What a delightful book. It isn't every day you read a book about the life of a maid. A very special maid as her name is Molly and she has Asperger's Syndrome, although it's never actually said. The story centres on Molly Maid discovering a corpse in a room she is scheduled to clean. The corpse of a very wealthy and rather rude man. So begins the story of misunderstandings and poor police work. It is for sure a very funny read and we are minded to laugh with her, not at her or we'll feel the wrath of her Gran. There was part of the story which was so out of character for Molly and that was the pawning of the dead man's ring. I thought at first it was to help the plot along a bit, then when I read about the way her Gran died it made me reconsider the innocence of Molly Maid. I'm still not sure how I feel about the pawning and its purpose. Anyway, this was an entertaining read from the pen of Nita Prose (surely it cannot be her real name?) and I give it four stars.

I really enjoyed this book about a likeable, quirky 25 year old maid called Molly Gray, who finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. Whilst it isn't explicit but it appears Molly is possibly on the autism spectrum and it was wonderful to see a book written from this perspective. Great storyline, good character story about friendship, love, perceptions with a whodunnit mystery underpinning it all. I highly recommend this read and I'm looking forward to the author's next offering. Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an advance copy.

Molly is a maid at a prestigious hotel. She is excellent at her job and loves her work. Molly is meticulous in her cleaning and takes great pride in everything she does. Sadly Molly’s colleagues see her as a figure of fun and someone who can be manipulated due to her naivety. We follow Molly’s trials and tribulations in her every day life, which she accepts with pragmatism. However everything changes when she discovers a dead guest in one of her suites.

This is a heartbreaking and heart warming story in equal measure, and Molly’s simplistic and naive life is written beautifully. The only plot line I thought was “off” was the wedding ring situation, Molly was far too honest and straightforward to consider such an action, even if she was in dire need. Apart from that, a good read.

Thank you NetGalley.

This book is a delight.
Molly the Maid is 100% dedicated to her job as a cleaner in The Regency. hotel. Abandoned by her parents, and reared by her Granny, Molly is full of mottos, determination to please her clients, ambition to keep the hotel sparkling, and to be the best maid in the hotel.
Her naievity means she is often prey to those who are not as scrupulously honest as her, and when she finds Mr Black dead in his suite, she finds herself under suspicion due to her unconventional responses under interview.

This is an amazing story with a fair bit of intrigue, which compelled me to read late into the night, keeping me guessing about what would happen to Molly. She is an endearing, and much maligned character, who is genuinely unaware of half of what goes on around her.

Apparently this is going to be made into a movie. With Florence Pugh playing Molly, this is destined to be a box office success, as long as the story and all the characters are kept as originally written in this book.
It really is ‘one to watch’ for 2022
Thanks so much to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

One dead body, one witness and one clean crime scene.

Finding the killer could prove troublesome.

This book was an utter delight to read.

A fun murder-mystery that allows the reader to try and solve the murder alongside the characters.

Molly the Maid is a quirky and entertaining character who provided engaging and humorous narration throughout the whole of the story.

Her innocence is so endearing and it is her outlook on life (and the lessons she has learnt from her late grandma) that help her become the key to everything.

The Maid is a fast-paced, highly believable story that is utterly unique, a cosy crime that offers a multi-layered mystery with heart.

Absolutely loved The Maid! Adored Molly Gray who is the main character.

An impeccable maid who stumbles across a dead guest in his bed in one of the suites that she cleans, which opens up a whole new world to her.

She is a loveable and quirky character who is finding her way in the world, without the guidance of her beloved Gran who raised her and recently died

She misses her Gran so much and her advice but somehow through it all she finds herself and a power in both her heart and mind that she never knew was there

"Gran was correct after all. About all of it. About everything. The longer you live, the more you learn. People are a mystery that can never be solved. Life has a way of sorting itself out.Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end"

This is a wonderful read and one that I will recommend to others. It is something of a mash-up of the cosy mystery with the quirky, socially awkward to say the least main character is a young woman who draws the reader and others in. I would characterise this as an easy read but a very rewarding one. The supporting cast of characters is rich and wonderfully drawn. Altogether this is a highly satisfying read. And good to see an exciting debut author emerge whose next books I will most certainly read. Oddly I was at least half way through the book before I realised it was set in New York. Definitely 5 stars for me.

