This is one of those rare books that lives up to the hype. I wasn’t sure it would be for me- wondering if this would be a bit too much of a light read. However it is witty, clever and fast paced. Following Molly- a maid at a ln upmarket hotel- who discovers a dead body at work and in doing so is quickly portrayed as the murderer by others. She has to prove herself, and thus ensues a clever caper full of twists and turns. A great read.

This book about a maid called Molly was not what I expected when I picked it up. I struggled through the first quarter of the book but found it extremely hard to put it down for the rest of the book.

Molly is a maid in a New York Hotel. It is never actually confirmed in the book but she appears to not be neurotypical. She has previously relied on her Grandmother to help her navigate the world but her Grandmother died a few months earlier. What follows is a story of Molly finding her way in the world and getting mixed up in a crime she didn't realise was happening.

A lovely book to lose yourself in.

The Maid is the debut novel of Nita Prose and is a book about a young woman named Molly Gray who is a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel. She takes great pride in her job, ensuring that rooms are spotlessly clean, the bedding is crease free and that everything is polished to a high shine. She loves her job and working at the Regency Grand which attracts high flying guests who expect nothing but the best.

When Molly enters the Penthouse Suite to restore it to its gleaming best, she finds the current guest, Mr Black on the bed. At first she thinks he is asleep but she soon realises that he is actually dead. The police suspect foul play and a murder investigation is soon underway.

Molly is a curious character. She is portrayed as being neurodivergent, but Prose doesn’t explicitly say that this is the case. Instead, we are presented with a young woman who is clearly very smart but who takes everything very literally, answering questions in a very formal way and unknowingly tying herself in knots. She is a source of ridicule to some fellow staff members who nickname her Roomba after the robot hoover and who use her innocence to take advantage of her.

I found this quite a sad book to read. It’s written in first person so we’re privy to Molly’s interactions and can see where misunderstandings take place when communicating with others. She was brought up by her grandmother and their life of ‘armchair travelling’ by watching nature documentaries, crime solving by watching Columbo and keeping their apartment spick and span is very small. Molly’s sayings and routines are all borne from her grandmother and the principles she has embedded within her. She is a little old fashioned in her ways, which also makes her stand out from other 25 year olds, which increases her isolation and keeps her at a remove from her colleagues.

I do have to say that I found parts of the book frustrating. Molly’s behaviour wasn’t consistent and I felt like this sort of, maybe hinted at neurodivergence meant that liberties could be taken with some of her actions. There were a few moments which felt a bit too far fetched and some of it was a tad too on the schmaltzy side for me. I’m not really one for schmaltz so found it a little saccharine sweet, but I know other readers who would really like these moments.

One thing that I really liked was how Prose reveals the narrative. Set over a week, we start the Monday thinking that we’re heading into a good old fashioned Columbo-esque murder mystery and by the Friday something else has happened entirely. She drip feeds the plot to us, revealing things in increments and there were many occasions where I could see what was coming before Molly did. Prose makes Molly incredibly likeable and so I often felt protective of her and had that delicious feeling where I felt infuriated at what was going to happen but had no way of stopping it at all.

Overall, although this is a sort of murder mystery, this is actually a book about not judging others and finding your place. There are some difficult and sad moments in the book, and a bit of humour too to balance things out. Most of all though there is an endearing protagonist who finds herself completely out of her depth. It’s a light-hearted and quick read which I enjoyed.

Molly was such an interesting character, thoroughly enjoyed reading The Maid.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This was a charming and interesting book to read. Written in a different angle I found this very readable and I enjoyed it very much. I loved all the clues and I loved trying to guess who did what. I enjoyed the fact that the main character was a maid who could move around without raising suspicion and work out clues. A great book. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

REVIEW: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Maid by Nita Prose (what an excellent surname for a writer btw!)

This book was an enjoyable read for me, but not one of my favourites. Coined as a mix between Eleanor Oliphant and Agatha Christie (um yes sign me up), Molly was a wonderfully offbeat narrator.

Molly struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. As a hotel maid at the Grand Regency Hotel, she delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps, and returning guest rooms to a state of perfection.

But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she finds one of the hotel’s most wealthy guests dead. The police target Molly as their lead suspect, and she finds herself caught in a web of deception - one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, new friends help her unravel the clues to find out what really happened…

-🪴 First up, Molly’s narrative voice was great. Through her, we need to interpret the events of the book - looking at the world through a different lens, and piecing together the jigsaw puzzle. She is funny, refreshing, quirky, and I love how genuine her connections feel. Her voice didn’t have the same humour as Eleanor Oliphant though (the OG).

🪴- Molly is an unreliable narrator. We love her, we trust her and then…she plays us. Nice one Molly, well played.

