Amazing, Awesome, Fabulous, Incredible book. I loved every word. The characters and their portrayal, the story, from beginning to end had me reading almost nonstop. Molly is not your average maid. Raised by her grandmother with no friends you feel for her. The ending is superb. I hope this Author writes many more books. I also hope I can see this movie in Canada. Congratulations on a WINNER. Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada and the Author for the privilege of reading and reviewing this book.

A wonderful and heart warming mystery book! Loved the story of Molly, reminded me a bit of Eleanor Oliphant. Very cozy December read I highly recommend it

I absolutely love a good mystery novel! When I read the synopsis of 'The Maid' I was hooked. This is an outstanding debate novel that, I declare a must read for any mystery fan! Nita Proses 'The Maid' reminds me of Agatha Christie in all the right ways. Her character development was top notch, plot thickening was outstanding and had readers on grasping on the edge of their seat until the very end. An absolutely outstanding Who Done It ? novel!

Molly, the main character, obviously has some social difficulties, and sometimes they feel a bit contrived. But her otherness is what makes her a target.
The hotel is populated by a lot of other characters, and it's interesting to see them come into focus during the story. I did think that the police investigator was a bit too focused on one solution only, but that's more a character flaw than a flaw with the plot.

This book reminds me of the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. Although I thought that book was slightly better at getting across meanings to the reader that were lost to the main character.

All in all, a good read.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.

5 amazing feather dusting stars to Molly the Maid!

Molly Gray is a maid who works at The Grand Regency Hotel. She loves her job and truly believes that being a maid is her calling. She cleans room like it is nobody's business and returns them to a state of perfection. After the death of her grandmother, Molly has had a hard life. She lives alone in her grandmother's apartment and she isn't like everyone else. She doesn't understand social skills and misinterprets people's intentions. Her gran used to help her navigate the real world, but without her, she is left alone with no aid.

One day, when she is cleaning wealthy Charles Black's room, she finds his dead body in bed. From that moment, her life is turned upside down as she finds herself being the main suspect in the murder investigation. She is caught in a web of deception and lies and without realizing it, she finds friends along the way to help her. The Maid is a novel FULL of heart, a Clue-like mystery and a character unlike any other you've ever read.

This is one of the most unique books that I have read in such a long time. It's one of my favourite books I've read this year. Trust me when I tell you that the hype is WORTH IT!

If you're not a fan of mystery novels, read this book for Molly! Take away the mystery, and Molly could be her own novel. Her character was fresh and unique and I loved that the entire novel was written from her perspective. We hear about her relationship with her gran through flashbacks and memories of them, and it's just so pure and lovely. If I met Molly in real life, I would give her the biggest hug in the world because she's just so precious. When I say read the novel for Molly, I mean it. Just go do it!

The mystery was really well plotted and complex. I loved not being able to figure out what was going on, as well as being captivated by Molly's character. There are some shocking twists and turns in the novel, with an ending that is quite (!!!).

Overall, this was hands down one of the best debut novels I've read this year and I highly recommend it to every single person on this planet. It's a novel about family, identity, friendship, loss, and love. It has every thing you could ever want in a novel, plus a mystery. I won't be forgetting about this novel anytime soon!

Many congratulations to Nita Prose and I cannot wait for the adaptation of this movie! Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with an advanced digital copy of the novel in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book. It was as good as the sypnosis said it was going to be. I took my time and got right into this book.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

I was excited when I first learned about The Maid. Why? Because the synopsis I read states it is a Clue-like, locked room experience. I love the game Clue; it’s possibly my favorite game of all time. That said, this book did not deliver on that promise, and I feel let down. I did not guess who the murderer was. Honestly, I had no inkling as to who it was. And the reveal surprised me. But the book does not live up to the comparison to Clue. I can’t explain more, sorry.

Those around her describe Molly as being robotic and overly literal as other people’s emotions are hard for her to understand. Others have trouble understanding Molly, as she doesn’t act like a typical 20-something, nor does she speak like one. This causes problems with the police, as her actions make her appear more guilty in their eyes.

Molly felt like she was alone and had no family throughout much of the book. And the people she thought she could rely on to be there for her used her for their gains. By the end of the book, though, she had discovered a group of friends upon whom she could rely and consider them family. And that is something that I liked about the book.

