Author: Nita Prose // Published: January 4, 2022
★★★
A charmingly eccentric hotel maid discovers a guest murdered in his bed. Solving the mystery will turn her once orderly world upside down in this utterly original debut.
Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misinterprets the intentions of others. 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 unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find 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.
Goodreads
Thank you Penguin Random House International for the gifted review copy!
When I first saw this on Goodreads I immediately added it to my tbr. I’ve been reading more mysteries and thrillers lately and this sounded so unique and I just knew I wanted to read it. Molly was such an interesting character! I loved reading about her and the Hotel. I really enjoyed reading from Molly’s point of view and she was such a lovely character but reading how she was treated was really frustrating. She was manipulated throughout so much of the book and I spent a lot of time hoping someone would notice. Alas, that wasn’t how things played out. Some things felt really repetitive but I was hooked the entire time and I really flew through this book. I had to convince myself to slow down towards the end. My head was buzzing because I was problem-solving most of the time. I’ll admit, I did guess quite a few things here but I suppose some things were meant to be obvious? It didn’t take away from my enjoyment that’s for sure.
This was definitely a very cozy read. The vibe and overall setting really helped put me in the mood. Despite the book revolving around a murder, it was a really easy read. The ending wasn’t a complete surprise to me. I had guessed that something like that would be it. It was surprising but also wasn’t? It’s strange feeling both at the same time but that was the case for me. In the end, it really delivered on the vibe and it was a really unique story that I wasn’t expecting. Definitely enjoyed this. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the movie adaptation!
About the Author
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