The Maid: A Novel

by Nita Prose

Hardcover, 2022

Call number

MYST PRO

Collection

Genres

Publication

Ballantine Books (2022), 304 pages

Description

"A charmingly eccentric hotel maid discovers a guest murdered in his bed, turning her once orderly world upside down--and inspiring a motley crew of unexpected allies to band together to solve the mystery--in this utterly original debut. Molly Dunn is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and interprets people literally. 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 had to navigate 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 turned on its head 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 very dead in his bed. Before she knows what's happening, Molly's odd demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect and she finds herself in a web of subtext and nuance she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, a medley of friends she didn't realize she had refuses to let her be charged with murder--but will they be able to discover 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"--… (more)

Media reviews

The aptly pseudonymed debut novelist — her real name is Nita Pronovost — lands at No. 8 on the hardcover fiction list with “The Maid,” a rip-roaring mystery about a housekeeper at a five-star hotel who discovers a dead body in a penthouse suite. (Naturally, she becomes a prime suspect.) Our
Show More
Crime columnist described the book as an “endearing debut,” with “real emotional heft” — but, for grounded travelers, it also provides a much-needed sojourn to the world of crisp sheets, room service and constantly replenished Crabtree & Evelyn shampoo.
Show Less

User reviews

LibraryThing member gpangel
The Maid by Nita Prose is a 2022 Ballantine Books publication.

Young Molly Gray, a naïve and socially awkward maid at the Regency Grand Hotel, is recovering from the death of her beloved Gran, who raised her after her mother’s departure. Without Gran to help her understand social cues, Molly’s
Show More
naivete works against her when she discovers a prominent guest dead in his bed. She quickly becomes a person of interest based on a few missteps on her part as well as her unemotional responses to law enforcement. Thankfully, Molly has a wider support system than she imagined.

Does Molly know something that could help solve this puzzling locked-room mystery and keep her from going to prison for a crime she didn’t commit?

A few years back a contemporary romance novel garnered all kinds of attention, maybe even getting a few award nominations, within that category, and drew people to the genre who ordinarily snubbed romances. By the time I got around to reading the book, I realized that the big push and crossover buzz was due to the main character’s spectrum like behaviors. I was frankly surprised to learn the story had followed a typical romance novel formula. That’s it. It was an ordinary contemporary romance, no real groundbreaking literary masterpiece, which based on all that hype one might have expected a Pulitzer nomination was forthcoming. The only thing separating it from countless other romance novels just like it was that the MC had a form of autism.

The same thing can be said about this book. Molly’s character obviously falls onto the spectrum scale, but if you strip her unique challenges away from the novel, it turns out, this is your basic, standard, run of the mill, locked room/cozy mystery.

Once again, those who ordinarily scoff at the legitimacy of cozy mysteries are effusively gushing over this one, but for those us who regularly read cozies, this mystery is not all that impressive. It’s not bad, okay, but it’s not anything I haven’t seen in a thousand other cozy mysteries or locked-room setups.

There were also some other troubling inconsistencies in the book and parts of it that just didn’t sit right. Molly’s spectrum challenges seem to erase these issues which would ordinarily get a cozy mystery ripped to shreds by our more discerning readers.

I guess I sound cross, but when people lecture me, patronize me or even shame me because I read romance novels or cozy mysteries, then suddenly deem them acceptable just so long as it comes with a cause or social issue attached to it, it irritates me to no end.

While I applaud giving those on the spectrum a voice in books, television and movies, on the other hand, I wonder if maybe they aren’t being exploited instead? Molly’s depiction made me uncomfortable and I’m not sure it was altogether accurate- though I’m not an expert by any means. It is just that at times it felt as though the reader was expected to laugh at her expense and it just didn’t feel right to me.

I’m sorry- I know I’m an outlier here, and once again, I’m probably taking it more seriously than I should, but you don’t have to agree or take my word for it- lots of people have absolutely adored this book- so you should definitely check it out for yourself.