🪴- Juan Manuel was an amazing character and I loved him with my whole heart 🥺 so wholesome and good - he must be protected at all costs

- 🪴I loved the setting of the Grand Regency Hotel - the grandeur and and luxury of it had me wanting to book a holiday with immediate effect

There’s a couple of reasons I’ve marked this down -

-🪴 I didn’t find this a page turner and didn’t click with the first half (but I did really enjoy the second half, when Molly started making connections - I loved the depiction of friendship and family)

🪴- My biggest gripe is two major plot points at the end of the book - I suppose these were the two ‘twists’ but I just did not like them? The first one just seemed really out of character for Molly and made confused about my feelings towards her. The second one I just didn’t really get?? Again, made Molly quite unlikeable and cunning, which is totes diff to how she portrayed beforehand. I was then also confused about the fate of Rodney? I can’t give anything away without spoilers so if you’ve read this and want to discuss, please drop me a message! Basically the ending ‘twist’ just totally missed the mark for me 😤

A huge thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for my advance copy!

This is what I would call a “good enough” book. It’s a classic whodunnit, but nothing really stood out to me or made me think it’s a lot better than the many others out there. Yes, Molly was an interesting character, but seeing the typical autistic trope being played out again felt uncomfortable. I know it’s supposed to be a celebration of neurodivergent individuals and how a different way of thinking can provide interesting insights, but I felt like it could have been done better.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐝 - 𝐍𝐢𝐭𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞

𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅. 𝑨 𝒏𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚.
𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕, 𝑴𝒓 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑺𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒅 - 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌?
I loved the sound of this book and once I started reading it was very hard to try and stick to the pace set as I didn’t want to put it down! Molly is a fantastic and very likeable character (she reminded me a lot of Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory) and I loved her narration of the story. She flits between the present and her find memories of her beloved Gran, who sounded so lovely.
The writing brought me back to mystery classics such as Agatha Christie and the story itself had huge Cluedo vibes, so it was pretty much written for me!
I’m not going into the plot too much as I really don’t want to give any spoilers but I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who likes a classic crime.
Thank you to Netgalley for my advance copy.

This book has had a lot of hype and buzz around it for a couple of months now and I was delighted to be lucky enough to be accepted for a copy. I can certainly say that it lives up to every bit of excitement you hear!

To Molly Gray, the world is full of people, customs and rules that are tricky to navigate. Since Gran died, she has felt even more alone in the world but Molly knows that her work as a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel is imperative to an ordered, successful operation. Taking utmost pride in thorough cleaning and tip-top personal presentation, Molly is excellent at her job. But then she discovers wealthy regular guest Mr Black dead in his bed and her simple, squeaky clean life is thrown into disarray when the police pin her as an interesting suspect. Suddenly, Molly’s life is full of deception and cover-ups as a series of dodgy dealings play out at the Regency Grand.

Molly is fantastically unique but of course, her work and personality cause her to blend in to the background of the world she inhabits. The hotel’s wealthy patrons rarely pay attention to a lowly maid and Molly’s neurodivergent mind means that she is overlooked and considered to be weird by her colleagues. No one really knows her because very few people have ever taken the time to get to know her. I know that so many people who think and live like Molly will be able to fully relate to that feeling of invisibility. Perhaps they’ll even see the benefits of that, much like Molly seems to.

The Regency Grand itself is described so vividly and I had a clear map of the building in my head for the entire time I was reading it. It’s very much a place that undoubtedly keeps its secrets well and the atmosphere is heavy with deceit and darkness, disguised with opulence. Of course, Molly is very much a part of it and like her workplace, she hides things behind a polished exterior too.

Molly misses her Gran a lot but she keeps those emotions locked up tight. She harbours a lot of guilt around Gran’s death, the full extent of which comes to light just before the end. Of course, Gran is intrinsically embedded in Molly and the way she lives but Gran’s presence was very strong in the book, almost as if she was lingering in the flat and continuing to take care of her granddaughter.

There is a strong theme of time in the novel. The idea of things happening at their right time, waiting until everything is in place and yet not wasting a moment of the time you have are all very relevant to the way that things play out. The whole plot takes place over a single week and Molly has a hell of a lot thrown at her in just those few days. She handles it all with an admirable amount of strength and she grows a lot from it. Time moves very quickly, which is reflected in the pace and I think Molly finishes the week, knowing that her life is too short to care about other people’s opinions and expectations.

I feel like the success of this book will shed a lot of light on the marginalised and invisible illnesses. Molly isn’t noticed for many reasons and I realised how easy it would be for her to literally disappear, once her Gran had died. That thought really scares me but I know that not being seen or acknowledged by society is a reality for so many people. I really hope that Molly’s story will go some way to highlighting the importance of looking out for the people around us and being more aware of the struggles that other people go through.