Molly Gray is twenty-five and has been a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel for four years. Although it is unsaid, she undoubtedly has autism spectrum disorder; she mis-reads social cues, takes things literally and is seen as ‘odd’ or ‘quirky,’ by some of her colleagues (this sometimes results in being laughed at, rather than with). Molly’s gran has died, and this has left her somewhat adrift, with nobody to ask questions about her day, doing her most favourite thing, returning the hotel rooms back to perfection. Her trusting, and honest, behaviour has also led to her being misused and struggling to identify the ‘bad eggs,’ which lurk in all areas of life.

One day, Molly finds a hotel guest dead in his bed. Mr Black was a tycoon and Molly had been befriended by his young, second wife, Giselle. Her actions see her coming under suspicion for the murder, but luckily help is to be found through the Doorman, Mr Preston, and his daughter, Charlotte, who agrees to represent her. This is an utterly charming mystery, narrated totally in Molly’s voice. Author Nita Prose has created an excellent cast of characters and a sympathetic heroine, who the reader will cheer for. An excellent novel, which would be a good choice for reading groups, as it has so much to discuss. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

This is a book I’d heard a lot about over the past few months so I moved it up my ever-growing To Be Read list ahead of this books release in January 2022.

‘The Maid’ is told from the viewpoint of Molly, a maid who works at the Regency Grand Hotel and who loves her job, ensuring everything she does is to the highest level of perfection. After recently losing her beloved gran Molly is feeling very alone, despite being used to needing to be invisible to other in her job. So when one day Molly finds a very important guest dead in his hotel room, the sudden journey into the spotlight is very unknown and unnerving for her. Is the truth as black and white as it seems…?

The writing style and main character of this book reminds me a lot of Eleanor Oliphant, not a bad thing at all. It is very cleverly written and engages you with Molly in a very endearing way, you can tell straight away that her character has struggles and sees the world in a simplistic way, something that maybe a few more people in the world would benefit from! I really enjoyed the way the story was told and kept me captivated right up until the very end. I can see why this book has already been snapped up for a film/series adaptation and look forward to watching that. In the meantime I thoroughly recommend this book and suggest it is added to your 2022 reads!

This was a quaint thriller with a fabulous main character in the form of Molly the maid who has trouble processing the world but has an exemplary character courtesy of her grandmother who raised her. Molly loves the routine and order of her job but one day her usual order is thrown into disarray resulting in her discovering a notorious guest dead in bed. The story is told by Molly herself and her naivety is brilliant to read especially when it’s clear there’s far more going on at the hotel than Molly herself understands. Whilst there’s a good mystery going on here the real star is Molly herself and you really feel for her when she’s struggling to comprehend things and find yourself rooting for her to triumph.

Rating: 2.3/5

There has been quite a lot of noise around this debut novel from editor-turned-author, Nita Prose, with the film rights having been snapped up quickly by Universal Studios. I also found the synopsis appealing and liked the idea of a locked-room style mystery with a quirky and engaging central character at the heart of the story.

Sure enough, I found myself thoroughly enjoying the early stages of the novel. Molly is a wonderfully endearing character. She has had a sheltered upbringing with her beloved grandmother, who died a few months ago. She is socially awkward and would probably have to be described as being "on the spectrum". The values that have been instilled in Molly have led to her becoming quite idiosyncratic with moral values and a mode of speech that would generally be considered to be old-fashioned. The combination of her upbringing and innate character also means that she is often extremely naïve and open to manipulation by others.

At this point the novel was shaping up to be just what I hoped it might be. I felt invested in Molly, but was prepared for her to experience some heartrending exploitation as the remainder of the story unfolded.

Unfortunately, the latter sections of "The Maid" were not as satisfying as the first half of the book had given them the potential to be. From around the midway mark the overall quality showed some marked deterioration. The criminal plot is simplistic and the characterisation, aside from Molly, is disappointingly basic and two-dimensional. Even Molly's character is less convincingly handled in some of the later stages, with the actions that she takes seeming wholly inconsistent with her intrinsic values and behavioural patterns from earlier in the piece. It all becomes a bit too sickly sweet and little more than a run-of-the-mill cosy drama.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

I just loved Molly the Maid. She was such a lovely, quirky and innocent character, how could you not. She was funny and smart and overlooked in her role and just wanted to hug her. The Maid is a fun murder mystery book that I couldn't stop reading. I was quite sad when it was over, I really enjoyed reading about her. This book should be massive in 2022.

