Irene Zhang

After reading The Mystery Guest, IMO, it was better off not to have written a sequel. The Maid was okay (3 stars). But there was just a lack of character consistency in the first and second book along with lack of adequate mystery contents. I related to Molly in some ways, which is why I picked up the book. But in the 2nd book, I came to dislike her and the series altogether. Without Mr. Preston, Molly would be in jail. So the fact that Molly accused him of even stealing the 1st edition of The Maid in the Mansion was ludicrous. And the fact that it was Angela, someone who didn't know Mr. Preston as long, who told Molly that it couldn't have been him. And given Mr. Preston's age, it wouldn't be surprising for him to have a copy of the 1st edition, even if he didn't like phony writer. Nita tried to make Molly sound smart, but at the same time really dumb. There were so many plotholes that I wondered how did the editors missed them all? I gave up putting my time into reading the book; it just irked me in the wrong way that I skimmed the rest of it. And I wasn't surprised how bland the rest of the read was. Everything was so repetitive that I felt like Nita just threw anything in the 2nd book. The back and forth from the present and past was not bad idea, but could've been summarized shorter instead of dragging it on and on. I'm not sure how this book series even won an award. It's so lackluster. I don't believe I can read the next sequel.