2 stars
Show Less
LibraryThing member SandyAMcPherson
Nita Prose used a drug trafficking trope via a hotel (so often it is a restaurant) and the well-known locked-room scenario for the murder. The main character, Molly, was portrayed as socially inept (we are led to understand, as 'on the spectrum') and Prose's writing seemed disrespectful in the way
Show More
this was conveyed. I found the plot and MC contrived, with Molly unevenly behaving out of character as the story progressed.

In fact, I was very put off by how Molly appeared in this novel: she seemed more as a caricature of someone with features in the autistic range and less of a genuinely disadvantaged person trapped in a sticky murder investigation. There shouldn't have been anything funny about folks coping with life in such a situation. What was particularly strange, she evolved into a clever individual who chose carefully what to reveal. Sometimes I had the sense Molly was deliberately manipulating the investigators so as to protect someone she cared about and felt was in danger of being wrongly accused. Obviously, this story didn't work for me and I wonder, what did I miss, when so may reviews invoked 4- and five-stars?
Show Less
LibraryThing member foggidawn
Molly works in housekeeping at a luxury hotel. She sometimes has trouble understanding social cues, but she understands dirt. She gets immense satisfaction in returning a messy hotel room to a state of perfect cleanliness. When, in the course of her rounds, she finds a shady businessman dead in his
Show More
hotel bed, it leads to trouble for Molly. Because of her manner while being questioned -- and because she leaves out a few key details that she doesn't think the police need to know -- she falls under suspicion. Molly must figure out who to trust in order to bring the real criminal (or criminals) to justice.

I enjoyed this book and found it a fast read, despite the fact that Molly often slips into reverie in order to provide necessary backstory. The mystery is, I felt, secondary to the characterization, which is fine by me, though hardcore mystery readers may desire greater complexity. I have mixed feelings about how Molly's neurodivergence is portrayed (she has characteristics of autism, though it's never named as such), but that's something that each reader will have a different opinion on, I am sure. I can see this making for good book club discussion. Readers who enjoyed Convenience Store Woman and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine may find Molly to be a similar protagonist in many ways.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Lightfantastic
Utterly charming mystery with none of the usual chase scenes or violence. An unreliable narrator who’s completely original. Marvelous read.
LibraryThing member nyiper
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!!!! What else can I add? Just an absolute delight to read....Molly Gray is just plain special as a character.
LibraryThing member ktreads22
I LOVED this book. I didn't want to stop listening to it until it was finished. Then I wanted to listen to it again.

"There is a power in me I never knew was there. I always knew there was power in my hands, to clean, to wipe away dirt, to scour and disinfect. To set things right. But now I know,
Show More
there's power elsewhere. In my mind and in my heart."

This was such a cute book. I loved Molly, I loved how her neurodivergence was a strength, and how much her friends loved her. I did not love how some people took advantage of her, but when Molly inevitably figured it out, I loved hearing her dish out her witty one-liners that left them confused.

Molly's Gran was a wonderful person and a loving guardian to Molly. Her sayings were able to guide Molly through hard times after she was gone, and I loved hearing her voice calming Molly down and guiding her to always do the right thing.

Everyone always underestimated Molly. Even Molly herself. She proved to herself that she wasn't what everyone thought she was; a robot, stupid, or invisible. She is smart, she is intelligent, and she will always do the right thing. This book highlighted that even though someone is different than what is "normal," that doesn't mean they're stupid. Everyone who was using Molly took advantage of her innocence and confused it for unintelligence. Molly is highly intelligent and eloquent. (So eloquent, in fact, that there were times during the book that I forgot it took place in modern times. How Molly speaks can be considered old fashioned and I would get thrown off every time a cell phone was mentioned haha)

But despite how clearly she speaks everyone else continues to misunderstand her, usually because of their assumptions about her. (You know what they say about assuming...)

