3.5 stars rounded up: This was one of my highly anticipated reads for 2022. It has received high praise from may reviewers and having a neurodivergent grandson, I was excited to read about Molly the maid. Molly was raised by her grandmother, who taught her how to act, how to speak and how important it was to do a good job. Molly took it all to heart, although to others, she may seem a bit odd. She does not really have any friends, so when the wife of a client staying at the hotel befriends her, she is happy. Molly does have some friendly relationships with co-workers, but there is a very odd relationship between her and Rodney the bartender as well as a dishwasher that she finds an empty room for each night. When Molly finds her friend's husband dead in their room, first she faints, the she calls for help. It ends up that he was murdered and Molly is first a witness, then a suspect, then arrested for the crime. Can Molly and her co-workers find out who really killed Mr. Black.

Molly Gray is a lovable character who is a creature of habit. As long as she follows her routines, she is okay. She works hard at her job and takes her role as a maid very seriously. She is requested to clean some rooms and receives good tips due to her excellent work ethic. I loved the mystery and thought it was fun to try and figure out. I thought I knew where the story was going but wasn't quite right. Some reviewers have referred to this story as a cozy mystery, but I don't agree, I think it is a crime mystery, soft-boiled. The story is told from Molly's POV and I love her exacting way of speaking. What I did not like was how she was duped and used a couple of times. There was a lot I liked about the story, but some things irked me. I worked as a chamber maid while in University and I would never have given rooms out at any time, while working there. First, I had no access to the reservation system to know what rooms would be empty and second, unless I gave out my master key, I had no key to give out. The second thing that bothered me was the fact that Molly was such a rule follower, yet when the final twist came, it went against her character completely. Now, saying that, if you suspend belief and just enjoy the story, you will probably love it.

Molly (aka Molly Maid) is one of my new favourite protagonists! She is extremely dedicated to her job and keeping a routine, something I am personally dreadful at, and she talks like a proper 1940's lady due to growing up with her Gran. Molly is also neurodivergent, and has trouble picking up on some social cues, especially now that her Gran has passed away. Essentially alone, Molly dedicates herself to her work even more, but this has some consequences when she walks in on a famous client, Mr. Black, dead on his bed.

The Maid was not a grungy crime story, which I was somehow expecting due to the circumstances. This is the story of Molly, a wonderful maid, who becomes wrapped up in a crime without realizing it. It is a feel-good mystery involving some very good eggs, and some very bad eggs. While teetering on the cozy crime line, I found the writing very well edited, and the story engrossed me and wrapped me up in a blanket simultaneously. My only gripe lay with the ending. However, I still enjoyed the story within a few hour period which I did not look up from this book.

" We are all same in different ways. "

Just finished reading The Maid by @nitaprose and what a ' delightful ' read it is!
Fast-paced, characters well built, a simple yet engrossing thriller. Though the plot is pretty predictable & simple I still enjoyed it.
Loved Molly the maid, I felt like she was autistic but she was witty, innocent and made me laugh at instances. I enjoyed her simplicity.
Also what I loved most about this novel is, that it showed the beauty of companionship and compassion in life.
Thank you @penguinrandomca for my advance digital copy.

The Maid is really amazing read! The plot is compelling and interesting and the whole mystery aspect of this book makes it a fun read.

This debut novel is fantastic. The reader follows a week in the life of the protagonist, Molly whose character is so well developed. We learn fairly early that Molly had been close with her grandmother who has recently passed away. We also know that Molly is not great at social situations and she relied on her grandmother a lot to help her navigate life. Molly is a maid in a hotel and she is exceptionally good at her job because she likes things to be clean and she is good at following the rules. Her co-workers think she is odd and they make fun of her and sometimes use her.
One day Molly enters one of the hotel suites and finds a very prestigious guest dead. This begins a whirlwind for Molly who is only trying to do what is right, but instead quickly becomes the prime suspect. As we learn more about Molly, we learn about her relationship with her grandmother and how she still leans on her advice and wisdom. We also learn of Molly’s relationship with Gisele who is the wife of the murdered guest. Molly’s love of Columbo and keeping everything clean are both helpful and may be incriminating, but Molly quickly finds out who her real friends are.
This is ultimately a story of friendship, loyalty and a good murder mystery that needs to be solved. As details are slowly revealed, you might think you have it all figured out but Molly has a few tricks up her sleeve too.

The Maid is a delightful book, filled with “Granisms” sure to keep you engaged.
Molly… the Maid, is a charming, intelligent meticulous individual, who innocently becomes entangled in her very own mystery, involving, deception, murder and mystery. The characters are compelling, and this quick read kept me wanting more. It had the all the feels of an Agatha Christie novel, with it’s whodunnit style, and past era charm.
Molly, neurdivergent in her tendencies, draws you in to feel compelled to see what happens to her in this twisty read.

Thank you to Penguin Random House, Viking Publishers and #Netgalley for an ecopy of this book.