One thing I did not like about Molly is that she is an unreliable narrator. I don’t think this is the first time I’ve come across this in a book. But I can say it is not something that I like, and at least not how it was written here. Sorry, I am vague about this, but I can’t say more without some spoilers.

Something else that I do not like about the book is the theme or thought throughout it that says how sometimes you have to do something bad for something good to happen. In my mind, that’s the opposite of two wrongs don’t make a right. It also goes against the do unto others as you’d have them do unto you philosophy. As you can see, I don’t know how doing something bad can lead to something good happening.

The author is a very talented one who created a unique character: Molly the maid. The story is told by Molly. Her dialogue and descriptions (from her point of view) were flawless. In my opinion it takes great talent to do that. Hats off to this author. Bravo!

This book is a cozy murder mystery. It was a tad too long for my taste but I am glad "I stayed till the end." Overall it was a pleasant read. Some parts I enjoyed less.

I recommend it if you enjoy cozy mystery and is looking for something different. The Maid will certainly be exactly what you are looking for.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Maid by Nita Prose is a cozy whodunnit mystery following our main character, Molly, a maid at the Regency Grand Hotel who gets pulled into the investigation of one of its prestigious guests, Charles Black when she discovers his dead body.

At the surface level, this book was fine. It followed a pretty cookie-cutter mystery format and it did what it needed to do, but ultimately it fell short for me. I am a very character-driven reader so caring about the characters is a big factor in my enjoyment of a book. With this book, I didn’t care. There were a lot of characters introduced but they all felt pretty underdeveloped and ultimately did not serve the plot in any significant way.

The twist was okay but it didn’t really hit that hard and honestly just left me even more confused with Molly’s character as her words often did not align with her actions throughout the book. Additionally, it irked me how Molly's autism was never explicitly stated but rather characterized as being "quirky" or "special" and I will definitely be seeking out reviews by autistic individuals who will be able to provide better insight into that aspect of the story.

Overall, I think that this book will be enjoyable for some, especially if you are into more lighthearted mysteries but it wasn't for me.

An absolute delight. Molly's voice was incredibly well-crafted and for me the biggest joy of the novel. She's endearing, the type of character you instantly root for and are likely to remember days after turning the final page. A book you can sink into, with a diverse cast of characters.

It's an intriguing romp, with a fun twist.

I'm also EXTREMELY to see this story on the screen!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada or the free ARC, all thoughts are my own.

The Maid written by Nita Prose is an absolute treat!

“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 Gray also known as Molly Maid is a 25 year old who proudly works at the Regency Hotel. She finds pure pleasure in returning each room to a state of perfection. She is not like everyone else and she struggles with social cues and she misinterprets many social situations as you will see throughout this book. Molly is doing her daily hustle at the hotel when she stumbles upon a muder scene. Of course, Molly is targeted as a suspect for this murder and it is up to her to clear her name. Molly and her new found friends work to find clues to prove her innocence as others around her work to blame her. There is definitely something fishy going on at this hotel.

This book is an absolute delight to read. Molly is SO lovable and I was rooting for her the entire book. She is sweet and just wants to do her job and do it well. I loved the different scenarios she got herself into and how she took things very literally. It definitely gave me insight to people who may be like Molly. The plot is interesting, the mystery is good but I wouldn't say the ending was surprising or jaw dropping. But I was ok with this as I just loved Molly and her story so much. I also enjoyed how Molly would remember her late Grandmother's words and recite them throughout the story. I would rate this one an easy * * * * * It was a heartwarming read and I just loved every second of it!

Thank you to Nita Prose, Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the advanced copy of this book. It hits shelves in January 2022 and I cannot recommend it enough! I am confident that you will fall in love with this book just as much as I did. Also, I just found out that this is also going to be a movie and I CANNOT wait.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of The Maid in exchange for an honest review.