Molly is a loner. She is still grieving the loss of her beloved Grandmother who brought her up and learning to live on her own. She loves to watch Columbo and clean. She excels in her job as a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel but she is not like the others and is the butt of their jokes. But her life is turned upside down when she finds a VIP guest dead in his room. Suddenly she is the centre of attention and everybody thinks she knows more than she is saying. She finds out who she can trust and just how clever she really is.

It is a highly addictive and fast read. Everything about The Maid was fun and entertaining.

Thanks to Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read.

A delightful engaging story about Molly, the innocent hotel maid, with the simplistic approach to life. Its enticing how the hotel staff interact with her, to manipulate her and get her charged with murder.
A very original and enjoyable story.

I found this book an absolute delight to read, the central character, Molly, the Maid, reminds me very much of Eleanor Oliphant. That wonderful naivety, that maybe isn't really that naive. Molly is a Maid in a large hotel and every day she does her job, to the very best of her ability, She has an old world charm about her and it is sometimes hard to remember she's only actually in her 20's. But everything changes the day she discovers a dead body in one of the hotel rooms. And then the story turns into a real whodunnit. And actually, the truth is not always what it seems. A great read, really enjoyed it!

What a brilliantly original novel. I spent the first third of it wondering WHEN and WHERE it was all happening, so charmingly Jane-Austen-like is (Maid) Molly’s narrative. I genuinely thought it was set in Victorian London rather than in some modern day American city, but perhaps that’s a spoiler, if so many apologies.

Molly is a fabulous heroine and I’m not at all surprised that the book has been earmarked to be made into a movie - I can’t wait to see it on the big screen.

Very enjoyable indeed. Many thanks for allowing me to read and review.

This is a phenomenal book.

The writing is so, so strong, and Molly’s voice is fantastic. Molly Gray is twenty-five, a maid, and she sees the world differently to most people. She struggles with social interactions, taking everything at face value and interpreting things literally. She’s not a good judge of character as she’s way too trusting. And that becomes her downfall when others use this against her to set her up for the murder of a pm important client at the hotel she works for.

Molly discovers wealthy client Mr Black is dead when she goes to clean his room, and because she doesn’t act as others expect her to, she quickly becomes a suspect in the police investigation. The real murderers realise this and use it to their advantage, framing her more and more.

I couldn’t get over how amazingly well written Molly is. It’s first-person narrative and we’re in her head, seeing her thought processes and how she reacts differently. Yet it also very much clear to readers who the bad characters are from the start, despite us only ever seeing them through Molly!s eyes where she believes they are good and trustworthy. This is simply a masterful piece of craft.

All the characters are so well written, and every time I felt like I knew Molly, there was a surprise or a twist in store. This book is tense, and I read the whole thing in a couple of days. Really, really recommend it to everyone who likes stories of neurodivergence, thrillers, suspense, and strong characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The Maid in question is Molly Gray, and she’s worked at the upmarket hotel, The Regency Grand, for several years, when she finds the hotel’s most illustrious regular, Mr Black, dead in his hotel room. Molly is not like most people; she is honest and takes an extreme pride in her job and in cleaning ‘to a state of perfection’, but she also struggles to read people and as such she sees the world through different eyes to most. This combination puts her in a unique position but also a rather dangerous one: Molly noticed a lot of details that others wouldn’t which is helpful to an investigation, but she’s also prone to being taken advantage of by those who take her weaknesses as things they can exploit. Do those she trusts truly deserve it? Molly is a really interesting narrator because we as the reader can clearly sometimes see that her judgements and assumptions are incorrect, even while she is precise and literal with almost everything. This grew on me as the novel progressed, particularly as the motley crew of Molly’s friends and colleagues gathered around to help her in the latter half and she blossomed. Molly is a great observer but she needs help with the interpretation of what she sees, and it was nice seeing that forming of friendships that allowed her to crack the case of the mystery at the hotel and not to be lonely anymore. I just felt sorry that Mr Preston didn’t explain his relationship to Molly to her more specifically. This felt like an optimistic, feel good story to me by the end!

