Protected: The Year of Santa Visits
December 8, 2023
Book Review | Pint of No Return by Ellie Alexander | (Contains Spoilers)
December 19, 2023
The Mystery Guest
Published: November 2023
My Rating:
When an acclaimed author dies at the Regency Grand Hotel, it’s up to a fastidious maid to uncover the truth, no matter how dirty—in a standalone novel featuring Molly Gray, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid, a Good Morning America Book Club Pick.
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…
Trigger Warnings:
Major: Murder, Death
Minor: Mention of Rape, Alcoholism
Characters
- Molly the Maid
- Angela – bartender at the restaurant of the hotel and friends with Molly
- J.D. Grimthorpe – famous mystery author
- Serena Sharpe – J.D.’s personal secretary
- Mr. Snow – the manager at the Regency Grand
- The LAMBS – a group of women that are obsessed with mystery books and J.D.
- Beulah – J.D.’s unofficial biographer
- Gladys – chief literary officer and president of the LAMBS
- Birdy – official treasurer
- Detective Stark – head detective on the case that was also in the previous book
- Gran (Flora)
- Lily – maid in training, does not talk much
- Juan Manual – Molly’s boyfriend
- Mr. Prescot – The doorman at the Regency Grand
- Cheryl – previous head maid
My Review
The sequel to The Maid takes place 3 years later. Molly has matured a bit and is head maid at The Regency Grand hotel. The book start with a famous author dying in the tea room. It then jumps back and forth between the present time and when Mollly was school aged and working at the mansion of the author.
We read The Maid in my book club, and it came with mixed reviews. I enjoyed it quite a bit and it was one of my top books last year. The sequel felt a lot cozier than the first book and Molly was a lot less clueless/overdone. I would recommend reading the first book before reading this one, I feel you would miss a lot by jumping straight into this – especially with character development.
I would recommend this book. It was a quick read with a cozy feel. There were quite a few side plots/mysteries that also kept it interesting.
Spoilers/Summary
Beluah murdered J.D.Grimthorpe. She had written 2 versions of her biography of him – one that was flattering and one that exposed him as a fraud. She was trying to get him to talk to her and that would decide which one was published. He turned her down and ignored her so she caught revenge. Beulah used antifreeze in the honey to poison J.D. She knew his organs were weak from the alcoholism. Lily helps get Beluah to confess by bringing the tea cart in.
Cheryl was stealing things from guest’s rooms and selling them online. She forced Lily to deal with the selling part.
Ms. Sharpe was the daughter of J.D.s secretary. Ms. Sharpe’s mother was the actual writer of the books. Mr. Grimthorpe was going to announce that she had written the books as part of a deal with Serena.
Mr. Prescot’s confession: Mr. Prescot is Molly’s grandfather. Molly’s gran was from a wealthy family that disowned her when they found out she was pregnant. She accepted a job working as a maid. She wanted nothing to do with Mr. Prescot after having the baby – her family had shamed her and made her feel like a failure.