The Maid by Nita Prose is just the kind of book you need sometimes- a bit sad, often poignant, frequently comical, and completely entertaining. It demands nothing of the reader except that you sit back and enjoy. This book could be classified as a cozy mystery but also reminded me of books like The Rosie Project and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

Molly Gray is a maid in a 5-star hotel in a large unnamed city (I was confused by the location- sometimes you could swear the characters were British and then often they sounded Canadian or American. Maybe the author was trying to make it as generic as possible, but I do enjoy knowing the location). She takes the responsibilities of her job with the utmost seriousness. Her mission is to restore every room to a “state of perfection”, and she is completely devoted to this outcome. As I read about her methods and attention to detail, I couldn’t help but hope that a maid like Molly will clean the next hotel room I stay in, and not a maid like the colleague who uses the same rag for the sink and the toilet. I am as aghast as Molly at this! It also reminds me to always tip the person who cleans your room.

Reading people’s expressions and understanding their true intentions is not a skill that comes naturally to Molly and as a result she is frequently made fun of and taken advantage of. These characteristics lead to the set up of the mystery as Molly is easily duped into taking part in criminal activities within the hotel.

In addition to Molly, who was utterly adorable, there are some memorable characters in the book. Molly’s gran, although recently deceased, plays a big part in the book as Molly relies on Gran’s advice to get through her days. With Gran’s aphorisms running through her head, Molly does her best to navigate the confusing landscape of human emotions and motives often to hilarious effect. The doorman Mr. Preston also provides a sweet counterpart to some of the more unsavoury villains in the book.

I enjoyed the time I spent with Molly. When she would describe the satisfaction she felt in stocking up her cart and making everything tidy and neat, I felt a certain kinship. Molly is a great addition to the list of fictional characters that will always hold a place in my heart, and although she isn’t real, I still wish her well.

Unpopular opinion coming, be warned! 2.5⭐

🧽Very cozy mystery with a unique MC... and a lot of cleaning descriptions! 😂

Yes, Molly was an interesting character and I loved the hotel setting, but the plot wasn't really original. Also, some actions of the MC seemed in contradiction with her general behaviour. I didn't find the story particularly touching nor funny.

The first 25% were mainly about Molly's life and background. It was pretty slow. The second half of the book was definitely better, but it was lacking tension. The ending was really sweet... maybe a little too much?!

I'm sorry I didn't enjoy this story as much as my GR friends. I will still watch the movie (or TV?) adaptation!🎬

Publication date: January 4

Many thanks to Penguin Random House Canada, Viking and Netgalley for the ARC!

💫 The Maid 💫
By Nita Prose
Publisher: Ballantine Books (Jan 4. 2022)

Editor turned author came out with a cozy mystery read. Not particular full-speed thriller but rather a whodunnit novel.

It was quirky and lovely.

And perhaps I have a new favourite character to add to the list in Molly.

Molly is unique, honest, kind and pretty darn special so even if I came for the mystery, I left with a feeling of content that I love this time of year.

Short Synopsis: Molly is a Maid. Yes, indeed that is her name; and she follows the simple rules of life about hard work, kindness and proper etiquette. And she learned it all from her Gran. But now with her beloved Gran gone, she’s having to navigate seedy characters and “bad eggs” after finding a dead body in one of the rooms.

Two words to sum it up: Cozy and Heartwarming

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: January 4, 2022
Molly Gray adores her job as a hotel maid. She loves cleanliness and obsesses over making things neat and tidy, as she was taught to do by her grandmother, who was a housekeeper. Molly struggles with fitting into society, is socially awkward, and is often blunt and far-too-honest in her conversations and relationships, but her grandmother helped her navigate the strange world around her. But now, Molly’s gran is dead and although she still enjoys her job, Molly is finding it hard to understand the world without her grandmother’s support. When Molly finds the body of Mr. Black, a long-time VIP guest, in his hotel room, she is soon thrust into a world of police investigations, suspicion and distrust, and she feels even more out of place than ever before.
“The Maid”, by Canadian editor-turned-author, Nita Prose, is compelling, page-turning and heart-wrenching. Eccentric hotel maid Molly Gray is outstanding, charming and utterly likable, and I cheered for her throughout the novel. For a cleanliness-obsessed young woman, who is likely on the autism spectrum, she navigates the world around her with bravery and honesty, and I admired her from the first page. As Molly finds herself thrust unknowingly into criminal behaviours with seedy and untrustworthy characters, I ran the emotional gamut- from laughing out loud, to cheering, to feeling anxious and annoyed. I am a sucker for novels with a less-than-ordinary protagonist and this one checks all the boxes.
The story is narrated by Molly, and through her eyes we meet all of the unknowingly (to Molly anyway) unsavoury characters that are completely detestable, but the human condition resets itself in the genuinely sweet-hearted and likable characters that befriend our heroine.
I loved everything about this novel, especially the ending, and it is one heck of a powerful debut. Molly is the kind of character I could read about again and again, and I hope Prose has more “Molly Maid” coming our way!