The Maid is an unforgettable novel centred around a very intriguing mystery. It’s so much more than a murder case though. Molly is both exactly like me and yet her life is worlds away from what I know. I’ll be thinking about her for a long time, just as I did with Eleanor Oliphant. Full of intelligence and heart, The Maid is a book that will completely captivate you.

The Maid has had so much hype surrounding it and I have to say, it totally lives up to it! Molly is one of those characters that instantly becomes an all time favourite. She is brilliantly quirky, undeniably charming and hilarious. Molly is a maid at the luxury Regency Grand Hotel and takes a great deal of pride in her position. She is meticulous when it comes to cleaning but does sometimes struggle to interpret certain aspects of social convention. When she finds a VIP guest dead in his bed, she is drawn into a murky murder investigation.

I really can’t praise The Maid highly enough. I loved pretty much everything about it – the characters, the mystery, the relationships and the setting are all skilfully portrayed and totally engrossing from start to finish. Beautifully written and full of charm, heart and humour, The Maid is not to be missed. Perfection!

Loved this book and couldn't put it down! Molly is a maid who works for a luxurious hotel - she describes herself as a nobody - she is there to clean up after you. She lives alone and is a bit of an odd bod. She discovers one of her guests dead and is then suddenly a person of interest. The descriptions of the characters are fab and I was wondering along with Molly who she could and couldn't trust. Its a witty, clever and definite page turner that I have heard will be made to a film.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh what a charming read this is. From start to finish I was absolutely lost in Molly's world, and I simply didn't want to leave.

Molly was born to be a maid, it's what she loves, it's what she's good at; she feels compelled to clean, and to the highest standard. She's a dream employee and despite being a little unusual, a dream colleague. I absolutely adored her. Her quirks, her language, her motivation, her drive. This is a woman I could be friends with, and I rooted for her the whole way.

The other people at the hotel? Maybe not so much... There's a complete cast of characters here, and some you'll like, some you'll detest, some you'll feel indifferent about, but they will all make an impression on you in some small (or large) way.

On the face of it this story is about a mystery, the death of a guest at the hotel, and the investigation for the truth, but what it's really about is tolerance, found family, joy in the simple things, honouring the past as well as the future, and so much more. This story is a fun, joy-filled cosy mystery, but it's also so much more.

There are a couple of plot beats that I didn't enjoy (I've read too many mysteries at this point and find some things disappointing), but on the whole a very solid story, and the characters and execution are perfection.

4 highly entertaining stars

EXCERPT: It occurs to me then that I'm missing something. Every year at Christmas, Gran and I would set up a card table in the living room and work on a puzzle together as we listened to Christmas carols on the radio. The harder the puzzle, the happier we were. And I'm feeling the same sensation I felt when Gran and I were challenged by a really hard puzzle. It's as if I'm not quite putting the pieces together properly.

ABOUT 'THE MAID': Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads 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 been navigating 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 upended 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 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?

MY THOUGHTS: No. Sorry, but just no. I really didn't like this one bit. I kept hoping that it would improve, that Molly would entrance me like she has done to so many readers. But it never happened. Instead I found myself skimming and rolling my eyes in disbelief.

I didn't like Molly and I didn't dislike her - I felt nothing for this character other than finding her mildly aggravating.

The plot doesn't really hold up and the characters are dull and one dimensional - including their names: Molly Gray, Mr Black and someone Brown. Really? And behind the scenes staff NEVER use the front entrance of a hotel. It's just not done. Then there's Juan Manuel a kitchenhand for whom Molly finds an empty room for him to spend the night in. But she does it in the morning, at the beginning of her shift. Has the author never heard of last minute reservations and walk-ins? Realistically this is something that, if it happened, would happen at the end of shift.

I found this poorly researched, the dialogue ridiculous, and the plot so thin as to be almost see-through. I was largely bored and extremely glad to close the cover on the final page.

And the final twist? Ridiculous.

Not a book that I will be recommending. However, I am very much an outlier in my opinion of the Maid by Nita Prose, so if you are considering reading it, please check out some of the many very positive reviews.

⭐⭐.1

#TheMaid #NetGalley

I: @nitaprose @harpercollinsuk

T: @NitaProse @HarperCollinsUK

#contemporaryfiction #cosymystery #murdermystery

THE AUTHOR: Nita Prose is a longtime editor, serving many bestselling authors and their books. She lives in Toronto, Canada, in a house that is only moderately clean.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Harper Collins UK, Harper Fiction, via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Maid by Nita Prose for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions and I really wish I had liked this more.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

This book… let me tell you… is amazing!!

Molly the Maid works at the Grand Regency Hotel, slipping from room to room, making sure everything is pristine. On the surface, the hotel is perfect but more sinister secrets lie within.

The first page of this book instantly had me hooked. The writing is just so beautiful.