I really loved The Maid! This novel made me laugh throughout and was what I would call a true “popcorn mystery”, not too deep and dark, just the right amount of intrigue and overall enjoyment.
Fingers crossed this story (and Molly!) could be translated for screen and made into a mini series, I think it has a lot of potential! I look forward to reading the next book from Nita Prose, as The Maid was very well written- almost poetic in places as I read it so quickly. This novel is worth the well deserved hype!
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the opportunity to read and enjoy this ARC!

Incredible mystery with the right squeeze of humorous! I found the story immersive and had me interested in continuing on with each chapter.

Meet Molly, a young woman with a true passion for cleanliness. She finds herself struggling, as the recent passing of her Gran has affected her deeply. Gran truly was the only person in the world who understood her. Thank goodness she learned so many important lessons from Gran - many words to live by.

Despite this loss, work must still be done! She doesn't miss a day returning the suites at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection. Molly the maid loves her job. She loves her uniform, she loves stocking her trolly, and she loves her routine. Until one day, she finds Mr. Black dead in his suite, and she quickly becomes the main suspect.

Molly and an unlikely group of people in her life come together to get to the bottom of what really happened to Mr. Black. But will they be able to find out on time?

The Maid is a cute, quirky murder mystery that made me smile. I loved being inside Molly's head. Did she understand what was truly happening around her? I enjoyed speculating as to what she understood versus what her innocence and naivete allowed her to ignore. Despite the subject matter of the book (ie. murder most foul) I found this to be a lighthearted read that warmed my heart.

I'm not sure if I found the events of the book very believable, but it was one of those books I'm happy to suspend my disbelief for. I give this book a 4.5/5 and would recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the ARC of this delightful book!

Overhyped? Overnight success? Or some very clever marketing? Playing on our emotions? The Maid by Nita Prose is taking the book world by storm and riding that hype; everyone loves it!!! But really, is it that good? Or just another overhyped book? OR do you care?

NO, it really is not that good!!! Ok, it is clearly written to appeal to many readers. The author does know the publishing industry well, she works in it. BUT in creating a story that obviously appeals to the masses, she has fallen into stereotyping and is a poor representation for Neurodiversity and "maids" It's offensive!!!

I am not going self-declared I am an outlier. Others didn't ride that hype with their "unpopular opinions."

I do have a very different opinion, though, and no matter how many times I have tried to express that opinion, it comes out nasty. I know this is Goodreads where we celebrate different opinions but it doesn't make me feel good.

So I will challenge you with this before you read it: Is this what you really think a neurodivergent individual is like?

The author says, "I want readers to see how we're the same, not how we're different."

FYI
Neurodiversity is the idea that it's normal and acceptable for people to have brains that function differently from one another. Diversity is about accepting and celebrating our differences, not seeing how we are the same. It's NORMAL to be DIFFERENT.

I received a copy from the publisher and probably won't again after submitting this review.

My feelings for THE MAID by Nita Prose is a Facebook relationship status: “it’s complicated”. I LOVED the majority of the book but didn’t like the ending. How am I supposed to rate this? I’ll take the easy way out and do math (said no one ever).

Everything, except the ending — 5/5
The ending - 1/5
6/10 = 3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

What I loved:
🧹The writing! It was easy to read, clever, intriguing and the pacing was ideal.
🧹This book was a workshop on perspective. The author gave us almost all of the puzzle pieces 🧩 at the beginning and then proceeded to continuously rearrange them throughout the story. This was brilliant!
🧹Molly the Maid. Molly was precious! She was a strong and well-developed neurodivergent character.
🧹This book was a love letter to one of my favourite detective shows — Columbo.🕵🏻‍♂️ The references weaved throughout were nostalgic and perfect.

What I didn’t love:
🧽 The ending
🧽 Two things happen at the end which don’t line up with Molly’s character and I can’t get over it. There’s no part of me that can believe that the Molly that I’ve come to know throughout this book is capable of the things at the end. No sir, that ending is uncharacteristic of Molly the Maid. I refuse it. No thank you. ✋🏽

Recommend to a friend? I’ve seen so many great reviews for this book so read it and judge for yourself. I loved the writing so I’ll read anything Nita decides to write in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

Thank you to the publisher, Ballantine Books, for providing me with an ARC of The Maid in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Gist

The Maid came to my attention through a Goodreads article, outlining 7 great books hitting the shelves the first week of January 2022.

Canadian debut author. The book promises to be a sort of whodunnit mystery with a different type of protagonist. Sign me up!

The Details

As the reader finds out in the book blurb, the protagonist has difficulty reading social cues and is constantly faced with challenges of figuring out her environment and interacting with other people.

I don’t think I have ever come across such a character in any book thus far. So, while reading The Maid I became instantly enchanted with Molly.

I feel for her and get angry every time she is taken advantage of. She tries her best and that makes her so sweet.

Her dedication and willingness to work on herself to become a better member of her community is so inspiring. And I just love her sense of right and wrong; her quirky way that is so generous.

