THE MYSTERY GUEST.....MOLLY THE MAID TIDIES UP ANOTHER MUDER (*****)

 The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose (2023)

            To come right to the point, this is a pure delight to read, a 5 star charmer (yep, that's *****) and a worthy sequel to this author's 2021 "The Maid" (see BQ's review from 1/6/22.)

            If you read "The Maid", then bear with me a little as I briefly to explain Molly The Maid. Raised by her beloved grandmother, Molly's adorable, brilliant but confounding to those who can't comprehend how she processes her interactions with the world around her.

          Though the two books never diagnose her, it's clear that Molly falls somewhere on the scale of high functioning autism.  It may seem odd that such an extraordinary perceptive girl chooses hotel housecleaning as her calling. You needn't worry, because the swanky 5 star hotel that employs Molly more than tests her genius level mental abilities.......since she finds herself both suspect and amateur detective whenever guests are found murdered.  (I guess the place doesn't have a butler to pin it on....)

            This time around, it's a crusty, curmudgeonly best selling mystery writer who goes belly up at a hotel publicity event just as he's about to make some huge announcement.  And Molly knows she's bound to come under suspicion.....as a child she encountered the old crank when tagging along with her Gran, who worked as maid in the author's huge mansion.

            Twists and turns, duly follow, as well as many funny scenes where Molly's unique personality exasperates the woman detective in charge of the investigation. 

             With the holidays almost upon us, BQ highly recommends you treat yourself to "The Mystery Guest"....and if you haven't picked it up yet, make it a double feature with "The Maid" as well. Molly's famous for turning rooms into "a state of perfection". Also a  good way to describe her two adventures, each of them a 5 star (*****) romp to cozy up with.

EVERY TIME YOU GO AWAY.....SEPARATED AND TRAUMATIZED, TWO SOULMATES STRUGGLE TO RE-CONNECT....(*****)

 Every Time You Go Away by Abagail Johnson (2023)

         For all of us readers who embrace a compelling story of broken young souls, this one's guaranteed to put your heart through the wringer........many times over.

          You'll know from the start that this is no ordinary childhood-to-adolescence coming of age for next door best friends and neighbors Ethan and Rebecca. It's Ethan's grandparents' house he lives in, because he's regularly abandoned there by his drug addict mother as she endures perpetual in-and-out rehabs. When she bounces back into Ethan's life to reclaim him, Rebecca suffers from watching her childhood best friend constantly taken in and out of her life.

             Reunited again at 17 years old, the separate tragedies of their lives serve to overwhelm and thwart their obvious, aching attraction for each other. Ethan's spent an unbearably sad childhood still devoted to his wayward mom, even while inflicted with abuse and neglect by her and and her string of lowlife boyfriends. And on his latest return, he finds Rebecca now permanently wheelchair bound, the result of a tragic accident that also took her father's life.

           It takes a truly skilled author to bring such characters to life, to make them so real and vivid that your hopes soar every time you sense they're edging ever closer to what they feel for each other..........and then crush you to pieces when their troubles and long suppressed anger and hurt drive them apart. Abigail Johnson most definitely has the skills required.....and anyone with a heartbeat will find themselves hard pressed to finish this book with dry eyes.

            If you positively live for 5 star emotional reads, I'd bump this one to the top of any TBR list.