I loved the character of Molly and found myself relating to her in ways I didn’t think I would. Whilst it’s not said on page, Molly is neurodivergent and very possible somewhere on the Autism Spectrum. I work with people with Autism and some of the traits Molly has, I’ve seen in the people I support.

Everything just seemed so shady in this book! I didn’t know who or what to trust. I was constantly annotating all the suspicious and shady things that was going on.

The ending was absolutely fabulous. I didn’t expect it at all. It was also really sweet and now I want more from Molly! I honestly can’t wait for the adaptation!

Molly Grey was brought up by her beloved grandmother & since her death she always attempts to the ideals she was brought up with. She works as a maid in a smart hotel. Molly is intensely proud of where she works & of leaving the rooms she cleans in a, "state of perfection". She struggles in social situations & takes everything very literally. She has few friends. The doorman always looks out for her & two other maids & one of the kitchen workers pass the time of day with her. Her life changes dramatically when she finds the rich Mr Black dead in his bed. When it transpires that he is not dead from natural causes Molly is horrified to find herself a suspect. Her manner & routines seem to have put her in full sight of the police.

This was a delightful book. I loved Molly- even though I wished I could make her understand that she was digging a hole for herself. I was totally 'there' in the hotel & Molly's apartment! Altogether a wonderful read. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for giving me the chance to meet Molly!

The Maid by Nita Prose
Molly the Maid is all alone in the world. A nobody. She’s used to being invisible in her job at the Regency Grand Hotel, plumping pillows and wiping away the grime, dust and secrets of the guests passing through. She’s just a maid – why should anyone take notice?
But Molly is thrown into the spotlight when she discovers an infamous guest, Mr Black, very dead in his bed. This isn’t a mess that can be easily cleaned up. And as Molly becomes embroiled in the hunt for the truth, following the clues whispering in the hallways of the Regency Grand, she discovers a power she never knew was there. She’s just a maid – but what can she see that others overlook?
The Maid is a well written, impressive debut novel. The unlikely protagonist Molly and a host of supporting characters from her colleagues, the hotel staff, and the guests staying at The Regency Grand Hotel set the scene for an intriguing, suspenseful cosy murder mystery.
Whilst the plot itself was not particularly unique, Molly was, and it was interesting to share and understand her thought process and how it differs from the average persons thinking.
I am happy to recommend this book.
I want to thank NetGalley, HarperCollins UK Harper Fiction and author Nita Prose for a pre-publication copy to review.

I'll start with the positives. I found the plot itself very well written and paced throughout. It's full of intricate twists and managed to hold my attention to the end. Unfortunately where this didn't work for me was with Molly herself. Molly is very precise and to the point and spells a lot of the narrative out in black and white in a very particular way. Her discovery of the body in the hotel room felt almost clinical, and while I can understand why it's written this way, I just found it difficult to get past.

This also meant that I struggled to find any kind of emotional connection with Molly, and I've found that I've read other books that explore characters like her better (Convenience Store Woman springs to mind). It also has a similar feel to Elinor Oliphant, which is another book I didn't really like for the same reasons. These types of stories are just too saccharine for me.

This was so cute! It's a cosy, thrilling mystery and I really enjoyed it. I love Molly, she is adorable, and I really loved the revelations at the end. I was expecting more twists and turns, however I really enjoyed the plot.
I can't comment on whether Molly is meant to be neuro-divergent, but I feel like she is, and I really enjoyed the rep because there wasn't any explicit labelling.

CAWPILE: 7.71 4*
Characters-8: Molly is adorable, and I loved the main side characters
Atmosphere- 7: Really good, but I did feel like there were some parts that skated by a bit quickly
Writing Style- 8: Loved the writing.
Plot- 8: I did love it, my only tiny critique was the last 100 pages sort of rushed past the plot
Intrigue- 8: I didn't guess the twists
Logic-7: Couple small bits that I didn't understand
Enjoyment-8: I really liked it.

*Many thanks to Nita Prose, HarperCollins UK, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
A tale of a young woman, Molly the Maid, whose whole world is her grandmother and the hotel where she can do the best thing in the world - keep it tidy and clean. Suddenly, she becomes involved in a mystery death, the event which shows her that cleanliness, especially that of soul, is not all people's priority.
Molly, having been raised by her grandmother, is a loner and sees the world thorugh some general truths handed over to her and to which she sticks to and by which she lives. She is definitely a memorable character, the one you root for, and who deserves what she receives at the end.

What made this book so different was the main character of Molly. She was very dedicated to her job but she had few real friends. Molly didn’t realise when people were taking advantage of her or making fun of her. Molly had been raised by her grandmother and she was constantly remembering all the things her grandmother had told her. I just loved the way Molly’s character developed and her confidence grew when she found good friends. There is also a murder mystery to solve. Molly is the type of character who stays with the reader, long after the book is finished. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.