In contrast, some of the secondary characters are the exact opposite of Molly and makes one think about the social labels of “normal”, “socially challenged” or “a little different” that are easily handed out.

I have difficulty categorizing this story. It’s part murder mystery; part coming-of-age; part contemporary fiction.

The plot is very straight forward and makes for a quick and interesting read. In fact, at the conclusion of The Maid I looked up a little disappointed, because I wanted to read more. I couldn’t believe the story was already over.

The writing is excellent. It’s consistent throughout the entire story, without any slow or boring sections or any parts that seem less thought out or well constructed.

The writing is vivid and makes it easy to picture the scene.

The Verdict

Overall, The Maid is a quick, easy and sweet read that I hoped would have lasted longer.

I am so glad I had the chance to read such a story this early on in the year, which really helped with my months-long book slump.

I would definitely recommend it.

Molly the maid is probably one of the most original characters I have read in a long time. She was super quirky, unique, and has a real obsession with cleanliness, order and manners.

Molly is 25 years old and was raised by her Gran who recently passed away. She takes great pride in being a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel and is very meticulous in her work. She is also rather different then others, struggles with social skills and takes everything literally.

Molly’s world is flipped when she enters the suite of a wealthy patron to find him dead in his bed. And she quickly becomes the lead suspect.

I really enjoyed following along with Molly as she managed to get herself stuck into some rather peculiar situations. Realizing she may be in big trouble, she begins to use the wise words from her Gran, knowledge from her favourite tv show Colombo and her love of solving puzzles to begin unravelling the mystery.

And she gets some unexpected help along the way from friends and allies she didn’t know she had! I really adored Mr. Preston, he was thoughtful and caring. And his daughter Charlotte, who is an attorney, comes along to help!

This was a lovely debut by Anita Prose and just a cozy fun mystery novel with the sweetest, quirkiest character you will ever meet!

I really enjoyed this debut novel by the author. One of my favorite reads for this year. I found the story interesting and I enjoyed the character, Molly, alot. I would recommend this book to mystery thrillers anywhere. Many thanks to TBC and Netgalley for allowing me to review the book

This book was worth the hype!!! I’m always a skeptic when I see a book flood my feed but this did not disappoint! Grab it today and dove in for a binge worthy ride

A tremendous debut by Nita Prose, I was engaged from the moment I started reading until a few hours later when I read the final sentence of this cozy mystery novel. I barely noticed the time ticking by as I became wrapped up in this one sitting read.

And Molly Gray, what a wonderfully well written character. I had been so thrilled to meet Molly since reading about her on all the bestseller lists and social media posts boosting this book around the globe. I reached the end and felt like twenty-five-year-old Molly was a friend of mine, she was an absolute gem of a character, and oh so special she was. A memorable lead that will stay with readers long after reading. I was rooting for her throughout. Others have compared Molly to Eleanor Oliphant, and I couldn’t agree more, since Gail Honeyman’s protagonist has never left my mind despite having read the book a number of years ago.

I did wonder whether this book would live up to the hype, and have to admit that it definitely did for me. It’s one of those books that you’ll reach the end of and wish you could blink, forget about, and start from the beginning again.

The Maid is a short and easy read, clocking in at under 300 pages. It’s perfect if you find yourself looking for something to perk you up on a rainy afternoon. Nita’s prose will whisk you away to another world, which is exactly what us readers can only hope for from the best novels.

Overall, The Maid was a delightful read. Lighthearted, layered, and written with passion and unique talent. It’s a must-read page turner that I’ll recommend to many.

I planned to pass my copy along to a friend after reading, but have decided The Maid will remain on my bookshelf next to some of my favourite novels.

One question, Nita Prose, when is your next novel coming out?

Molly was such a unique main character in this mystery! I wanted to protect her from the evil in the world.
What I loved:
- Molly!
- Her gusto for cleaning and keeping life in order
- Her friends at the hotel
- the mysterious dead of Mr. Black (I did not guess the ending at all)

I <3 Molly. This was such a pleasant read with a fantastic ending! It's more dark comedy than thriller - and any fans of Eleanor Oliphant will definitely enjoy.

I enjoyed The Maid - great pace - but was a bit disappointed in how the character Molly was portrayed at times. She was a bit inconsistent (sometimes she didn't understand things that were going on, and other times she understood more complicated things). Thank you for the advance copy.

I was hooked on this book right away. Something about Molly, the maid, (yes her name is Molly, and she realizes the irony there) that just make you love her, trust her, want to look after her. This story follows Molly who was raised by her grandmother, and thinks and sees people a bit 'different' than most of us. She works as a maid in a prestigious hotel, and one day finds one of the important visitors dead in his bed. The investigation finds that not everything at the hotel is as it seems, and Molly seems to find herself in the middle of it all. All of the characters in this book were so fitting, and it was obvious who to love and who to not trust! I wouldn't call this a thriller by any means but a good mystery with a loveable main character, you can go wrong with this! I can't believe it's a debut, I will forever read anything Nita Prose writes. :)