The Maid gave me a delightful book hangover.

The Maid is a slow-burn mystery with a memorable, neurodivergent main character in Molly Gray, a 25-year-old hotel maid at a posh hotel. Molly views the world differently than others and is proudly meticulous, adheres to schedules with the utmost precision but has difficulty interpreting social cues, often making her the butt of jokes. When Molly discovers a dead body while cleaning a room, she finds herself at the centre of a murder investigation. Armed with years of watching Columbo episodes with her beloved Gran, Gran's inspirational tidbits to guide her, and her social invisibility as a maid, she hopes to get to the bottom of this mess.

“It’s easier than you’d ever think—existing in plain sight while remaining largely invisible. That’s what I’ve learned from being a maid.”

This story felt like the love child of a cozy locked room mystery and a charming story about relationships and otherness. It has great depth and a main character who is delightful, honest, resilient and 100% herself at all times - despite how that makes others around her react. You'll adore Molly's manner of speaking and through her narration the reader gets a bird's eye view of what life is like for Molly - her life, her losses, her pride in her job and the regular misunderstandings between her and those around her.

“The truth is, I often have trouble with social situations; it’s as though everyone is playing an elaborate game with complex rules they all know, but I’m always playing for the first time.”

This is a murder mystery with more. There's a burst of heart stemming from the themes of loneliness, otherness, family and friends, but what stood out the most for me was Prose's subtle but powerful plot twists that will change the reader's perception of the story and gave me some satisfying ah-ha moments as things fell into place.

The Maid is an incredibly impressive debut by Nita Prose who is a long-time Canadian book editor. Don't miss this charming, multilayered mystery that has an original flare, a huge amount of heart, a touch of humour and a main character you'll adore.

Note: Word on the book nerd street is this book has already been optioned as a film starring Florence Pugh!

An intriguing mystery written by a Canadian author! This book was so well done and very hard to put down. Molly finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation because of relationships she formed with disingenuous people. She struggles to understand the meaning of phrases and sentiment - she takes everything quite literally at face value. She had always had her gran to help her understand the meaning behind peoples statements or actions; when her gran passes away she forms friendships with a couple ‘bad eggs’ but learns to trust in her real friendships to help her out of her predicament. The fact that the main character, Molly, is ‘on the spectrum’ provided some levity to the storyline and murder investigation. I loved how intelligently written this story was - and how sweet the genuine friendships were.

Quirky Molly who sees the good in basically everyone gets herself inadvertently involved in a murder and some other shady business in the hotel she works in as a maid. Molly is most likely on the autism spectrum and finds it difficult to read other people . In this book her challenges have both positive and negative consequences. This book is fun to read .

Rating: 5 / 5

**Received free ARC from Netgalley for honest review.

This was good and better than I expected! It's always such a pleasant treat when a book exceeds your expectation, and such is definitely the case for me for The Maid!

Oh my, where do I begin? Molly Gray is, to put it simply, a character that I saw a lot of myself in, as she's an invisible person who's content to remain in her own little world that way, because she's also socially awkward, old fashioned, and yes, that's right, an old soul, just like me!

If ever an author wanted to contribute to a character that I'd get behind 100%, then they need look no further for a model than Molly Gray, whom I am officially putting up there as one of my favourite fictional heroines!

Ahem, anyway, Molly's a maid at a hotel and she takes her job very seriously. She's missing her Gran, who passed away nine months before the start of the story, but otherwise her world's hunky-dory. Sure, others make fun of her and she can never tell whether they're laughing with her or at her, but there's something about cleaning and about the hotel she works at that just calms her down and makes her entire world feel okay, that she knows not to take the comments of others to heart.

Except that she kind of has to take things to heart when a murder is committed at a hotel, and the murder of a VIP guest no less. Somehow, Molly's mixed up in the middle of it, and now she's going to need some serious help in getting out of trouble!

