The Maid by Nita Prose

The Maid
by Nita Prose

ISBN-13: 9780593356159
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Released: January 4th 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
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 to help free her.


My Review:
The Maid is a suspense novel, I suppose, as it's not really a typical mystery. From the start, I got the feeling that Molly knew who murdered Mr. Black but she's not revealing critical clues to anyone (including the reader) until the very last chapter. However, as she thought over the past, you realize just how deeply she's in trouble because she's challenged when it comes to reading social cues. People used her kind, trusting nature to get her to do wrong things and she didn't even realize it. So while she knew all the clues, it's her friends that helped put the pieces together and worked to get her out of trouble.

While I felt that the writing was excellent and the main characters were interesting and engaging, I didn't like the message of 'the ends justify the means.' It started with her grandmother teaching Molly to keep her promises and then forcing her to do something horrible rather than handling the matter herself. In order to get Molly out of trouble, her friends literally taught her how to lie effectively. Up until then, she omitted details but always told the truth. In the end, Molly effectively pinned the murder on a bad guy but not the right whodunit justifying this by thinking Mr. Black was a bad guy who deserved to die for the greater good and Molly really didn't like the accused bad guy.

I'll also note that the story was written with the present in present tense and flashback scenes in past tense. There were a lot of flashbacks. I find it awkward "sounding" to read stories in present tense, but it worked because Molly had awkward, formal speech patterns. There were no sex scenes. There was occasional use of bad language (including "non-mild" words). Overall, the story was a riveting read, but I was disappointed with how nearly everyone used and corrupted Molly.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.