My thanks to #NetGalley and Harper Collins for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. UK.

An exciting adventure as the life of a maid.
Sometimes a maid can almost seem invisible - thats how she finds out the secrets of a mysterious death...

A really interesting, well written murder mystery.

“I am your maid. I know so much about you. But when it comes down to it: what is it that you know about me?”

Molly loves her job as a maid at the luxurious Regency Grand Hotel. She enjoys blending into the background and takes pride in her work cleaning up the messes that guests leave behind. But when she stumbles across the infamous Mr. Black dead in his bed it seems she has finally found a mess she can’t easily wipe away. Finding herself embroiled in the murder investigation, Molly’s whole world changes and, suddenly, everyone can see her. Could Molly really hold the key to solving Mr. Black’s murder?

This book! A murder mystery that was also a balm for my soul, it was like nothing I’ve ever read before and I loved every single thing about it. I just know this is going to be HUGE when it's released next year.

First of all, how on earth is this a debut? The writing is exquisite, with evocative imagery that brought the world the author had created to life in vivid technicolour. The opulent splendor of The Regency Grand made me think of the Emerald City from my favourite book, endearing me even more to this fictional place. I devoured this book, unable to get enough as I lived every moment alongside Molly. Nita Prose is an exciting new talent and I will be buying anything else she writes without hesitation.

“It’s easier than you’d ever think- existing in plain sight while remaining largely invisible.”

I adored Molly. Quirky, naive and endearing, it was impossible not to love her. She knows she’s different, that she doesn’t perceive things in the same way others do and that her love of order makes her seem strange, and we feel her pain at knowing that. She’s always struggled to navigate the world, but it is even harder without her beloved Gran who’s always guided and interpreted things for her. Molly’s loneliness and naivete make her the perfect candidate for others to take advantage, which they do, and I dreaded the inevitable moment when she learned of their duplicity. But, like those around her, I underestimated Molly and sat back in awe as she took us all by surprise when she found her power and strength in her darkest moment. The world would be a better place if we were all a little more Molly.

One of the unexpected parts of the story for me was how emotional it would feel. Molly is all alone in the world after losing her Gran and the author makes us feel this deeply. The book is filled with Molly’s memories of her Gran and the quotes of sayings or advice she would give, making her as much of a presence for the reader as she was for Molly. The quotes from Gran were one of my favourite things about the book and having lost my own Nan just a few months ago, it made me feel an even stronger connection to Molly.

“It seems everyone’s an ameteur sleuth. They all believe they can waltz right into the hotel and solve the mystery of Mr. Black’s untimely demise.”

Another aspect I enjoyed was the shift in tone that takes place, making it almost feel like it is split into two parts. The first part has a more chilled vibe, filled with lots of gorgeous imagery and heartrending moments as Molly talks about her loneliness in the world. But after finding Mr. Black things switch up and the excitement and tension rises, keeping me on the edge of my seat and reading in breathless anticipation.

Heartwarming, addictive, tense and twisty, The Maid is a phenomenal debut that is not to be missed. Everyone is going to be talking about this book. I was thrilled to find out the rights have already been bought and can’t wait to see it on the big screen.

Go and read this book!

With all the millions of books in the world, this is one of the few which will hold a special place in my heart and stay with me for a lifetime.
I do not usually read cosy mysteries, however I had seen this book mentioned on Bookstagram, so when I was selected for an ARC I jumped at the chance. I absolutely devoured The Maid right to the last page.

The lead character, Molly the maid, is socially awkward, it isn't mentioned in the book but implied she may be on the autism spectrum which makes this book even more unique. It is refreshing to read, as the first person, we enter into her mindset, Molly's way of thinking may not be "normal" but it didn't feel wrong. More often than not she is either being ignored or teased by her peers but she does not let that effect her, she is so pure. He trust (and mistrust) in people gets her what her Gran would say "a spot of bother".

A debut for author Nita Prouse. Her writing is so impeccable, I am excited to see what the future holds, I am not usually a fast reader but I flew through this book not only because the story had me wanting more, but her writing was so beautiful and fluid. Molly's description of the hotel and her surroundings instantly transported me.

I predict this to be a must read of 2022! Publication date 20 Jan 2022