyone, including Molly and Lily.  In Lily’s case, he literally drops dead on top of her.

Detective Stark, who ruthlessly pursued Molly as a suspect in the first novel, The Maid, returns to the Regency to investigate.  It turns out Mr. Grimthorpe’s tea was poisoned with antifreeze.  Since both Molly and Lily handled the tea cart, Detective Stark is only too happy to look upon them as suspects.  Molly, of course, isn’t having it and proceeds to find the truth.  By the end, Detective Stark’s annoyance with Molly shifts to gratitude and something close to awe.  Molly has a keen ability to observe things others don’t, and Detective Stark thinks Molly should come work for the police.  Nevertheless, Molly’s heart belongs to cleaning.

If you read The Maid, then you know Molly is socially awkward.  In The Mystery Guest, we see more of Molly’s awkwardness.  But we also learn that Molly feels like a complete failure because of it.  Still Molly perseveres.  Just because she’s awkward doesn’t mean she’s not perceptive.  In the end, that perceptiveness helps her solve the murder.

In addition to the actual mystery, The Mystery Guest was interesting in that we get to see a snippet of Molly’s childhood with her Gran through various flashbacks that were nicely woven into the present story.  We also see just how big Molly’s heart is in the fact that she gives inexperienced Lily a chance and Cheryl is still employed at the Regency.  Good thing for Cheryl that Molly has an immense tolerance for other people’s shortcomings and gives more second chances than some people deserve.  I really enjoy Molly, and I enjoyed reading about her past and present as well as her frustrations and joys in The Mystery Guest.