Oh my good golly gosh, every line out of this character's mouth was pure gold, and I could just see everything playing out as though it were a movie. I expected the plot, sure (it's in the summary), but I did NOT expect Molly's character to be loveable, and that because she's so loveable the stakes would seem so high, even though the story's not as fast-paced or dramatic as some other mystery novels out there--and, let's be honest, a good deal more mystery novels out there.

However, everything from the pacing to the descriptions to how we're seeing everything through Molly's eyes is just done so perfect that even though the events take place over four days--with a months-later epilogue--it's alright and it's not overwhelming for us because Molly sort of takes it in stride. Even her reactions to injustices, whilst inwardly murderous, are calm on the outside, because that's just who she is and how she acts.

I mean, hands down, call it what you will, it's delightful. Dee-light-ful.

For mystery novels, usually there's not much to comment on without getting into spoiler territory, so let me just leave it at this: Nita Prose's The Maid is a well-written, well-thought-out, compelling, cute, patient, mysterious, gripping debut novel. Consider this author on my list of "to watch" authors moving forward. I'll certainly be anticipating more and...ahem, if she would ever...say....want to make more Molly Gray books and end up making this a series in which Molly helps to figure out more dastardly deeds being done, then I wouldn't exactly object to starting up a collection.

As a book to be released in early 2022, I think it's a lovely treat for readings going into the new year. Cheers!

This book taught me that you can enjoy reading a book, but then reflect upon it and realize how problematic it is.

It’s like eating junk food. You enjoy eating it because it satisfies a craving. But then you feel like crap after. You then look at the ingredients and find all this stuff in the list that you didn’t really think about while you were consuming it.

Put simply, this book needs a sensitivity check. There’s little regard towards people of colour and people with special needs. I know this book isn't literary fiction and it's focused on plot and entertainment, but the stereotypes that riddled this book offended me as a person of colour. And anyone who knows me I'm not easily offended or look for things to nitpick. Here are my issues:

1. The other maids working in the hotel are people of colour. Is this the reality? Yes, many immigrants accept lowly positions because they don't have a choice. But in this book, they're relegated as extras and described in a way that perpetuates stereotypes.

For example, there's a Filipina maid named Sunshine. We know nothing about her except that she's good at her job and her name is a common name among Filipinos. Sometimes, people even make fun of names like those because they're so different.

The Sri Lankan maid is named Sunitha. Again, we know nothing about her except that she's passive and doesn't talk even though she’s aware that not everything is right in her workplace.

The worst is the portrayal of Juan Manuel, a Mexican immigrant who works in the kitchen. From his name to how his character fits into the story, I was so uncomfortable every time Molly said Juan Manuel. For some reason she couldn’t just say Juan. It has to be Juan Manuel. And when I read more about how Juan fit into the story, I was disgusted.

Of course, the white characters are the ones given a voice. The ones who are given plot arcs and say more than two lines. Molly, the maid. Giselle, the beautiful wife. Mr. Snow, the hotel manager. Charlotte, the lawyer. Rodney, the bartender. Even the victim, Mr. Black. I can tell you more than one fact about those characters. The people of colour, not so much.

2.The treatment of the main character Molly, who strongly presents as someone with Autism Spectrum Disorder. I really want to know how much research the author conducted on this disorder. Recently, there’s been a boon in books featuring social awkward characters. (i.e. Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine) and they’ve been a hit because people like to see diversity in characters.

But again, I didn’t feel that this condition was treated with sensitivity. Autism Spectrum Disorder is never mentioned in the book. All we glean is that Molly is "special" (even gullible to the point of stupidity) and that it’s okay because there are people who will accept her.

I can expand on this, but needless to say, if you actually know someone with ASD like I do, you will find this book insensitive. I want to clarify that people with ASD are not just “quirky” or “special” like this book would have you believe, they actually have a condition that makes it hard for them to fit into society.

I’m not saying it was the author's intent to offend. Maybe none of these things crossed her mind when she was writing the book. But if there were more people of colour who made decisions in the publishing industry, one of them would undoubtedly flag these issues and ask the author to make some changes.

We’ve started giving people of colour opportunities to write and share their stories. But have we given them the opportunity to make decisions in traditional publishing? How many people of colour are found in the editorial room? I hope people start speaking up about why characterizations found in books like these are problematic, and that the publishing industry eventually gets a wake-up call.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.