I loved the ending, it was a beautiful clean sweep of an ending, with an understanding that sometimes "you have to do the wrong thing, to be able to do the right thing."
Show Less
LibraryThing member pgchuis
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

I didn't enjoy this much: I found Molly's portrayal inconsistent - sometimes she was so naive you wondered how she managed to hold down a job, and at other times she was quite cunning. I struggled to believe she would have stolen and
Show More
pawned the item she found. I didn't warm to her, especially given some of the revelations about her choices and actions at the end. It was all a bit 'cosy' for me - I wish all immigration glitches could be ironed out like Juan's was.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Kathl33n
This was a great mystery with a good number of red herrings, several twists and a really great ending. While I enjoyed the side characters, I just didn't love the main character. I understand she was supposed to be quirky and, I am assuming a bit on the spectrum, but I found her actions and
Show More
thoughts to be somewhat inconsistent throughout the story. She would appear naive in her thinking but then show deception or uphold all the rules and then break the law and it felt a bit dissociated to me. When that would happen it would strike me as odd and really pulled me out of the story line wondering if she would really think/act that way. Great writing though and the plot was well pulled together. And found family - one of my favorite tropes. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy and provide my honest opinion.
Show Less
LibraryThing member susan.h.schofield
This was such a good book - Molly was a delightful and quirky character. The story was smart, funny and touching with a little bit of mystery. All the characters were well developed and interesting. If you liked Don Tillman in The Rosie Project or Eleanor Oliphant, you will enjoy Molly the maid and
Show More
her story. It's a fantastic debut and I look forward to reading more by Nita Prose. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jfe16
Review of Advance Reader’s Copy eBook

Molly Gray, abandoned as a baby and raised by her grandmother, might be socially awkward and feeling a bit adrift after her grandmother’s death, but she understands her job as a maid at the upscale Regency Grand Hotel. She sees herself as working in a job
Show More
that makes her, to almost everyone else, invisible.

And Molly is VERY good at her job. However, despite her meticulousness, Molly momentarily falters when she discovers one of the hotel’s elitist guests lying on the bed in the room she's come to finish cleaning. And, he's quite dead.

What Molly doesn’t expect is that she will be the one blamed for causing the death of Charles Black.

When the man’s death is ruled as suspicious, how will Molly find her way through the maze of accusations and charges to prove her innocence?

Well-defined, believable characters populate this story of murder and unforeseen circumstances. It is, by turns, charming, quirky, and delightful [despite the murder]. The plot, although a bit predictable, keeps the reader involved in the telling of the tale, and, as the story unfolds, readers will discover a few unexpected surprises.

Having lived with [and taken to heart] her grandmother’s oft-repeated adages, Molly is overly-trusting and, therefore, easily manipulated by others. Her guilelessness keeps her from seeing the pretenses others use to exploit her friendship for their own advantage.

Friendship, loyalty, and responsibility form the true heart of this story, turning Molly’s naiveté and social awkwardness into the discovery of true friends, of caring, and of doing the right thing. Readers are certain to find themselves rooting for the good-hearted young woman at the heart of the story. [And be prepared for a clever denouement that promises to satisfy.]

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books and NetGalley
#TheMaid #NetGalley
Show Less
LibraryThing member jetangen4571
family, friendship, hospitality-industry, sly-humor, cozy-mystery, murder, bullies, friction*****

Molly is 25, quite naive, incredibly literal (think Detective Monk), definitely socially awkward (more so since her Gran recently died), and had all their money stolen by a man who pretended to be her
Show More
boyfriend. Now she still has her job as a maid in a fine hotel (in which she takes great pride) but is too behind in her rent. And now she is involved in some very messy things. But she is an excellent friend who has excellent friends. Fantastic read!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Ballantine Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
Show Less
LibraryThing member SquirrelHead
Molly Gray is a maid. Yes, the pun Molly Maid is mentioned a few times in this book. She is a very competent maid and you'll realize she has some OCD going on, a socially awkward woman who doesn't understand how to connect with people. Molly sees everything situation in black and white and doesn't
Show More
realize when she's being used or made fun of.

