Quick Review – The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

On December 21, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Murder Mystery, Quick Review3 Comments

The Mystery Guest Cover

Publisher: Harper Collins (Trade Paperback – 29 November 2023)

Series: Molly the Maid – Book Two

Length: 327 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Last year I was lucky enough to receive a copy of The Maid, the debut novel of Nita Prose, which proved to be an excellent read. Following a cleaning obsessed maid with a unique outlook on life who gets accused of a murder at her fancy hotel, The Maid was a fantastic read that made great use of its unique protagonist and her compelling personality. The Maid ended up begin great book and one of my favourite debuts of 2022. As such, I was pretty excited when I received a copy of Prose’s new novel, The Mystery Guest. A sequel to The Maid, The Mystery Guest introduces a new compelling mystery that Prose’s protagonist needs to uncover.

Plot Synopsis:

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…

This was an interesting and fast-paced follow-up to The Maid that I’m glad I decided to check out. Prose does a wonderful job reintroducing the character of Molly Gray, and the new mystery surrounding her is very clever, distinctive and featuring some fun meta commentary on mystery writers.

Starting off strong with the sudden poisoning of the mystery writer in question, you quickly get sucked into the case, especially when it becomes clear that Molly is hiding a personal connection to the victim. As with the first book in the series, Prose splits the narrative across time periods, with one part of the story set in the present as Molly inadvertently starts to investigate the case, and the other set back in the protagonist’s past, exploring her upbringing and the history she has with the victim. I liked the split between these two parts of the story, and the author does a good job of working key clues and character motivations into the scenes set in the past, which come full circle by the end of the book. I did think that the scenes set in the present were a little too similar in tone and content to that of the first book, with Molly coming into conflict with Detective Stark, Cheryl being an unnecessary cow, and a series of misunderstandings forcing Molly further into the investigation. However, the dives into Molly’s past helped to cut this familiarity to an acceptable degree, and I really enjoyed learning more about the protagonist’s past.

Both these story arcs blend well into a complete and intriguing narrative and I had a fantastic time seeing the entire story coming together. The mystery itself was quite strong, and I liked the unique motivations and characters that emerged as a result. The way the crime was solved thanks to Molly’s attention to detail and knowledge of the maidly arts was a little over the top, but I can forgive that considering the plot and the characters involved. Prose also works in some subtle but compelling character arcs that see several existing and new supporting figures go in some interesting directions, and I particularly enjoyed the changing attitudes of Detective Stark after how portrayal in the previous novel. An overall clever and strong murder mystery book, I really enjoyed seeing how this all came together.

I main highlight of The Mystery Guest is protagonist Molly Gray, who is one of the more unique and entertaining crime fiction characters you are likely to see. An obsessive, socially awkward woman with a unique outlook on life and human interactions, Molly has found her calling as a maid, especially as it allows her to clean up other people’s messes. Much of The Mystery Guest’s uniqueness comes from the way that Molly observes her world and interacts with the people in it. Her ability to remember small details is matched by her inability to understand people’s emotions and motivations, which can often get her into trouble. I felt that Prose did a good job of expanding on Molly’s personality in The Mystery Guest, and it was great to see become more assertive and capable, especially after receiving her coveted promotion to Head Maid. At the same time, Prose also dives into Molly’s childhood, which, while it is a little convenient that she had connections with the victim, provides more insights into Molly’s personality and some of the events that formed her. I deeply enjoyed how Prose worked to grow Molly as a person in this sequel while also maintaining her atypical outlook and mentality, and it will be interesting to see how this character is developed in the future. I do worry that Prose is going to get diminishing returns on how much one can enjoy Molly’s character as the series continues, but I’ll be happy to be proven wrong about that.

Overall, The Mystery Guest proves be an intriguing and captivating sequel to The Maid and I enjoyed the new mystery that Nita Prose came up with. Making great use of her main character and presenting a complex, domestic murder, The Mystery Guest was a fantastic read that you can make quick work of.

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Quick Review – The Maid by Nita Prose

On March 16, 2022December 4, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Murder Mystery, Quick Review9 Comments

The Maid Cover

Publisher: Harper Collins (Trade Paperback – 20 January 2022)

Series: Standalone

Length: 334 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Get ready to follow a unique and entertaining protagonist into an intriguing mystery in this compelling debut novel by Nita Prose, The Maid.

The Maid is an interesting read that I was lucky enough to receive earlier in the year. Written by new author Nita Prose, The Maid is already getting a substantial amount of attention across the literary world, with a ton of positive reviews and media coverage. This positive attention has only been enhanced by news that this book is already in line to become a film starring current movie sensation Florence Pugh. Well, after having a great time reading this book, I am also throwing my opinion about The Maid into the fray, especially as it proved to be an entertaining and captivating read that did a good job blending an unusual protagonist with a fantastic story.

Plot Synopsis:

Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.

Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?

A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.

This was a very enjoyable and fantastically addictive novel that I had a lot of fun reading, especially with its cool and slick narrative. Told exclusively from the perspective of this central character, Molly, The Maid starts off quickly, introducing the odd-duck character of Molly and the subsequent terrible events as she discovers a body within the hotel. What follows is an intense and fast-paced story that sees Molly inadvertently dragged into the midst of the investigation as a suspect as forces within the hotel conspire to hide the truth. Forced to rely on her unique outlook on life and a few trusted people, Molly soon finds herself the key to solving the case thanks to her connections to various guests and staff, as well as her obsessive attention to detail and the secrets only a maid would know. The story unfolds at a great pace, with a strong beginning, moving centre and shocking and well-established ending, which comes together extremely well, especially as the narrative thrusts its distinctive protagonist into several unique and serious situations. Prose sets up several great twists throughout the story, and while a couple of reveals and guilty individuals were a little obvious, a couple of things did come as a surprise, including one impressive reveal right at the end. I really liked this cool, mystery filled narrative and you will quickly find yourself powering through it to see how everything comes together.

While this is nominally a murder mystery, the real appeal of The Maid is easily its central character, Molly, who gives the story some real heart and is easily the best thing about this entire book. Prose has done an incredibly good job of creating a distinctive and troubled figure in Molly, the obsessive and socially awkward maid, and I really appreciated how complex and unique she turned out to be. I always like a character who is a little different than established norms, and Molly is particularly noteworthy, as, thanks to her atypical outlook on life, sheltered upbringing, odd way of talking and stunted social instincts, everyone thinks she is weird and stupid. However, as the book is told from her perspective, the readers soon understand that she is indeed quite a complex and clever being in her own way, as her tough upbringing and family situation has ensured that she views the world in a different way. It proves to be extremely moving to see everything from Molly’s mind, especially as you soon understand all the heartbreak and betrayal she has experienced. Despite this, Molly keeps her positive attitude and determination, and this notable attribute quickly steals the readers’ hearts and ensures that they are firmly in her corner as the novel unfolds. The focus on her ability as a maid to help solve the crime was pretty fun, and it was interesting to see how the insights of “the help” can reveal so much about us. There is also a certain darkness to the character which, while mostly hidden, comes up in certain points in the book, and I deeply appreciated how Prose worked into the character and the story. I loved so many aspects of this character’s creation, and it proved to be extremely fun to see her develop and find some happiness throughout the novel.

Overall, The Maid was a fun and captivating first novel from Prose that I really enjoyed reading. The cooky and distinctive central character helps to turn this great mystery into a very entertaining and addictive novel which is well worth checking out. I look forward to seeing the eventual film adaptation of The Maid, and I am sure that Florence Pugh will kill it in the central role.

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