Reviews with content warning for Addiction - The Mystery Guest

Molly is a neurodivergent maid in an upscale hotel. When a guest is murdered at a big event all fingers point to the maids covering the event. Molly must untangle her past and help Lily find her voice before the true criminal escapes.

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quiet_reader's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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kimveach's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I'm so happy to spend time with Molly the Maid again. The dual timeline allowed us to spend more time with Molly as a child and her grandmother. Similar to Alexander McCall Smith, it's not the mystery that is important. It's Molly's (neurodivergent) voice.

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aileron's review

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lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

so slow paced. i didn't mind the timeline alternating between past and present, but maybe if there was actually anything happening in the present for the first half of the book it wouldn't have felt like a slog. i liked that this installment was more explicit about Molly being neurodivergent, rather than like "oh she's just a little quirky"; the representation was nice. other than that, i don't really see what the point was. i feel like we could have left things at the first book. it was weird that

Juan Manuel was absent the entire time, what was that for? i thought it was leading up to a reveal that he was evil. it felt like the author regretted making the two a couple at the end of the last book and dealt with it by just shipping him off to Mexico

. unfortunately i didn't get much out of this book

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oceanwriter's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I read The Maid last year and there was admittedly a lot I didn’t like about it. However, there was enough that I did like that I was interested in reading this next installment. I’m so glad I did!

Molly Gray finds herself entangled in another murder of a Regency Grand Hotel guest. Though not under immediate suspicion this time around, her trainee, Lily, is. Moreover, Molly had been acquainted with this guest, a renowned author, in her youth. Going back and forth from then and now, Molly aids in catching the killer.

I was super into the ‘before’ part of the story. I loved getting to see more scenes between Molly and Gran and particularly seeing Molly as a child. Everything tied in nicely as well. The present part of the story didn’t captivate me quite as much until near the end. I enjoyed the reading experience much more this time, which tends to be the case in series for me anyway. I’m officially hooked and look forward to any future installments!

A huge thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC of the book!

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torturedreadersdept's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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