Molly makes her rounds cleaning at the Regency Grand hotel, enjoying her job and speaking to some of the guests. When she enters the suite of Mr and Mrs Black she discovers Mr. Black is dead

This was more of a cozy mystery, a completely PG 13 rated plot. As a reader you know which characters are bad and who is being used. You will also discover Molly's resourcefulness discerning facts helps with the murder case.

Publication date January 4, 2022 by Random House Publishing - Ballentine. Genre: Mystery, Thrillers and Women's Fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book. I was not compensated for the review, all opinions are mine.
Show Less
LibraryThing member beckyhaase
THE MAID by Nita Prose
This is an intriguing book. The main character and narrator is Molly, a maid at an exclusive hotel. Molly is a perfectionist and a bit strange to others. She lives with her Gran and sees everything in black and white until……… a murder takes place at the hotel and Moly is
Show More
the one who finds the body.
Friendship, truth, justice, our perception of those somewhat different, all play a part in the resolution of who killed Mr. Black. Once begun, it is difficult to put this book down. Molly is a character you sympathize with and yet don’t quite understand, just as she doesn’t quite understand the world. She is fascinating just as the book is fascinating.
Book groups will love discussing this book. Readers will be fascinated by Molly. This one is really unput-down-able.
5 of 5 stars
Show Less
LibraryThing member jnmegan
As the market finally expands to include more books featuring unconventional characters, it can be difficult to find one that is not too “preachy” or condescending. The Maid, by Nita Prose, is a recent example. The narrator here is Molly Maid, a woman whose apparent difficulties are revealed at
Show More
the outset. The storyline centers around a murder that Molly discovers while cleaning a suite. As Molly becomes more involved in the mystery, the novel perfectly aligns with the familiar “Wrongly Accused” plot device. Her naiveté prevents the young woman from accurately judging character, deciphering emotions, and navigating the social world. She is depicted as single-mindedly devoted to her job and a strict adherent to well-defined rules. The reader is tasked to “translate” Molly’s experiences, from a distinctly privileged position. She is meant to be endearing despite her robotic demeanor. Her unique talents do allow her to notice details as an “invisible” observer, but her inability to discern deceit and falsity undercut any usefulness. As a mystery it is gentle, predictable and occasionally clever. The Maid goes astray from the author’s intention. Prose is trying to be inclusive, but the tone comes across as patronizing, both for Molly and the reader.

Thanks to the author, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jillrhudy
Thanks to Penguin Random House for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Brilliantly paced and with a main character to steal hearts, "The Maid" is a rare treat. The novel is told entirely in the voice and from the perspective of Molly, a neurodivergent woman dealing with the death
Show More
of a grandmother who helped her get a job and navigate adult life. "The Maid" makes use of narrative distance to pull the reader right into the action.

A devoted, disciplined, and exacting hotel maid, Molly has difficulty interpreting events and the actions and motives of coworkers that are clear to the reader. Molly is gradually lured into association with a crime ring and mixed up in the murder of a guest in the hotel. Slowly but surely, as the reader cheers her on, loveable and sympathetic Molly puts the pieces together with the help of some valuable new friends.

A couple of breathtaking reveals at the end show that Molly was more clever, resourceful, and capable in her own way than anyone could have suspected. As a romantic and funny mystery, "The Maid" had the feel of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" and "The Rosie Project."
Show Less
LibraryThing member sleahey
Everyone said she was special, but just what did they mean: weirdo or super maid? In fact, Molly is a keen observer, but she doesn't always understand what she sees and hears, and since her Gran died she doesn't have anyone to explain things to her. She thrives in her job as maid in a high end
Show More
hotel until the day she finds a dead man in a room she needs to clean to perfection. Lots of secrets are exposed regarding the hotel, its guests, and its staff. Readers will be able to read between the lines, but Molly is no good at that and she finds herself being arrested for murder. The author captures Molly's mindset very well, with no hint of condescension, and we become invested in her plight. You might think the plot is predictable, but you may still be surprised.
Show Less
LibraryThing member life2reinvent
The Maid is a fascinating whodunit that unravels mystery after mystery…and then unravels more that you hadn’t noticed. I lost sleep because I could not stop reading until I finished the book.

