**Disclaimer: I received a free advance readers copy of The Maid by Nita Prose through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this opportunity.
The Maid by Nita Prose is an adult mystery novel about a woman named Molly who works in a fancy hotel as a maid. She finds a dead body in a room she cleans and ends up getting caught up as a suspect in the case. It was published on January 4th, 2022. I rated it 4 stars on Goodreads.
Here’s the summary 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 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.
I have to admit that it took me a very long time to finish this book. I started it as an eARC, but found myself blocked when it came to wanting to pick it up again, and so I ended up restarting it as an audiobook. This was the ideal way for me to read it because I was able to listen while doing other things, and there are just some books that I have to listen to rather than read with my eyes. I have a hard time explaining it.
I found the character of Molly really interesting. She has a unique perspective on the world, and I found it really interesting to see how she saw things and how she interpreted interactions with people. In your position as a reader, you can see where things are not so great for Molly and how she has found herself in some bad situations with people who have bad intentions. She grew a lot over the course of the story, and I was proud of how things worked out for her. I wanted things to work out for Molly, and felt for her as people took advantage of her and didn’t understand her.
The story was interesting as well. I liked the basic plot and how she got caught up in the mystery and played a hand in trying to fix her own situation. It was twisty and kept me guessing. There were many layers, and I found myself surprised as details came to light.
The story was well written, and Molly’s voice came through loud and clear. If you were at all intrigued by the premise of the book, I highly recommend that you check out this novel.
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