Prose starts off by immediately drawing the line between the hotel staff and, well, the rest of the
Show More
human race. We meet Molly the maid, who fits perfectly in the role of an unseen presence meeting the wishes of the clientele.

Do you know someone who has difficulty reading social cues? They misunderstand facial expressions, can’t recognize subtle changes in behavior, or struggle communicating with others. Even if you don’t, you’ll understand how Molly’s unique perspective can lead to misinterpretation and social isolation. If you do know a Molly, you’ll uncomfortably read through her problems wishing that you could save her from being taken advantage of and insulted.

It’s easy to visualize the opulent hotel thanks to Prose’s vivid descriptions. She offers plenty of suspects, most of whom have easily understood motives. Molly had the opportunity, but her motive isn’t clear. Did she do it, or is she getting framed?

As each question is answered, new ones crop up. The answers - and new questions - fit well into the plot. Secrets are revealed that shed light on the characters’ actions and motivations. Characters that seemed one-note at the beginning are beautifully fleshed out as their secrets come to light. Even when it seems the story has been wrapped up, more secrets are revealed. The secrets flow in the plot and do not feel like they were tacked on for shock value.

This is Nita Prose’s debut novel. Wow. I can’t wait until she writes another one. I’m a fan!
Show Less
LibraryThing member Doondeck
Molly is a dedicated but naive maid who gets into trouble by trusting the wrong people. Interesting character but pretty transparent mystery.
LibraryThing member kimkimkim
I was so annoyed. The writing was annoying, the dialogue was annoying, the plot was annoying. And then I was embarrassed, mortified and embarrassed. Nita Prose nailed it, the writing, the dialogue, the plot and its unspooling. She absolutely killed it and it just took me a beat and a half to catch
Show More
on. The definition of special is so diverse - appropriate, different, exceptional, individual, limited, particular, peculiar, specific, unique, unusual. Molly Grey is all of these. She likes things simple and neat and and shallow, unkind people may only see that aspect of her. Worse, shallow and unkind people can and will use that to hurt her.

Her lesson to us is that “the truth is subjective”. Molly’s truth is not the same as yours or mine because we all experience life differently however “we are all the same in different ways.” This notion of truth works best for Molly. She learns and thus teaches us that “the world is a better place seen through a prism of colors.” Molly puts things in a state of perfection all the while remaining invisible in plain sight. Molly is a wonder and I am so embarrassed for not recognizing that early on.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for giving me a copy of this annoyingly amazing book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ftbooklover
Molly Gray's life is turned upside down again just a few months after the death of her grandmother, when she finds Mr. Black, frequent guest at the Regency Grand Hotel, dead in his bed. As she knows she should, she reports his death and waits for what comes next. It is soon determined that Mr.
Show More
Black was murdered and there are several suspects including Molly, and Black's current wife, Giselle, who he was abusing. Molly looks to Giselle for help because she has become a friend over the many months that Molly has been cleaning the Black's suite. She also seeks help from Rodney with whom she hopes to have a romantic relationship, but Molly's friends aren't always looking out for her best interests as they should, and it isn't long before she finds herself in big trouble.

The Maid is a unique murder mystery due to the character of Molly who seems to be on the autism spectrum and also shows tendencies of OCD. The story is told from Molly's perspective so we see the way she views the world and how she is treated by others. Her eccentricities often get in the way of what is considered to be a normal life, but they also give Molly a unique view of the world that makes her quite special. Other characters in the story are developed enough through their interactions with Molly to give a clear picture of their personas. The end of the story provides a twist that is unexpected, but the real attraction to this book is Molly. Overall, The Maid, is an enjoyable mystery that is, in reality, more of a study in the way people treat each other.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Twink
It's a new year and there are some great titles coming out in the next few months.
Nita Prose's debut novel The Maid releases today and it's a brilliant read to start off 2022! I was hooked from the opening pages...

Molly works at the upscale Regency Grand Hotel as a maid. "Every day of work is a
Show More
joy to me. I was born to do this job. I love cleaning. I love my maid's trolley, and I love my uniform." But one day her ordered life is upset by the death of wealthy Mr. Black, whose room she cleans. It is Molly who finds his body.

Now, the other thing you need to know about Molly is that she struggles with social skills and can't read the nuances of interactions - facial and conversational. Her beloved Gran, now deceased, left her with routines and rules to help navigate a world that Molly doesn't fully 'get'. "The truth is, I often have trouble with social situations; it's as though everyone is playing an elaborate game with complex rules they all know, but I'm always playing for the first time.

Well, first off, you're going to absolutely love Molly - her innocence, her upbeat attitude, her manner of speaking and those rules and sayings that guide her life. And then there's Gran. Even though she is gone, her presence is felt throughout the book. (It made me miss my Gran too!) The supporting cast of players gives us a large number of suspects for the whodunit. You'll have no problem deciding who you like - and who you don't. The reader can see what's happening - but Molly doesn't. Your heart will break for Molly as she misinterprets what's going on.

But. there's a turn in the story - one that I am not going to expound on, but it's absolutely perfect. Suffice it to say that Molly and her Gran read lots of Agatha Christie and watched all of Columbo...…

What more could you want - characters you'll be rooting for, a murder mystery, and some insightful thoughts about love, loss and life. Prose's writing will keep you turning page after page late into the night. Heartily recommended! See for yourself - read an excerpt of The Maid.

This is the first book that Nita Prose has written, but not the first time she's been involved in the publishing of a book. From her website: "Currently, I’m vice president and editorial director at Simon & Schuster in Toronto, Canada, where I have the privilege of working with an incredible array of authors and publishing colleagues whom I credit with teaching me, manuscript by manuscript, book by book, the wondrous craft of writing." That experience shines through in The Maid. I'm really looking forward to the next book Prose pens.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Dokfintong
If you've watched "The Good Doctor" on TV, you have an idea what's going on. Molly is a high-functioning autistic woman in her 20s. She's quite smart, book-wise, but exhibits repetitive behaviors and her social skills are not well developed. She takes people at face value and is easily deceived.
Show More
She has, however, found the perfect job as a maid in a luxury hotel where her job is to maintain perfect levels of order and cleanliness.

We meet Molly nine months after the beloved grandmother who raised her has passed away. Gran, who was a cleaner for a rich family, used the repetition of cleaning to help Molly maintain the control her life that her condition requires. Gran also pushed Molly to exercise her intelligence, pushing her toward enrolling at a community college when her finances allowed.

Molly's naiveté gets her embroiled in illegal goings on at the hotel and we watch as her co-workers take advantage of her. Then a guest is murdered and Molly is accused. All ends well, of course, and by the end of the book we have built a great respect for Molly's depth of character and her moral insights.

The book was a bit long for my taste but otherwise is quite good. There is talk of a series, but I am not sure what that would be. Molly the detective? I hope not.

I received a digital review copy of "The Maid" by by Nita Prose from Ballantine through NetGalley.com.
Show Less
LibraryThing member SilversReviews
How could you not love Molly?

She is an endearing character obsessed with cleanliness, a rule follower, one who follows etiquette, but very naive.

Molly lived with her grandmother and cleaned rooms at The Regency Grand Hotel.

One day she found a dead body in the room she always cleaned for a
Show More
prominent man and his wife.

Molly’s eccentric demeanor and lack of knowledge about worldly things has her as the main suspect.

How can that be? She is the most honest person there is, and she was friends with the dead man’s wife.

To add to her distress, she unknowingly is involved in a drug ring...they have her clean the room each morning.

Friends do assist her after she gets arrested for the murder. No one knows about the drug ring.

You will be with the characters as they try to help Molly out of her predicament and find the killer.

You will also be with Molly and want to tell her to stop being so naive and so polite to everyone. She goes overboard with her properness.

THE MAID is a delight to read simply because Molly is someone you want to take under your wing and protect.

An amazing debut that will lift your spirits!! 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Show Less
LibraryThing member eyes.2c
… from a Maid’s view!

I really enjoyed this murder mystery with a difference. Molly Grey is a maid at a five star boutique hotel, The Regency Grand, in London. Unable to read social clues, Molly is somewhat of a misfit. Although I can’t fault her reading of the staff she interacts with.
Show More
Committed to her work, with a fabulous work ethic, I enjoyed those moments when she chanelled her boss’s staff pep talks into her own reality, quoting him to herself. She really does define herself as part of the hive with a task that has purpose. Molly takes pride in her contribution to the smooth running of the hotel.
And the anonymity of a hotel maid is a perfect foil for the various happenings—from illegal immigration, to drug running, to murder. Not that Molly necessarily recognizes these instances, although a dead body is pretty hard to miss.
When Molly comes across the body of a guest, her world once more changes. Telling friend from foe can at times be difficult and Molly finds this out first hand. I did not see the shadows at the end.
Awkward, pedantic and yet engaging, Molly is a quiet force. I look forward to hearing more of her life and unlooked for adventures at the Regency Grand Hotel.

A Random - Ballantine ARC via NetGalley
Show Less
LibraryThing member shelleyraec
“Today at work, I found a guest very dead in his bed. Mr. Black. The Mr. Black. Other than that, my work day was as normal as ever.”

The Maid is a quirky dark comedy cozy murder mystery from Canadian book editor turned debut author, Nita Prose.

Molly Gray is a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel, a
Show More
five-star boutique hotel. Completing every task with the good humour, efficiency and attention to detail her late grandmother encouraged in her, she loves everything about her job from donning the crisply laundered uniform to fluffing pillows. Discovering a VIP hotel guest very dead in his bed not only disrupts Molly’s daily routine but very quickly her whole life when the police name her as a suspect.

Told from her point of view, twenty-five year old Molly is an endearing character, sweet and artless but also socially awkward. Raised by her grandmother, who recently passed away, Molly clings to her routines, struggling to adapt to a life without her. Her work is all she has, and though she is generally content to be invisible as she carries out her duties, Molly, who has trouble interpreting nuance, is susceptible to people willing to take advantage of her.

It seems absurd that anyone would consider Molly capable of murder, it appears obvious that she’s unwittingly been manipulated into a vulnerable position by a desperate wife and a roguish barman. In fact there doesn’t seem to be much to the mystery of Charles Black’s death at first, so disclosures later in the story came as a brilliant surprise. There is unexpected depth to The Maid which is easily overlooked, reflecting the complexity of Molly’s own personality. It’s with her Gran’s advice echoing in her head, and the help of a few true friends at the Regency Grand, that Molly begins to blossom, and find a way out of her predicament.

Prose seems to have been partially influenced by movies such as Clue, and Knives Out, the former obvious given the character’s names associations with colour, and the cozy eccentricity of the latter. Already optioned for development The Maid will translate well to the screen.

Clever, heartwarming and charming, The Maid is an absolute delight to read.
Show Less

Awards

Audie Award (Finalist — Mystery — 2023)
Edgar Award (Nominee — Novel — 2023)
Anthony Award (Nominee — First Novel — 2023)
Macavity Award (Nominee — 2023)
Barry Award (Winner — First Novel — 2023)
Ned Kelly Award (Winner — 2022)
LibraryReads (Annual Voter Favorite — January 2022)

Pages

304

ISBN

0593356152 / 9780593356159
Page: 1.2581 seconds